As a local business owner, in this age of googling and AI-powered search, you should constantly keep up with the new strategies and techniques in local SEO marketing to generate more leads and stay ahead of the competition.
Google and other search engines are making the search results more personalized for the users to make better suggestions for them. Especially, since last year, with the help of AI.
Now, considering all these recent changes in search engine ranking,
what SEO marketing strategies you should adopt to be discovered more often by local customers in 2024?
In other words, what you should do so that Google suggests your business to local consumers when they’re searching for related products and services?
Here, we’re going to put it simply and recommend 5 main factors to focus on for successful local search engine optimization in 2024. This may take less than 15 minutes to read but can paint a clear picture of your future SEO and marketing path.
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5 Factors for Successful Local SEO Marketing in 2024
As you know, local SEO optimization includes different aspects each of which plays an important role in making your business drive more leads. For example, managing Google My Business account, targeting local keyword research, on-page optimization, local link building, mobile optimization, etc.
However, to make the best out of each of these SEO & marketing components, you should set clear goals and leverage them effectively to meet your goals.
So, instead of just listing the new trends and changes here, we’ll define 5 main goals for your local SEO marketing in 2024 and give you some tips and techniques to accomplish them.
These goals include
- Being discovered by local customers,
- Building authority and relevancy,
- Creating a good experience for users/customers,
- Engaging users,
- Increasing conversion rates.
Let’s go over them one by one.
Goal 1: Be Discovered Easily by Local Consumers
Obviously, if you’re not discovered easily by the consumers, you won’t get any leads through your local SEO marketing. Given the smartphones, people have gotten used to googling every service/product they’re looking for on the go.
So, to beat other rivals in the same area, you should always make sure your business is among the top in search results. How?
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Optimizing Your GMB Account
You must have a verified and optimized Google My Business (GMB) listing with accurate and up-to-date information about your business.
A good GMB not only provides the info potential customers are looking for (such as phone number, working hours, address, etc.), but also allows users to see reviews by your actual customers and trust your products/services more easily. Plus, they can find you by keywords containing location-related words, such as the name of the city or neighborhood.
Read GMB Optimization Strategies in 2024 to learn simple techniques to rank higher.
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Mobile SEO Optimization
As more and more people use cell phones to search on the net for information, you should also make sure your website is mobile-friendly, otherwise you’re going to lose more potential leads than you can imagine.
Besides, when it comes to ranking higher in Google search results pages, being optimized for mobile devices is a big determining factor. So, you should see mobile SEO optimization as part of your local SEO marketing strategy.
Learn The Secrets of a Mobile-Friendly Site here.
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Identify Your Customers’ Needs and Interests
Google Analytics and, nowadays, AI-powered tools based on Large Language Models, can help you to find out what are your customers’ common queries, interests, preferences, and needs.
Based on this information, you can create/enhance your website content (blog articles, images, and videos) to be found by users when searching for related keywords. Also, you’ll get insights into new trends and can improve your products and services to meet the new demands.
Goal 2: Build Relevancy and Authority
The other important goal is to establish a business website that is trusted and credible in your line of work.
This is important both for the users to be able to trust the content created by you (and eventually your products/services) as an expert, as well as for search engines to recognize your website’s credibility and authority to rank you higher in search results.
To build relevancy and authority, you should prioritize
- creating useful, relevant, and first-hand content regularly. Just remember it’s not about quantity, it’s all about quality. So, creating one good blog a month is much more important than publishing useless unrelated content every day. Bad content actually lowers your website value and compromises its reliability and authority. Just focus on your field of expertise.
- finding the content gaps in your website. This means identifying the topics your potential customers are looking for, or your competitors are working on, and planning for filling these gaps by creating relevant informative content.
- optimizing your service pages, landing pages, contact page, and about us page. Make sure the basic information, NAP (name, address, phone number), is consistent everywhere (including your GMB). Plus, add info that customers are looking for or expect to see. For example, your service area, how they can place an order, or even briefly introducing your staff. To put it in a nutshell, put yourself in your potential leads’ shoes and write content that is user-focused.
- encouraging customer interaction. Ask your customers for reviews on your GMB and include a testimonial section on your website. It’s an important factor for credibility. The more users interact with your website or GMB, the higher your rank will be on search results pages.
Goal 3: Provide Good Experience
Simply put, you should make sure when potential customers or loyal customers visit your website, they don’t get confused and frustrated and can quickly access what they’re looking for.
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
- Your NAP must be the same EVERYwhere you have them to avoid confusion.
- Make sure your website has a good User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX). For example, it’s easy to find the services, contact details, products, information about different branches of your business, etc.
- Your website has to be mobile-friendly and mobile users shouldn’t get frustrated when entering your website due to cluttered menus, accidental taps, too many pop-ups, etc.
