{"id":17107,"date":"2022-12-12T10:52:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T10:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/local-seo-serps-map-pack-tips\/465041\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T10:52:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T10:52:32","slug":"12-proven-local-seo-tips-to-dominate-the-serps-and-map-pack-via-sejournal-wburton27","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=17107","title":{"rendered":"12 Proven Local SEO Tips To Dominate The SERPs And Map Pack via @sejournal, @wburton27"},"content":{"rendered":"

To attract new customers, you need to ensure you\u2019re in front of local searchers looking for your products or services.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not optimized for local search, you\u2019re missing out on a tremendous opportunity to reach potential customers in your area and drive incremental revenue, traffic, and sales.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll explain why local search is important and how you can ensure your business is optimized for the local search results to maximize performance.<\/p>\n

1. Get On A Local Search Platform<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many local search platforms<\/a> can fit into your budget, including Moz, Yext, RIO, RenderSEO, Chatmeter, Uberall, and SweetIQ, to name a few.<\/p>\n

Using a platform makes it much easier to manage all your listings. That includes getting your name, address, and phone number (NAP)<\/a> consistently and accurately listed across hundreds of local search engines and directories while also removing duplicate listings.<\/p>\n

Managing this manually is extremely time-consuming and tedious and can result in inaccuracies across the local search ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Bonus Tip<\/strong>: If you are an ecommerce brand, you definitely want to take advantage of Google\u2019s new feature, See What is in your Stores (SWIS).<\/p>\n

This is done by integrating live inventory into your Google Business Profile.<\/p>\n

Take advantage of the number of consumers searching for your products and services daily by letting them see in-store inventory in an unpaid product listing across Google properties, including Images, Shopping, and Maps.<\/p>\n

Few platforms have this integrated into the core feature set, but it\u2019s definitely worth looking into while it is still free.<\/p>\n

2. Use Structured Data<\/h2>\n

We all know structured data is important<\/a> for helping Google to better understand the content and that it can help increase clicks, impressions, and conversions.<\/p>\n

The same principle applies to local search<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why you should absolutely implement structured data types like local business<\/a>, geocoordinates<\/a>, postal address<\/a>, and reviews to help improve performance.<\/p>\n

3. Tap Into Google Business Profile & Optimize for It<\/h2>\n

If you are not using and optimizing your Google Business Profile, you\u2019re missing out on a tremendous opportunity to get your products and services visible where it matters the most.<\/p>\n

When optimizing for Google Business Profile, ensure you fill out all the information you can, including photos, menu items, descriptions, and service lines.<\/p>\n

High-quality photo content, in particular, can increase user engagement with your listing.<\/p>\n

It is best practice to add new photo content consistently and include images of the interior and exterior (including business signage), as well as photos covering the categories that are associated with your business type (rooms for hotels, food and drink for restaurants, products for retail, etc.).<\/p>\n

Images of your storefront and business signage are important to include on your listing to help prevent Google\u2019s algorithm from mistakenly suspending, disabling, or marking your listing as a duplicate of another business.<\/p>\n

In addition to high-quality photo content, you can also include short video content on your listing that will appear with your other photo content or can be included in your Google posts.<\/p>\n

You will want to be sure to follow Google\u2019s guidelines<\/a> when adding photo and video content.<\/p>\n

I have seen many brands not take advantage of listing their businesses in the right categories.<\/p>\n

If you are a pizzeria, you can list your business in restaurants and dining.<\/p>\n

Restaurants can optimize for a specific cuisine type, and Google constantly adds new categories.<\/p>\n

It is always a good idea to check to see if a new category can be utilized by your business listing to stay ahead of your competition.<\/p>\n

This is one of the most important aspects of local search optimization, so take the time to fill out menu information, description, etc.<\/p>\n

In addition, always keep your information up to date.<\/p>\n

For example, if I\u2019m searching for [modell\u2019s near me] and find a store with great reviews which appears to be open, but I drive there only to find it is closed, I will have a bad user experience.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s open again, I may not want to give the store another chance.<\/p>\n

\"12Screenshot from search, Google, December 2022<\/span>\"12<\/div>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important for businesses to update local search results \u2013 to clearly communicate to potential customers they are closed.<\/p>\n

In addition, Google has started displaying store operating status attributes within Maps.<\/p>\n

Large retailers with multiple in-store departments can use GBP to include secondary hours, as we see below.<\/p>\n

As appropriate, use this feature to update:<\/p>\n