What are the best ways to locally optimize my site?




Local SEO is a marketing strategy that is aimed at optimizing the online visibility of your company. The local element means that Local SEO specifically targets people in your region who are looking for a company like yours. Millions of people search daily for the best local companies in their region. By optimizing your local Visibility you can increase the likelihood that people from your region want to do business with you. Getting more customers through online visibility is the ultimate goal of Local SEO.

The importance of Local SEO
Apart from those few people who still use a phone book, most people search a company's data via online search engines. Google is the biggest player in this area by far. A study on local searches commissioned by Google showed that consumers are making massive use of local search terms. Of the billions of queries that Google processes every day, almost half of them appear to be a locally targeted search. This research also showed that in people who use a local search on their mobile, in 78% of cases that search also led to an offline purchase. So people do not only use local searches locally, but consumers also have a higher willingness to buy in local searches. Local SEO is an indispensable part of a successful local marketing strategy.
Google updates Pigeon and Possum
To maintain its position as market leader, Google continues to constantly improve its search engine. Reportedly small improvements are made daily in the search engine algorithm. Occasionally, however, major adjustments to the algorithm are implemented. Google takes the view of local businesses that, according to Google, best suit your search, very seriously. Since 2014, two large Google updates have taken place that has had a direct impact on the assessment and presentation of companies. These updates received the affectionate names Pigeon and Possum. Both Pigeon and Possum are fully focused on finding and displaying the best local information. With these updates, Google indirectly indicates the increasing importance of Local SEO.
Local SEO strategy
A well-established Local SEO strategy includes:
1. Claim, manage and optimize your Google My Business listing.
2. Reputation management by actively dealing with online reviews.
3. Making it easy to find and keep your website accessible.
4. Unambiguously mention your company details in the various online address files.
5. The use of social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
Google My Business
The first step in an effective Local SEO strategy is to claim your 'Google My Business listing'. Google has made a Google listing based on all the data they collect from virtually all companies in the Netherlands. It is important to verify and manage this data. This increases the chance that you will be able to see on the first page in Google.
Claiming your business listing is free. After you verify your Google listing, you fill in all fields that Google asks for completely and correctly. Google will indicate when you have entered all the necessary information. Keep going until the counter is at 100%.
Once you have set up your Google My Business, you are advised to check your data very regularly. Both people who see your listing and Google themselves can edit or add information to your Google listing. It is wise to check these changes for accuracy. The Google my Company listing has since 2017 the possibility to communicate directly with your customers.
No guarantees
Once you have claimed your Google listing, it is by no means certain that your company will actually be on the first page in the local 3-pack.
Among other things, the number of competitors and the degree of optimization of your other online listings play a role. When someone enters a search query in Google via his mobile, the distance from the searcher to a company can also play a role. That is one of the few parameters that you as Local SEO specialist have no influence on. The location of a company is simply fixed.
Reputation management in Local SEO
Many people like to give their opinion online about a service, a product or a company. Where companies such as Google use up to 5 stars, other companies use a valuation system of 1-10.
Obtaining the highest possible valuation of your company can have a positive effect on your operating result. The chance that you yourself choose a company with an average of 4 stars behind its name, is many times larger than you choose a comparable company with only 2 stars. That is how we are, and that is no different at your own company. A company that does not get any reviews at all quickly compares it to similar companies that people are enthusiastic about online. Regardless of how good or bad that company actually is. Working structurally on getting reviews should be a permanent part of your Local SEO strategy.
Visibility of your website
Making an Website in Google, which is called organic, is almost as old as Google itself. Since 2011, however, Google has implemented no less than seven major updates in the search algorithm. These updates all relate to the assessment and understanding of the content of websites.
The result of all these updates is that Google is now ready to use the algorithm to search your website for specific words, but also to understand the context of the content almost completely. Google knows the difference between a bus you want to drive and a bus where you want to store something. The algorithm of Google can gradually be seen as an example of artificial intelligence. To make your website Local SEO friendly, it is wise to clearly state your company details on your website. You could also consider paying attention to topics that are local or regional based on your website. Local content marketing can certainly help you.
Technology helps your local Visibility
The technological developments to make websites easy to find have not stood still in recent years. So is 'Schema', a technology that makes search engines easier to make the content more readable, a part that should not be missing on your website. That your website should also perform well in terms of readability and user-friendliness on smartphones, will not surprise you. Applying responsive websites and AMP, a technique that allows your pages to load faster can give your Local SEO a boost.
Fast at the top of Google?
What you should definitely stop with is responding to offers from companies that promise that they will quickly deliver a higher ranking in Google. Especially when they call it 'simple'. Even the most reputable SEO experts in the world will tell you that a listing on the first page of Google cannot be guaranteed by anyone. The techniques used by such companies can cause enormous damage to your online visibility in the long term. A lot of companies have already discovered this because of damage and shame. By careful optimization of your online content, you create a very good chance that you will end up on the first page. But realize that this requires time, effort, budget, and patience.
Unit of your NATW data
To strengthen the online presence of your company in Google, it is a good idea to keep all your company data online the same everywhere. Enter the same company name, address, phone number and website name everywhere. It only confuses when, for example, you mention one phone number on your website and a completely different number on Google Maps. Google can not appreciate that. Such minor errors may cause your company to be screened at the 3 local business listings in Google. And that would be a shame.
Local social media is also Local SEO
Local SEO has the objective that people can easily find your company online. On Facebook alone, over 6 million people are active daily in the Netherlands. There are undoubtedly people who would like to discover your company. It is an open door that you as a company should find on social media platforms such as Facebook. That also applies to B2B companies. The simple fact that your star rating on Facebook may appear in your business listing in Google should be enough reason for you as an entrepreneur to create a company page on Facebook.
Bing
Search engine Bing has openly acknowledged that they do not just look at your social media presence. Bing also looks at the number of active followers and the degree of interaction with your followers in the social media. More followers and more interaction can ensure that you can be found more easily in Bing.
Google once said that they do not look at Facebook and Instagram at the ranking of websites. However, it often happens that a Facebook page can be found on the first page of Google. A listing of your Facebook page next to your website on the first page of Google is nice. Another place less for your direct competitors.
Because of the many users and the many resources that Facebook has at its disposal, Facebook and his younger sister Instagram are pre-eminently social media platforms where people could discover your company.

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