When customers search for the best products and services, they want answers quickly because no one will spend eternity scrolling through thousands of listings or refreshing the page for new ones to appear. Your business should always show up at the exact time your local audience needs you, and this is where local SEO becomes paramount.
Local Search Engine Optimization depends on a highly targeted and specific approach compared to the general SEO tactics. Here are the latest local SEO changes to better understand the modern digital marketing landscape to beat your competitors in this challenging race to the top.
Website Quality
The quality of a website is no longer dependent on professional appearance. Google’s algorithm relies on websites that provide a clear purpose to their audience. Your site’s format needs to improve the users’ experience with easy-to-find information and seamless navigation between pages and social media accounts to ensure that you have the best content to satisfy people’s needs. You should also have a perfect ratio of ads to avoid distracting from the main content to avoid a low rating.
Backlink Quality
To increase local SEO traffic, backlinks are the holy grail if they are relevant and valuable. With high-quality backlinks, Google can access your content and increase your SEO rank to push your website to the top of users’ queries.
BERT and User-Focused Optimization
Bidirectional Encoder Representations or BERT is a significant Google update to focus on natural language processing so their machines can translate meanings behind sentences in content more efficiently. Therefore, businesses that write exceptional content hyper-focused on their targeted customers will have a much better chance of appearing in local searches ahead of their competitors.
To successfully optimize your site, you need to pay attention to the words used on-page and be specific to speak to your audience more directly rather than using jargon and complicated literature.
E.A.T. To Impress Google
Google’s priority is to deliver high-quality and relevant information to its users. Your search engine optimization strategies and consistent quality content should encompass “Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E.A.T.)” to gain high rankings to boost brand visibility by impressing Google and fulfilling their goals as the most credible source of information.
GMB Engagement
Take advantage of Google My Business to boost your website’s online presence to gain traction and brand authority. If this is optimized effectively, businesses can appear on local searches with more ease to connect with customers in their area.
Your keywords should match what customers are typing into the search box on Google, and these should be expertly scattered across your content without overcrowding and compromising the quality of writing. Additionally, it is also essential to verify your business location, add photos, and respond to customer reviews if you want to significantly improve your credibility and visibility on Google My Business.
It is no longer enough to be present online. Businesses need to revamp their websites with the latest search engine optimization trends while creating compelling content to be on top of their local SEO game.
Author of Article: Shipra Roma