If you own or operate a business, you know how crucial it is to rank well in local searches. Not only can it boost your SEO ranking, but it also allows you to show potential customers that your establishment is the best choice on their particular block. 

To do this effectively, you must ensure that you fill out all your online listings properly and accurately with relevant information about what makes your business special. If not, then Google will never know just how fantastic your place is.

So let’s look at some steps that can help improve your local ranking.

     1. Update Your Business Information

One of the first things to do is ensure that your business information is up to date across all major platforms, including Google My Business (GMB), Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor. 

You’ll want to double-check that:

The name and address listed for your company are accurate.

The phone number you’ve listed rings at the correct number.

Your hours of operation are accurate, and

Any additional contact details—like an email address or social media profiles—are also up to date.

     2. Fill Out the Local Listings

The listings are the foundation of local SEO. They are also one of the easiest ways to get customer exposure. Listings like Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook have made it easy for anyone to create a business listing. 

Besides helping people find you, these listings also give you a way to manage your online presence by adding photos and video, updating hours of operation or price changes, adding special offers or promotions, and responding to customer comments or reviews in real-time.

     3. Create Some Buzz About Your Establishment

The third thing you can do to improve your local search ranking is to create some buzz about your establishment. Get reviews from friends, family, and customers. 

Get reviews from bloggers in the area and newspaper writers as well. Also, get feedback from magazines, TV shows, radio stations, and websites that cover local businesses. Be sure to contact every potential person who might help spread word of mouth about your business so that more people learn about it.

If done correctly, this will create an impressive online reputation for you, which could become one of the top reasons customers choose your business over others.

     4. Get the Right Local Keywords and Make Good Use of Them

Local keywords differ from general keywords. They are specific to a location instead of being more broad and general about a topic. 

Local businesses should use local keywords in their website copy and title tags, especially on the home page. This can help attract customers looking specifically for businesses that serve their area.

Local SEO is optimizing your online presence to stand out among other local businesses on search results pages (SERPs). Getting this right is crucial because it helps people find you when they need you most while looking for something near them.

It’s not just about getting found by prospective customers using keywords; it’s also about making sure those same searchers see precisely what they’re looking for when they arrive on your site. 

An optimized landing page experience with compelling text content and images relevant to user intent will increase conversion rates across the board. This will lead directly back to positive ROI over time due to increased revenues.

     5. Ensure Your Website is Compatible with All Devices

This will help you reach customers using mobile devices for online searches. According to Google, mobile searches account for nearly half of all searches in the US. They are growing at a faster rate than desktop searches. 

Even if you don’t have a mobile app, it’s essential to have a mobile-friendly website so those users can still access your business’ information on their small screens. A quick way to check if your site is compatible with all devices is by using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool, which provides an easy-to-understand summary of how well your site appears when viewed on various devices.

     6. Interact with Your Customers and Ask for Reviews.

Awards, testimonials, and reviews are outstanding on a website. But it’s even better when your customers leave comments on your different platforms. 

The more you interact with them, the more they will be engaged on your site. It also helps strengthen your customer relationship, leading to future sales. And by responding to negative reviews (positively), you can show that you care about their feelings about your product or service. 

You’ll be surprised at how many people will try to help you improve when they see that you’re willing to listen and respond!

     7. Make Good Use of Social Media

Social media is a great way to interact with customers and get reviews and feedback on your business and ideas for improvement. If you don’t already have an active social media presence, set up accounts for your company.

Once you’ve established these pages, post content regularly so that people will begin following you or liking your posts. You can also use Twitter to follow other businesses in the same industry as yours. This way, if someone were looking for a local business in that industry, they would see yours first based on user suggestions!

     8. Visual Content is Important

Visual content is more engaging, more likely to be shared and remembered, and can improve the overall quality of your search engine results. Google’s Hummingbird update allows for more natural language searches, so visual content can help answer a user’s questions about your service or product.

If you want to improve your local search ranking, then make sure that the text on your website isn’t solely focused on keywords but answers questions in a way that users would ask if they were looking online.

     9. Strictly Abide by Your Hours

It is critical that you strictly abide by your hours of operation. Google may penalize your local listing with a lower ranking if you are not open for business during online hours.

Google (and other search engines) use this information to build out their listings and provide accurate data to searchers, so they can make an informed decision on where they want to go. Even if you don’t think anyone will ever type in your exact address or phone number into Google Maps or another search engine, someone might write down that information and share it with others who want to use it.

Again, ensure these things are correct and up-to-date because even one thing could make the difference between being found and missing out on potential customers.

     10. Invest in a Mobile App

Investing in a mobile app dramatically increases your customer base, loyalty, satisfaction, and sales. You can use a mobile app as a hub for your local business information, including business contact details, services or products offered, location map, etc. 

This is especially beneficial if you target new customers searching for specific services, not just local businesses nearby. Mobile apps also allow you to build an online community around your brand, allowing users to interact with each other, share experiences about their favorite places, and create unique content based on them. 

This can include photos taken at events held there, reviews written by customers discussing why they enjoy going there, or even testimonials from those who have benefited from using the service provided by this establishment.