Local SEOenables potential customers and local businesses to meet. Local businesses that reach their customers through search engines gain serious competitive power. This situation is a must for businesses that want to stay one step ahead of their competitors. local SEOor requires him to give importance to it.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO; They are SEO methods also known as local SEO and regional SEO. The main goal of these methods is to make the relevant website stand out in local searches and reach potential customers more easily.
Google and other search engines create results based on the intentions of the searches made. Among these intentions, those related to purchasing services are directly related to local SEO. Because when a user searches for service, search engines show the businesses closest to that location as results.
local SEO, These are studies aimed at optimizing the relevant website in every sense in regional searches and ranking it at the top of the search results. The most important difference that distinguishes the work here from normal SEO work is that it is done on a regional basis.
For example; Users looking for white goods service while searching Kadıköy white goods service throw away white goods service Kadıköy It searches like. Google and other search engines perceive these searches as follows:
Call; It is intended to receive white goods service in Kadıköy.
Search engines list results according to search intent. These results are in the form of maps and websites of white goods services in Kadıköy. So, how is the ranking done here? At work What is local SEO? This is exactly the answer to the question.
All of the work done to ensure that businesses rank high in search engines in regional searches, local SEO It is called .
Why is Local SEO Important?
local SEO, It has become very important because search engines detect search intent and provide appropriate results. Compared to the past, the proportion of local results in search results has increased significantly today. Some data regarding this are as follows:
- Approximately 50% of searches made on Google and other search engines consist of local searches.
- Approximately 65% of those looking for local services use search engines and make local searches there.
- Contact information of the businesses from which services will be provided can be accessed through regional searches.
Users who want to increase their competitiveness and reach potential customers through search engines must rank high in regional search results. This is a quality local search engine optimization It is possible with .
One of the most important advantages of these studies is that they reduce the costs of reaching customers. Because as a result of the work here, potential customers are reached. The probability of these people receiving service is very high. Therefore, the work done significantly reduces advertising and general costs.
How to Do Local SEO?
Local SEOIt is all the SEO work done on a regional basis. The main goal here is to rank high in local searches. Therefore, regional targeting is made.
These studies are largely on-site studies. However link building It is extremely important to support it. The steps taken to rank higher in location-based searches are as follows:
URL Edits
The URL structure must be user-friendly. User-friendly URLs are URLs that are short and contain the keyword. However, adding local phrases or locations makes the URL structure suitable for regional targeting.
Title Tags
Search engines crawl sites through bots. During this crawl, title tags provide important information to search engines. Including location information in these tags makes it easier to rank higher in location-based searches.
Keyword Analysis
At the very center of SEO work are keywords, that is, the words with which potential customers or the audience make searches. Different tools are used to determine these words.
When performing keyword analysis, all regional-based keywords must be determined. Locally focused keywords will make it easier to stand out in regional searches. Additionally, local long-tail keywords should be given special attention. Because it is much easier to rank them.
Content Suitable for Search Intent
The main reason local SEO happens is that search engines list results based on search intent. In other words, search engines can now detect with what intent users are searching. To do local SEO In their work, content that suits the search intent should be created and the site should be made easier for Google to notice. For this SERP The competitors on the page should be examined in detail and the pages should be optimized.
Visual Optimization
Image optimization is an important part of SEO efforts. However local SEO There is also a side to his work. Local keywords should be written in the subtitles, alternative texts and descriptions of the images. Thus, it is possible to obtain local traffic from images. In addition, these regulations have a positive impact on the site’s visibility in local searches.
Voice Search Optimization
With the development of technology, calls can now be made by voice. The words and sentences used in voice searches are different compared to text searches. More words are searched in voice searches. Therefore, in voice search optimization, long-tail keywords and question sentences with regional targeting should be given importance.
Mobile Usability Optimization
Mobile usability optimization is a must for sites. A significant portion of today’s searches are made via mobile devices. The proportion of desktop computer and laptop users has decreased significantly in the total number of users. Therefore, mobile optimization has become more important than ever.
If you want to check mobile usability testing for your site; https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly You can visit the relevant tool.
Using Local Resources
Local resources may be used to support the site. If there are no local resources available, users must create their own local resources. Facebook pages or groups, Instagram accounts, and an audience of local users should be created and the site related to this audience should be supported with external links.
Social media management
Social media platforms are one of the easiest and cheapest resources to reach local users. Properly managed social media accounts will soon grow with local users and they will instantly turn into local resources. By using these resources effectively, sites can be supported.
In this process where competition is at a high level, every detail should be given great importance and every traffic should be considered valuable. Therefore, it is very important to manage a valuable resource such as social media professionally.
Local Schema Data
Local schema data, schema.org It is data created by Google to better understand the position of the business. This schema data also appears in the Google Rich Results tool.
NAP Regulation
NAP regulation; It is an abbreviation consisting of the first letters of the expressions Name, Address and Phone. NAP regulation; The name, address and phone number of the business is written on the site.
Thanks to NAP, search engines provide access to the address and location of the relevant business. Thus, it highlights the relevant site more easily in regional targeting. In addition, potential customers who enter the site contact the business using the contact information here.
Google My Business Registration (Google My Business)
Google My Business, also known as Google My Business, is a tool developed by Google that aims to increase the visibility of small-scale businesses. Thanks to this tool, users can reach these businesses much more easily and quickly. However, only registered businesses are included in this tool.
Google My Business registration, local SEO It has a very important place in our work. Because with this registration, the location of the business is given to Google once again. This ensures that the site is much more visible in local targeting results.
Local SEO On-Site Optimization
local SEO, It consists largely of work done on the site. It would not be wrong to express these as local SEO on-site optimization. The studies in question are generally as follows:
- Adding location information to the title tag on the landing page
- Adding a city or region-related keyword to the H1 tag on the landing page
- Passing the location in the URL structure
- Mentioning the name of the city or region in the alt tags and descriptions of the images
- Including location, city or region in the content
The location information here can be either alone or integrated with the keyword.
Local SEO is a process that requires professionalism. All of these processes, mentioned here in general terms, are much more detailed and require serious expertise. Every detail is very important. Therefore, in order to achieve the desired result, professional consultation must be done. local SEO services should be preferred.