The Local SEO Ranking Factors That Matter to Your Local Business

Did you know that local search engine rankings can affect businesses? It's true! But local search ranking is ruled by a series of factors that are crucial in the local intent of search results. Small businesses can take advantage of this by ensuring that their website is optimized, have a strong backlink profile, positive online reviews from happy clients/customers, and get listed on websites like Yelp or Google My Business to rank higher!

If you don't rank well on Google for your local area, then people won't be able to find you and could even forget about you. That's why in this blog post, we will explore the local search ranking factors that matter to local SEO rankings and how they can help improve your small business.

• Local SEO: The Basics
• What's Local SEO?
• How does it work?
• Start With the Basics: Keyword Optimization and On-page Factors
• On-page Signals
• Behavioral Signals
• Community
• Local SEO: Off-page ranking factors
• Inbound Links
• Online Citations
• Google My Business
• Local Business listings
• Online Customer Reviews
• Local Content
• The Last Step of Local SEO
  

Did you know that local search engine rankings can affect businesses? It's true! But local search ranking is ruled by a series of factors that are crucial in the local intent of search results. Small businesses can take advantage of this by ensuring that their website is optimized, have a strong backlink profile, positive online reviews from happy clients/customers, and get listed on websites like Yelp or Google My Business to rank higher!

If you don't rank well on Google for your local area, then people won't be able to find you and could even forget about you. That's why in this blog post, we will explore the local search ranking factors that matter to local SEO rankings and how they can help improve your small business.

The first thing we should discuss is what local search engine optimization (SEO) actually is. Local Search Engine Optimization, or Local SEO for short, is the practice of optimizing your business' website in order to rank higher on local search engines like Google.



With the rise of the internet and search engines like Google, local SEO has become increasingly popular. Local SEO is a way to improve how your website ranks on google searches for local keywords. It is essentially optimizing your business for search engines such as Google for people in your surrounding area to find you more easily.

As we mentioned in a previous blog, Local SEO is the basis of good rankings and the discovery of our services and products, especially when it comes to small businesses. According to 99 firms, 46% of all Google searches are local intent. That's nearly half of the local searches.

When someone searches for something online, they may use certain keywords or phrases that could be related to their query. For example, if someone were trying to find a business that sold shoes in the McAllen area, they might search for "shoe stores near me" or even just "shoes".

When you enter this into Google, it will provide results based on what users searched. The top result is usually given priority and appears at the top of the page with a map, phone number, and other useful information.



In order to rank well on Google, you need to follow some guidelines. In addition, there are a few factors that search engines like Google take into consideration when they try to determine how your website should rank for local keywords. That is what we will be discussing in the following paragraphs.

Since engines like Google are able to understand what you're trying to do and say, they can provide results based on your query.

The first thing that needs to happen is keyword optimization. What does this mean? When it comes down to keywords and local SEO, the name says it all—it involves optimizing for certain keywords related specifically to your business. This is the keyword relevance.

Moreover, proper keyword research is crucial in order to obtain a top local ranking, and with this, reach your desired local community and reach local customers more easily. This means that you will need to use certain keywords or phrases in your website's title, tags, URL, and content.

The next thing you should do in this optimization process is to find the right keywords for local SEO ranking success. To make sure that these keywords are relevant to your business, look at the results page and see if they are related. If you can't find a connection between them, then it's likely that the phrase might not be worth targeting for local SEO rankings. We recommend using Google's Keyword Tool or better yet, get a service that specializes in local SEO, either for your website or your business listings, in order to get started with finding relevant and popular keyword combinations related specifically to your business.

According to MOZ, On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search results. On-page SEO, as the name implies, refers to the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized. Off-page SEO, on the other hand, refers to links and other external signals. When you apply local SEO to your local business website, that means that each page of your website should be optimized for specific keywords for local search in order to get more local visibility.

