If you own a physical store in Malaysia, you should be aware that nearly 76% of search engine users who conduct local searchers visit a store within a day.
Do you want to get more people into your store?
Then, optimize your website for local SEO. By optimizing your site with Local SEO, you can direct customers to your store and increase your revenue by selling your products or services.
This article will teach you everything you need to know about Local SEO and how to optimize your website for better results.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is an online marketing strategy that allows you to optimize your website so that it ranks higher in local search results and reaches your target audience. All you have to do is optimize your site for your city and address. It will make it easier for potential customers to find your company and visit your store. Local SEO is one of the most effective ways to attract more customers in your area to your store.
For example, if you own a dental clinic in Klang, you'll want to ensure that your website appears near the top of search results when people search for "dentist in Klang" or "dentist near me."
How Does Local Search Look Like?
Have you noticed how local SEO appears in Google search results?
Keywords related to locations and local businesses are used in local searches.
When looking for a store, people will use keywords or phrases such as:
- X “near me”
- X in [city]
Try conducting a local search with those phrases. When someone enters local search keywords or phrases, Google will display Google Map Results at the top of the page, which we refer to as the Local SEO 3-pack. There will be a list of three local businesses in the relevant location that is relevant to the user's search query.
Let's use the same example as before. Assume you're looking for a dental clinic in Klang. When you search for "dentist near me" or "dentist in Klang" on your desktop or smartphone.
You can see that the Local SEO 3-pack has been supplemented with one more listing generated by Google Ads. When someone clicks on a listing with the "Ad" tag, the advertiser pays Google. The remaining three outcomes appear naturally.
Google My Business pages are the organic listings in the Local SEO 3-pack. You will appear more prominently in local search results if you create a Google My Business listing for your company.
Factors Affecting Local Search Rankings
It makes no difference what type of local business you run; you must understand the factors that influence local search rankings and how local businesses appear to people searching for them.
If you want your website to appear in local search results, you must understand the following factors:
Relevance: Google returns relevant results to its users. The relevance of search queries with the products or services you offer determines your business's placement in local search results. Google will generate a list of local skin clinics if someone searches for skin clinics.
Proximity: Another important factor in local search ranking is the distance between your business and the searcher. Google prioritizes generating a list of nearby businesses for the searcher. Although you have no control over this factor, optimizing your Google My Business page can help you rank for the locations you want to be found.
Prominence is determined by what your customers say about your products and services. When you look at your Google My Business listing, you'll notice that people can leave comments and reviews, as well as star ratings. Google prioritizes showing businesses with high ratings because it indicates that those businesses are well-liked by the public.
These three crucial elements should always be part of your local SEO strategy. Including these elements in your local SEO strategy will help you position your business website higher in local search results, generate traffic to your website, and increase the number of people who visit your store.