10 Common Local SEO Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Read Time: 5 minutes

Local SEO has become a necessity for any business that desires to thrive. Your SEO strategy might have many strengths, but if you aren’t reaching your local target audience, you may need to re-strategize. A key to success is having the right local SEO strategy to position and promote your business correctly. It’s easy for a business to make common local SEO mistakes that can negatively affect your online strategy.

In this article, we unpack 10 common local SEO company mistakes and how you can get the most out of a winning SEO formula.

Mistake 1: Forgetting To Use Local Keywords

Keywords are essential to determine whether your content appears in search engine results. Keywords help define your topic and content to make your site discoverable online. By localizing keywords, you’ll attract your target audience and demographic more easily. This is because by choosing the right local keywords, you’ll help improve your website ranking in search results. Local keywords can include the use of your neighborhood, town, or county. These can be incorporated into content, meta descriptions, and headings.

Failing to include carefully chosen, local keywords could result in missed traffic to your page, and a lower ranking on Google. Research has revealed that 75% of Google browsers never scroll past the first page of Google results. This is why including the right keywords is crucial to improve your chances of a high ranking.

Mistake 2: Neglecting Geolocation

According to Google, almost half of all Google searches are local searches. Close to 90% of people engage in a local search on their smart device within 24 hours. Geolocation technology makes it possible to ascertain the geographical location of a smart device user. Search results are then personalized to a user’s unique location to improve your site’s local optimization.

To geolocate correctly, be sure to include relevant information about your location. This could include your phone number, your business address, your name, and your opening hours. These details are also referred to as your NAP information. Including the name of your county or town is also important. You could even include local events or landmarks, which all help Google geolocate your business effectively. Including backlinks as well as local event-focused content will strengthen your geolocation.

Mistake 3: Not Prioritizing Services

A minimalist website aesthetic has been trending for some time. But this less is more approach shouldn’t be at the expense of clearly listing and unpacking your services on offer. Many customers frequent websites to find out about services that are offered by a business. Detailed menus assist prospective customers in gaining clarity on what you offer at a specific location. Your customer’s user experience help will determine if a search engine recommends and ranks you. Failing to provide a detailed service offering could frustrate customers and lead to lower rankings. Entrusting your website to an experienced digital marketing agency will give your business a competitive advantage.

Mistake 4: Not Implementing Local Pages

If you’re aiming to reach several neighborhoods or cities, you may want to consider multiple location pages. If someone is searching for a service offering in Tamarac, for instance, it may be worth dedicating a Tamarac specific page that caters to its unique needs. Remember that people are becoming increasingly community-minded, and perceived trust is easier to achieve through local, ‘family-run’ businesses.

Mistake 5: Not Using Google Business Profile (GBP)

Creating a Google business listing gives you the power to manage how your business is presented across Google products. A completed GBP listing will boost your visibility in local searches. It also helps your business to appear in local pack listings and maps. Google business messaging is another great tool to stay connected with your customers. People are also able to leave reviews on Google, which increases the perceived trust index of your business. Be sure to regularly update the business details on GBP, as outdated information can be quickly detected by customers.

Mistake 6: A Lack Of Quality Content

Quality content is always a high contributor to a successful local SEO company strategy. Good content educates customers on your product and service offering. Quality content helps people to more easily trust what you’re putting out. In a skeptical society, every piece of content you release can either build your trust index or undermine it. Localized content helps to build trust, too, as people can see that you understand the area that they live in. Content should always be engaging and informative.

Mistake 7: Forgetting About Mobile Optimization

The sheer majority of Google searches are carried out on mobile devices. Society is only getting busier, which means that people are Googling on the go. This could be in their car, whilst shopping, or whilst picking up the kids. Optimizing your web page for mobile viewing will create a user-friendly experience for the majority of prospective and returning clients. Remember to minimize large images, which will slow down your site’s responsiveness.

Mistake 8: Ignoring Reviews

Online reviews are a powerful way to get honest feedback from your customers. Reviews are easily accessible online, and many potential customers will check reviews before deciding on your business. Be sure to encourage customers to leave reviews, as it shows transparency. Most importantly, respond to all reviews, positive or negative. This communicates that you care and shows engagement with clients. Your response to a negative review may win over a potential customer.

Mistake 9: Not Addressing Technical SEO Issues

A successful SEO strategy also involves a fair amount of technical work. Keeping track of your schema markup and your CSS are vital practices. Understanding your website’s crawlability, or how easily discoverable your site is to search engines, is also vital. These and other technical SEO practices will enhance your local SEO.

Mistake 10: Failing To Track Your SEO Performance

Effective SEO requires consistent analysis and tracking. Your SEO strategy should be adapted and improved continuously. This is only possible through hands-on analysis. By comparing your strategy with local competitors, you’ll be able to adjust your plan of action to reach your target audience better. SEO analysis is best done by a professional digital marketing agency. Some agencies offer a free SEO report to give you a head start on your SEO strategy. Their ongoing experience in SEO tracking means they know exactly what to look for and how to optimize your local SEO strategy.

Your Trusted Local SEO Company

At Connectica, we specialize in naturalized SEO that considers your whole website. We emphasize a strong focus on local SEO strategies to empower your website to speak with authority to your market.

Our executive dashboard means that our SEO clients have constant access to industry-standard SEO indicators. We consult on a local or national SEO scale to set your business up for a win. We also offer a free SEO audit report, which will provide you with valuable information on your current SEO performance.

Call us at 877-816-2259 to schedule a free local SEO consultation.