For example, if you are running a local restaurant business in Mission, then each page should be optimized for the keywords "Mission restaurant" or something related. As far as the structure and layout of your website go, it's important that all pages have unique titles. The business title is pretty important in this part and should match every other title, for business directories, local listings, social media, etc. With Google wanting to provide its users with relevant results when they search, it's important that Google can easily recognize what your pages are about. If you're running a local business and need to find a Digital Marketing company in Texas, then make sure that this is clear on all of the relevant pages!

Also, when you're creating content for your website, it's important to do good keyword research in order to use targeted keywords so that Google can find what you want them to see. The more optimized your business is for the local finder and keyword relevance, the higher chance of ranking in local results - which means getting found by new potential customers in your area. There are a lot of ways to optimize for keywords, and we encourage you to check out our local SEO guide if you're interested!

Your business should have a good website that loads quickly, is mobile-friendly, and has lots of content to read in order to provide a good user experience, also called Behavioral Signals. Behavioral signals are another big part of how Google ranks sites and evaluates their relevance. According to Search Engine Watch, these include:

• The number of links pointing back to your website (quality over quantity)
• How long do people stay on a page once they land there (is it relevant?)
• User actions such as clicks and time spent on a page (how relevant is the content?)
• Domain authority and age of website (is this an established site that's been around for years or just launched last week? Is it trustworthy?)



You need to have a unique and positive user experience on your website. Having a good design that is easy for people to navigate, as well as creating plenty of great content about you will help influence those local search engine rankings in Google! If your site doesn't meet these criteria, then make sure to work on it and improve your rankings!

You want to make sure that your community knows about you and likes what you have to offer. Having a local area blog will help build recognition of your brand, as people from the surrounding areas will see it being shared on social media by their friends who live in the same city.



In order to get started with local SEO, you'll want a website that's built for the task and has been optimized in all of these ways. Make sure that your business information is easy to find on the local pack results so that when people are looking for what you have to offer near their home or work address, they can easily find it.

The next thing is to make sure your website has authority in the local area and also outside of it. Local search ranking factors are a big part of how businesses gain visibility in local sites. Not only do you want to make sure that your content is optimized, but also the structure and layout of your website. Remember that your website is the viral image or showcase of your business.



But outside of what your website implies, there are other ways to get better local rankings. A successful Local SEO strategy requires more than just knowing which keywords are most relevant; part of an effective strategy includes building links from reputable sources in a local area. This helps to increase the authority of your site which will, in turn, influence better search engine rankings for you and your customers! These include off-page factors such as local citations, inbound links, native google reviews, and more.

One of the best ways to rank well in local organic results is if you have a good link bounding. This can be made through inbound links (also called backlinks) coming into your website. Inbound links, basically, are links from other websites that point to your website - and the more relevant those links are, the better. When Google sees that other sites are linking to you and they think it's relevant, then your site can get better local rankings for local search results with those keywords.

What does a good inbound link or link building look like? First of all, it should be from an authority website in the same industry as yours (e.g., if you're running a local business that sells dresses, a link from the local newspaper wouldn't be as powerful as one from an industry-related site).

Second, it should have good anchor text that uses your targeted keywords. For example, if you're running a boutique dress shop and someone links to your website with "cheap dresses for sale" in their article's title or URL, then that's a good link-building strategy because it uses your targeted keywords. "Visit our website to see the latest styles of dresses" is much less powerful and will mean that you'll have to work harder in order for people to find you when searching on Google.

According to Safari Digital, there are some places where to begin your local link building, such as:

• Local publications
• Industry publications
• Local business directories
• Local community websites
• Local blogs
• Local Event Pages

Make sure that all incoming links are relevant and use your chosen keyword so that your site is seen as being authoritative when it comes to that term. It's important that these are natural and not spammy links because Google doesn't like fake ones too much!

Another way to build your local authority online is by having good citations on the web. Citations are basically mentions of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on the web. Having as many of these as possible not only helps your online visibility but can be used by Google and other search engines to determine whether your business is legitimate or not.

You want to make sure that there are plenty of online citations for your business. These could be on websites like Yelp, Google My Business, etc. It's important that all citations are consistent and match up with the information on your website. For example, if your address is 7001 North 10th Street Suite G3 in one place and 302 Main Street on another site, then Google will know that something's not right and you'll be penalized for it.

