How to Stay Visible with Google’s Local 3 Pack
April 20, 2016
Importance of Quality Web Content to Ensure the Success of Your Local Business
April 20, 2016
The major factor in determining your business’ rank locally is the quality and quantity of your local citations and consistency of NAP—Name, Address and Phone number—in your citations. NAP is essential for businesses wanting to rank well in the local search engine results. Search engines like Google take the information into account when identifying which businesses to show for geo-targeted searches.
What Is Local Search
Local search is the usage of particular internet search engines, which allow its users to submit geographical searches. From the perspective of business owners, local search is about having their businesses found when people are searching online. This refers mostly on getting businesses to rank in the list that appear in SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). This is accompanied by having a map on the page also as well as map pins. The result displays the business’ name, address, phone number, and directions in getting to the location.
Almost 74% of internet users perform local searches, and 61% of local searches result in purchases. People research online before they purchase, which refers to the acronym ROBO (Research Online, Buy Offline). First, they make their choices for purchasing products or services from nearby companies through the internet. They check the reviews and ratings to help them choose from which business they will be making purchases. After that, they make phone calls or personally visit the business, finally ending in the business making a sale.
Local Reviews
Local reviews have a strong impact on the local search rankings. Spending time acquiring positive reviews is an absolute necessity. Focus on getting reviews on your page as well as with local directories. Get in touch with your previous and existing customers to know if they would be interested in providing testimonials. You may also make a page on your website, which provides detailed instructions to your client or customers on how they can review your company. This also creates another avenue for building a relationship with your customers.
Why Local Citations Are Important
Instead of reviewing millions of snippets of business information manually, Google, Yahoo and Bing use big data points and algorithms that are processed programmatically in determining business rankings. They also make sure that your business information online is legitimate. Many people depend on the quality of search results for location-based searches. Among others, these search engines consider the local citations of the business. Citations refer to any mention of your business’ name, address, phone number and other data points when determining how your business ranks in the local results.
Having NAP consistently listed on various websites can score major points with search engines. Make sure that the data is structured, using exact format and details when you mention your address on other related websites. If your NAP is consistent in all online sources, the search engines will gain more confidence that your address is legitimate.
To make your business’ name get to the top, you need huge amount of good quality and legitimate citations that can outrank your competitors. You can also use online tools available on the internet, which can give you a great job of listing your NAPs and citations.
