Customers I work with often have already made a “Local Business” submission in Google and are frustrated that the listing doesn’t rank any better than it does. As with normal SEO I don’t have a definitive set of rules that will make a local business rank in the top 3 but I do have 5 top tips that will improve your chances.
1. Make sure you verify your listing – Google gives you the option to have a phone call or a post card sent to your listed address which contains a PIN number to verify the listing. Verified listings seem to rank better than unverified listings.
2. Add as much useful info as you can to your listing – add opening hours, a description and photos.
3. Write a useful description which contains both your location that you are targeting and your prime keywords. Aim to get the most important words at the beginning of the description.
4. If it’s not too late, consider the actual name and location of your business – If your address includes the right location keyword it will help. Likewise and potentially more easily, can you get your target location into your business name? Does your phone number have the right local dialling code?
5. Get people to write reviews for your business. Ideally local reviews – i.e. reviews on websites which also have some indication of locality.
Oops – make that 6 top tips
6. Ensure that your actual website has a local focus too and keep working on its SEO and authority.
In a nutshell – “love your Local Business listing”
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