To check whether or not your business has good online citations, do a search on Google for your business name and make sure that you can find web pages with accurate information. If nothing comes up or if the pages are outdated, then it's probably time to get started with some online citations.

In addition to this, you should consider optimizing the business listing to the maximum, in order to be able to enter the local pack results. 

The local pack results are a set of 3 businesses obtained with a local intent search, which shows their information, such as Local Business NAP, related backlinks such as the website, and a sample of their location on google maps.

To rank in the local pack results, you should consider the Local Pack ranking factors and optimize your business listing with:

• Consistent business name.
• NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency and correctness.
• Proper categorization.
• Accurate and consistent classification of the primary GMB category (take a look at our blog: Local SEO with Google My Business)
• Accurate and consistent classification of the secondary GMB category
• Enhanced preferences in local search results.

Local business directories like Yelp and Yellow Pages are another great place to get your site listed. People use these sites all the time, so it's important that your business is present in these directories. Google's Mapmaker is also a great tool for local businesses to get their information listed and submitted to Google Maps.

And if you are an owner of a local business, then this is just the tip of the iceberg! You need to take into consideration that local search is much more than just Google, as Bing and Yahoo are also very important. The most common local business listings are usually:



• Facebook
• Yelp
• Better Business Bureau
• Linkedin
• Yellow Pages

It can be difficult to manage all of the different local search ranking factors, but it's a very important part of your business. If you're not sure how to get started or what the best local search ranking factors are, then give us a call at (956)-370-5150! We'd be happy to help you out.

In addition to the above, if you have good customer reviews of your business online it can help boost local search rankings. According to the Search Engine Journal, it's a good idea to encourage your happy customers and clients to write reviews of your business on trusted sites such as Yelp and Google.



For example, native google reviews are crucial in order to get a good score and to provide local search experts another reason to choose your services above all the other local services. If people trust you enough to leave reviews on websites like Yelp or Google My Business, then you are on the right track to ranking well for local search. The more reviews you have, the better! 

If you do this, make sure that all of these reviews are well-written and positive because they can reflect poorly on your business if they're not! Likewise, these can be linked to your website and denote the good reputation your business has. There are services that provide online reputation management for small businesses, allowing you to focus on your core business while our team works on building your online brand. Having them can also help you build up good online reviews that Google will see as being trustworthy, which in turn can boost your local rankings.

Finally but not less important, creating and distributing content that is relevant to your area may significantly improve your local search rankings. Users tend to appreciate interacting with businesses on topics that are relevant, and community based-you want to rank well in local search, then it's important that your website has lots of content and is frequently updated.

Another way to boost local SEO ranking is through social media marketing because we all know how popular it is! In the age where online marketing reigns supreme, it's so important to keep up with what works best for businesses when it comes to SEO.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram give business owners an opportunity to reach out directly to customers, by posting relevant, fresh relatable content. A unique user experience is important because if people enjoy your content, then they'll tell others about it through word-of-mouth or online reviews, so take advantage of those opportunities every time you get one!

Also, by making sure that both their website and social media have inbound links pointing back towards them, businesses can improve upon their Local search ranking factors.

We just covered a lot of information, and we're sure you're probably overwhelmed with all the new info. However, if you follow all of these factors, then you'll be on your way to obtaining high local search rankings. Local businesses are looking to rank highly in the local search results and google searches. Local SEO ranking factors are different from traditional website optimization, but they can still have an impact on your overall online presence. While many factors can influence your local search rankings, they continue to evolve and improve over time, so new methods and tools continue to emerge to improve.

With these tips from our blog post today, we hope that you can improve upon your current ranking or even start one if this article was helpful enough. Have fun experimenting with all these factors and let us know how they've helped out your business!

The most important thing is consistency! This is the only way you're going to rank well for local search, so just keep up with all of these different factors and your rankings will increase over time.

If you're looking for some Local SEO assistance, or you have a small business and you don't know how to start giving voice and image to your business, we are always ready to help you! So, don't hesitate to contact us. Consultation is free!