It’s estimated that over 45 percent of all Google searches are geared toward local information.

That means that your local SEO is crucial to the life of your business. It may seem like small towns operate on a word-of-mouth basis, but even word of mouth is supplemented by a Google search or two these days.

Think about it- someone recommends a sandwich shop to you, you forget the name so you search “sandwich shops near me.” The suggested shop may pop up, but your eye is going to be drawn to the local site that ranks the best in the SERPS.

Here are some local SEO tips to make sure that your business ranks well.

Local SEO Tips for 2019

Local SEO is a little different than large-scale optimization for a few reasons. First, there’s a much smaller pool of competition.

That means that it’s easy for your competitors to push you out of the rankings with a will oiled SEO platform. It also means that you can easily move up if you do your due diligence.

Second, there’s greater importance on different things. Where keyword optimization and backlinking stand out in general optimization, local SEO can be greatly improved simply by being listed on business indexes. We’ll cover that idea more below.

Here are some essential tips to boost your SEO:

1. Get As Many Citations as Possible

Citations are general listing on business sites that index different sorts of organizations. It could be likened to being listed in the phone book.

The difference is, the internet has thousands of sites that could potentially have your information. They’re catalogs of your business name, physical address, telephone number, hours, etc.

On the one hand, being listed gives you exposure to more people who are searching for businesses of your kind. On the other, each site that lists you gives you a backlink toward your site.

While simple backlinks only have marginal effects on your ranking, they can mean a lot when the competition is poorly optimized.

2. Gather Reviews

A perk of being listed on business archives like Google My Business or Bing Places for Business is that customers will have easy access to leave reviews. Making yourself available to be reviewed is the first step of the process.

The next step is to incentivize leaving a review on your page. Whether you offer a discount to those who leave an online review, suggest a review on each receipt, or actually remind customers of the option in the person, make sure that you’re doing your best.

One great way to do this is to create a mailing list and promote it like crazy. If you can manage a point of sale system that sends email reminders after customer purchases, all the better.

Either way, generating positive reviews through great customer service is possibly the best way to boost your Google ranking.

Curious to Know More?

We’ve only scratched the surface with these local SEO tips. Getting a well-oiled optimization platform could be the push you need to move into the next tier of success.

The thing is, you need knowledge, and possibly a little help, to do get there. Visit our site to learn more about optimizing your site the right way.