There’s no better time than now to start optimizing your website for local SEO. It’s pretty much been the trend in recent years.  Businesses that have optimized for it since the big shift in SEO began are already reaping the fruits of their labor. 

If you want to learn how to do local SEO in 2022 and beyond, look no further than the 10 tips we’ve shared here. All of these have been tried-and-tested and can help you rank for those local keywords like, for example, “Digital Marketing Agency Near Me”. 

1.Search for Local Keywords 

SEO will always be tied to keywords, at least, in its current state. Local SEO requires you to research viable keywords that denote locality. They’re not only phrases that contain “near me”, but exact locations as well like “France”, “Frankfurt”, and “Frederiksville”. 

More often than not, the template of local keywords is “niche + location”. Proper keyword research warrants analyzing the difficulty, search volume, local intent, and competition of each one. 

2.Continue Optimizing Your Keywords

Once you’ve found the keywords worth targeting, make sure you make effective  use of them. Add them to  the header, meta description, footer, titles, and actual content of your home page and any other pertinent blog posts. 

  • Do not forget to add the primary local keyword in the URL of each post.
  • Refrain from adding too many keywords in a single content.

3.Keep Updating Your GMB Listing

Of course, we’re already assuming you already have one. If not, then it’s high time you avail of your free listing on Google My Business. This is because  it’s essentially free and provides an awesome way for you to target local clients. 

Updating in this regard is not just about  freshening up your contact information. It’s also about taking the time to regularly post to share valuable information with your clients while targeting local keywords in the process.

  • Continue optimizing your listing if there are still areas of improvement. 
  • Keep the reviews coming so they’ll be as fresh as possible.
  • Send local signals to Google by posting as much local content as possible, including nearby landmarks

4.Keep your content as fresh as possible, too

Local SEO mirrors standard SEO in this way. Google likes original  content, after all, and you don’t even have to make a fresh post to earn its favor. You can update previous posts and give them more local flavor.

  • For example, enhance the images of a particular local post by including pictures that reveal local venues. Of course, they have to be as relevant to the content as possible.
  • Keep the image sizes at a minimum. Be sure to capitalize on the alt text when including keywords, but be sure not to  make it spammy.
  • Update your anchor texts when necessary.
  • Practice geotagging on photos, too. 

5.Verify your website and business on Google Maps through GMB

Google Maps is an invaluable tool for local businesses because it’s always part of Google search and the search engine’s location based  search algorithm. For example, if you want to rank as a local digital marketing agency for keywords like, “Digital Marketing Near Me” then you need to first verify. 

After all, Google already takes into account your business’s location when users type in that query. Once it sees that your business is verified and is sending local signals through posts, reviews, and contents, then it won’t take long for you to start seeing your site rank for local results. 

6.Encourage reviews from local clients

Local reviews convince Google of your business’s reputation among your target audience. Feedback, as a whole, is taken seriously by the said search engine. This is why it will always be part of SEO, regardless of whether it’s local or not. 

  • Be sure to respond to reviews left on your Google My Business listing. Don’t let negative reviews remain unattended for long since that will only negatively affect your position in local search results.
  • Don’t hesitate to ask your clients directly for feedback.

7.Focus on writing high-quality local-related blog posts

For example, if you’re a local gardening store wouldn’t it be practical for your target audience to learn about their options? Why not write a blog post about the Top 5 gardening stores in X location? The more specific, the better because you want to get as much of the slice of  traffic from  that particular locality.

  • Keep creating content that is as local-based and helpful as possible. 
  • Be objective and informative. More importantly, establish yourself as an expert in your niche and share as much detail as possible when crafting content.

8. Create dedicated pages for every location you’re serving

This is especially true if you’re serving more than one town, city, county, or state. It’s almost always better to have a separate service page for each location you’re servicing. This is because it immediately gives that page a local advantage once you add the exact location and local search keywords.

  • Make sure you don’t use mirror content for each page since they will only be flagged as duplicates by Google, effectively removing their chance to rank. 

9. Don’t ignore voice search optimization

Studies show that the  overwhelming majority of voice searches have local intent. Voice search is slightly different when it comes to its nature and mode of optimization. 

  • Create content that is more conversational to anticipate this kind of search mode. The term “conversational” only  means that content that is simpler and mimics human conversation as much as possible.
  • Long-tail and question-style keywords are usually the ones to target. 

10. For more assistance and continuous progress, consider working with a digital marketing service

While it may cost you a couple of hundreds of monthly, the ROI of working with local Digital Marketing Services in  Ohio, assuming you’re based there or any other locale, often makes them well worth it. 

  • Most are willing to handle local SEO endeavors for you, if not your entire SEO campaign.
  • With their help, you’ll not only gain more leverage for regional  lead acquisition but conversions as well.
  • Local services give you an advantage as they tend to already have in-depth knowledge of your  prospects and how to attract them. 

Conclusion

If you already have a basic knowledge of SEO, you shouldn’t have any trouble   gettting the hang of local SEO. SEO in general, you have to be consistent in most of these techniques to continue outranking the competition for high-value keywords. The most critical  thing  is to know what works and to stick to it.