Landing pages are a crucial part of any online marketing campaign, and they play an essential role in driving conversions. If you are running a business with a local presence, it’s important to optimize your landing pages for local search to get the best results from your efforts. Keep reading to find out more about some of the best ways to optimize your landing pages for local search.
What is Local Search?
Local search is a type of online search focused on finding businesses, products, or services within a certain geographic area. Local search results are generally shown in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, along with other platforms like social media networks, review sites, and local business directories.
The main goal of local search is to provide users with relevant, accurate information about businesses physically located close by to them or that offer services in their area.
Local search is especially important for businesses that are located or provide services in a specific location such as restaurants, local healthcare providers, hotels, tradespeople, or local retailers. By optimizing their online presence for local search, companies can increase their visibility in search engine results pages, leading to driving more website traffic and conversions. Ultimately, focusing on local search for landing pages can help businesses grow their customer base and increase revenue.
1) Use Location-Specific Keywords
Using location-specific keywords is one of the most important aspects of optimizing your landing page for local search. For example, if you are an electrician in Dallas, using keywords like ‘electrician in Dallas’ or ‘electrical testing in Texas’ can help put your landing page in with a better chance of appearing in relevant search results. Wherever possible, include local keywords in page titles, headlines, meta descriptions, and throughout your landing page content.
2) Include Your Business’s NAP Information
You should always include your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) information on your landing page. Ensure that it is prominently displayed on your landing page and consistent across all online listings. When your NAP information is consistent, this helps both search engines and potential customers verify the legitimacy of your business. In turn, this can help increase your page’s local search rankings.
3) Use Schema Markup
Schema markup refers to a structured data format that helps search engines better understand your landing page content. Using schema markup can help your page appear in rich snippets, which can increase your visibility in search results. Using local business schema markup can help you get detailed information about your business such as your address, contact information, business hours, reviews, and more to appear in rich snippets, increasing the chance of it being seen.
4) Create High Quality Content
High quality content is a cornerstone of any landing page, but it’s especially important when optimizing your page for local search. Your landing page content should be relevant to your business and location, along with providing value to your potential customers. It can be worth including local events, landmarks, or news in your content. This can be a great way to connect with your local audience and improve your landing page’s local search rankings.
5) Use Local Images and Videos
Using local images and videos on your landing page can make it easier to connect with your audience and improve your page’s local search rankings. Consider including images and videos of your company’s location, team, or products to help potential customers get a better idea of what you offer. As a result, this can help with building trust in your brand. Optimize images and videos for SEO by including relevant titles, alt text, and descriptions.
6) Optimize Your Page Speed
The page speed is a crucial factor in both search engine rankings and the user experience. If your landing page loads slowly, this can have a harmful effect on your page’s local search rankings and drive potential customers away. Compressing your images and videos is a good way to optimize your page speed, along with minifying any JavaScript or CSS files. Using a content delivery network (CDN) can also be effective at reducing load times.
7) Get Listed on Google My Business
Google My Business is a free online listing service that allows companies to manage their online presence across Google’s services, including search results, maps, and more. When you are listed on Google My Business, this can help your landing page appear in relevant local search results, while providing valuable information to your potential customers such as your business hours, phone number, and address.
8) Get Listed on Local Directories
Having your business listed on local directories can boost the chance of your landing page appearing in relevant local search results and increase your page’s online visibility. It’s worth submitting your company information to a range of reputable local directories like Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, and Yelp. Be sure to include your NAP information consistently across all directories as this can be useful for improving local search rankings.
9) Encourage Customer Reviews
Customer reviews can be effective at not only improving your landing page’s local search rankings, but also building trust and credibility with your potential customers. Encourage your customers to leave reviews on your landing page or external review sites like Reviews.io, Google Reviews or Facebook reviews. Responding to both positive and negative reviews can also help you improve your page’s local search rankings and show your customers that you value their feedback.
10) Use Local Link-Building Strategies
Building high-quality links back to your landing page can help improve its local search rankings. There are various local link building strategies to consider including guest blogging on local websites and reaching out to other local businesses for link exchanges. Another option that’s worth considering is doing something newsworthy in your local area to be in with a chance of having your page linked to by local news outlets. Be sure to focus on quality over quantity with link building since low-quality links can be damaging to your page’s search rankings.
Optimizing landing pages for local search is essential for any business with a local presence. Keep these strategies in mind to get your landing pages in front of a local audience.