- Speed is key. Optimize your website to load fast. Learn more about Speed Optimization for SEO and Lead Generation here.
- Add some useful FAQs to your homepage, service pages, landing pages, and any other important pages.
- Make sure your site pages work properly and there aren’t too many broken pages and other technical issues.
- Personalizing the user experience goes a long way. User’s location, behavioral signals, previous interactions with your website, etc., can provide good information for a more personalized experience. This also improves user engagement, which is our next goal.
Goal 4: Improve Customer/User Engagement
Create content that engages the users for a long time. This includes text, images, and videos.
The time users spend on the content signals the search engines that it’s valuable. This improves your website overall rank and credibility. When creating content,
- try your best to include info that users are looking for. And, don’t promise something that’s not actually there. Like big attractive titles that don’t reflect the content of the blog at all. Tricking the users to get more views will haunt you back in the long run.
- do your best to make the text simple to read. Bulleted lists, tables, and other easy-to-skim techniques can help users find the answers to their questions quickly and have a good experience.
- include first-hand content (text, image, video) in your field of expertise or about your products/services.
- share a part of your content on your business social media accounts, such as Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
- include your customers’ reviews and add case studies.
Goal 5: Increase Conversion Rate
Why are we doing all this? To increase conversions of course! As you may have noticed, these goals are not separated. All of them affect each other and ultimately your business’s success.
Please note that getting more organic traffic is one thing and convincing the leads to take action and become customers is another.
Below, you can find some concluding tips on how to increase conversion rates with your local SEO marketing techniques. Some of them have already been discussed above.
- If customers can order your services/products online, make the checkout process as simple as possible.
- Include Call-to-Actions (CTAs) wherever needed and optimize them.
- Have a simple and easy-to-navigate website that includes relevant content that your target audience is interested in.
- Include all the necessary info about your products/services.
- Add pictures and videos from your products/services as well as REAL customers’ reviews, testimonials, and case studies.
- Regular updates on the website and GMB are necessary.
- Optimize and test your website constantly to make sure everything is working properly.
- Don’t forget to offer some discounts or other incentives to encourage conversion.
- Make sure your website doesn’t take too long to load. People don’t wait nowadays.
- Use Google Analytics and other tools to get insights about your customers’ needs and preferences. Put this data into good use to improve your products/services and create personalized experiences for the users.
- Real-time assistance (live chat) can build trust and help the users place an order or get the info they’re searching for more easily.
Invest time, energy, and money (if necessary) to create compelling content. Don’t count on AI-generated content so much. Read Short-term and Long-term Benefits and Challenges of AI-Generated Content for more information.
Let’s Make a Conclusion about our Local SEO Marketing Goals in 2024
Overall, having strong technical SEO support and putting your customers’ needs above all are the first steps to gaining organic leads through SEO digital marketing in 2024.
People are relying on artificial intelligence and search engines to find reputable businesses these days. That’s why, if your brand doesn’t get positive interactions from customers and credit from search engines, it’ll be difficult to count on this kind of free marketing.
Call for more information
FAQs about Local SEO and Marketing
Our accomplished SEO professionals are answering some of your most common questions about local SEO marketing.
How Long Does It Take to Get Organic Leads from Local SEO Marketing?
The answer isn’t straightforward because it depends on many factors, such as
- your line of business,
- the city you’re located in and the level of competition you have there,
- your SEO engine optimization strategies,
- how much time and money you’re ready to invest in your local SEO optimization.
But, on average, it’ll take 3 to 6 months to start generating high-quality organic leads from your SEO marketing.
Is There Any Tools to Track My Website’s Local SEO Performance?
Yes. There are some general tools, like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, to get insights into your website’s performance, the potential issues, and your visitors’ behavior. Besides, you can use more specific tools designed for local SEO optimization, such as Moz Local, BrightLocal, and SEMrush. They help you manage your online presence across different platforms, track your local search performance for specific keywords, and much more.
Does My Activity on Social Media Platforms Affect My Local SEO Optimization?
Yes. Especially since the second half of 2023, Google started valuing real people’s experiences as useful content. That’s why, when you google something, you first see blog posts and people’s comments on social media, such as LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Qoura, Reddit, etc. near the top of the Google search result page. It’s true also for your GMB and your brand’s page on social media. The more people interact with them, the more valuable and credible your brand will become (as far as Google is concerned).
What’s more, nowadays people are using social media a lot and it’s an opportunity for all kinds of businesses to promote their brands, get in touch with their target audience directly, encourage their engagement, and generate leads.
Are You Looking for an Experienced SEO Team without Up-Front Payment?
At Top Organic Leads, you can have local SEO services and pay only for the actual leads you get. With this Pay-Per-Lead SEO service, you don’t have to worry about losing your money on ineffective marketing strategies. Call 971-248-0953 for further information.
