What is local SEO and how can you implement it?
Search engine optimisation (SEO) involves using the right keywords in your website content. These keywords should closely match what your potential clients will type into a search query when they’re looking for your business.
For SEO to become local SEO, you need to also include your location so a search engine knows where your business is located.
For example, if your bookkeeping firm is in Port Melbourne and someone searches for ‘bookkeeper Port Melbourne’, the bookkeeping firms located in Port Melbourne might rank higher than those located elsewhere.
Even when people don’t type in a location, search engines often try to find local results.
How to improve your local SEO
The most important way to improve your local SEO is to include your address on your website. You could include it in your contact details, and on your about-us page.
If you work from home and don’t want to give your exact address, you could still give your suburb and city name.
You could also include the surrounding suburbs. For example:
‘We work remotely and can assist clients from all over Australia. But if you’d like us to come see you, our offices are in Sunbury, and most of our clients are in Sunbury, Melton, and Melbourne CBD. We often travel to see our clients and can stop off at your office if you’re located in, or on the way to those suburbs.’
Two other effective ways of improving your local SEO are:
1. Create a ‘Google My Business’ profile
When people search for a professional in a specific location, search engines use their own data to decide which websites to display. In the case of Google, its data would include ‘Google My Business’ profile data.
For example, “bookkeeper Sunbury Melbourne” returned the following results in Google:
All these businesses most likely have ‘Google My Business’ profiles and have indicated their locations. Google now returns their ratings, their location and a map pinpointing them.
Even when someone isn’t looking for your business, but looking at a map of an area where you’re located, your business name could pop-up, like these business names did:
2. Write more content using local SEO keywords
Another way to indicate the areas you serve is to write more content.
For example, if you write a blog, you can include your location in your call-to-action at the end of the blog like this: “If you need to talk to an accountant in Sunbury, call me on …”
The more blogs you write, the more place names you could include. The blogs could also include information about the businesses you target which could help search engines link your potential clients to your location.
For example, in this blog we use a bookkeeping firm as an example, because they’re our target clients – Hunter & Scribe specialises in writing for all types of finance and property businesses in Sydney, and the rest of Australia.
Writing case studies can also increase your local SEO keywords in a natural way. For example, a bookkeeper could write the following case study:
“A client, an auto-parts shop in Melbourne CBD and had recently opened a shop in Sunbury. He was struggling to manage the stock between the two stores and often ended up with the stock being delivered to Sunbury when he needed it in Melbourne…”
The bookkeeper will then elaborate on how they implemented an automated stock control system to help their client.
This case study will help the bookkeeping firm in multiple ways:
- It includes local SEO keywords for Melbourne CBD and Sunbury
- It shows the bookkeeping firm is good with stock control
- It shows the bookkeeping firm is happy to work with auto-parts shops
- It shows the bookkeeping firm is good at solving clients’ problems
If you’re not great at writing blogs or case studies, we can help. Hunter & Scribe specialises in writing content for property and finance professionals, including bookkeepers and accountants.
We can assist you with all your writing needs including:
- SEO including local SEO content
- Blogs
- Case studies
Contact us to fill your website with more SEO content.
