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Many people think that local search is only beneficial for big enterprise clients that have hundreds of locations, and who will see more astounding results from bulk data syndication and consistency across citation sites and directories. While this\u00a0is true to a certain extent, there is also great value for small businesses to find in jumping on the bandwagon too.<\/p>\n
If you have one shop, or a small limited company with 5 locations, you can also optimise your local listings to see great results and better performance. Not only will it ensure your visibility and accuracy across the web, but it will also hand you the resources necessary to analyse your data, pulling insights and behavioural trends to learn more about your consumer. This will then give you the ability to plan intelligently and draw insightful trends, adding to your entire marketing strategy.<\/p>\n
Today, I want to focus on three key points that small business owners should focus on when optimising their local listings. Your main aim should be to get your local listings on Google in the 3-pack, as this is the site that gathers the most traction in the local search channel, and so demands the most attention and\u00a0focus.<\/p>\n
For small businesses, it is very common to see local listings remain unclaimed and floating around search engines such as Google and Bing. Unlike large enterprises, where the task is almost impossible to do manually, small business owners have the ability to claim and optimise their local listings on the few sites that have significant importance.<\/p>\n
To truly get the most out of optimising listings, small business owners should also look to syndicate their data to major citation data aggregators (such as Factual and HERE); by being visible across a large network of sites, you are confirming to Google that your business information is correct and you have consistent data across the web.<\/p>\n
Titles and meta descriptions are editable HTML elements on your webpage that show up as text in search results. You should use the character limits wisely to ensure that you have the highest chance of a customer clicking through the search results.<\/p>\n
Most importantly, titles and meta descriptions should be within the character limits for each (50 to 60 characters and 160 to 200 characters respectively). This is so that in the search results your title and description tags are not cut off by ellipses (\u2026) removing important information about your business. Secondly, you must keep your title and description tags very specific and compelling; do not waste this space with page names, rather use relevant words that will entice the searcher to click through the result. Use location specific words if you are targeting consumers in a specific area, making sure to use unique keywords to grab their attention.<\/p>\n
So small business owners, a few small tweaks to the titles and descriptions on your webpage, may gain you a significant amount of real-estate on the search engine results pages. Optimise these and you will increase the likelihood of consumers clicking through (whether it be to your website, to get directions, or to call in-store for further information).<\/p>\n
As a small business owner it is becoming increasingly\u00a0important to proactively and reactively manage your local presence online. Many new consumers rely on others\u2019 feedback on places they have visited, restaurants they have eaten at, and so forth \u2013 most people nowadays will check a restaurant\u2019s star-rating on Google before booking a table or making their way there. It is becoming a habit for consumers in many industries, especially the foodservice industry.<\/p>\n
Small business owners should focus their attention on responding to reviews on Google and Facebook, as these two sites are go-to\u2019s for past customers that want to leave a review after a visit to the location. Since these sites are pre-dominantly used by past customers and are the most popular with new customers searching for reviews, small business owners should log in regularly to their Google My Business and Facebook pages to keep up to date and respond in real-time to reviews – good or bad. Engaging with happy customers, or repairing a relationship with an unhappy customer, will reflect positively on your reputation.<\/p>\n