Local SEO for B2C: A Quick Guide

Optimizing your B2C local search marketing will be a pivotal move to ensure you are attracting the right local market to your business. But what is local SEO for B2B companies, and how can you implement it in your campaigns? Read on to find out.

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What is local SEO for B2C?

Local SEO for B2C is a form of search engine optimization used to attract local customers to your business.

Let’s say, for example, you have a brick-and-mortar store and want to make sure you are not only capturing those walk-ins but also looking at online methods that will attract the right market to your store locally — this is where you would make sure you are utilizing local SEO to its fullest potential.

Local SEO will help you generate that traffic to your website and storefront as well as make you more visible to local clients.

Why is local B2C SEO important?

Local B2C SEO is essential because you’re nailing down your search engine optimization to be visible to local customers. This can seem like a daunting task when you first get started, but as you work on your local SEO presence, you will soon feel its benefits in the form of conversions and leads!

Here are several additional reasons why local SEO is so vital to your marketing:

• Match competitors who are already using local SEO to their advantage
• Increase local visibility when a client searches for a product or service near your business
• Get a cost-effective form of marketing and advertising for your business
• Reach customers already in the buying process
• Attract customers who are only visiting or passing through your area
• Deliver more qualified search traffic to your website
• Increase brand awareness
• Improve conversions and sales

As you can see, B2B local SEO is a strategy you can’t afford to skip.

How to optimize for local B2C SEO outside your site

When optimizing for local B2C SEO, you want to consider all the factors Google looks at when ranking your website, including off-page ones.

Here are some of the most important off-page Google local ranking factors:

• NAP citations: NAP information refers to your name, address, and phone number. When you list consistent NAP signals across online platforms, Google will be confident that your business is located where you say it is located, boosting your local search rankings.
• Google My Business: If you are looking to get into the local pack (the first three local results that look like ‘map’ results in the Google search results), you will want to make sure you have an optimized Google My Business listing.
• Online reviews: Having customers review you online, along with you responding to those reviews, can build a tremendous ‘trust’ factor with future customers and, of course, Google!

There are many ways to optimize for local B2C SEO, but let’s take a closer look at each of the above items.

NAP citations

NAP information is the easiest way for anyone to understand the name, address, and phone number of your business. This is the most important step because this is exactly how someone is going to find you and how Google will start measuring their trust in your business.

If you aren’t sure where to start, start by running a NAP audit to see exactly where you are listing your name, address, and phone number and if it’s consistent throughout.

Google Business Profile listings

Setting up a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing is a crucial step to ensuring that you have an online business presence.

When you make sure that the information that you add on GBP is consistent with your website and other online platforms, that’s when Google starts trusting that you are who you say you are! The name, address, and phone number should match your website word for word.

Google will give you a score for your GBP listing as you are setting up your profile, but remember that the score is often based on the basic information you include. Therefore, it’s crucial to optimize your GBP listing as much as you possibly can. The more information, the better!

Online reviews

As online reviews are one of Google’s local ranking factors, it’s important to encourage reviews. If a negative review comes in along the way, remember you can reply to customers to make all the difference in the world.

On-site optimization

You can have all these great optimizations done outside your website, but you’ll still be in trouble if you don’t also optimize your site itself. The key here is to make sure we are writing content that includes local keywords.

Some ways to do that include:

• Creating location pages (if you have different locations)
• Writing blog posts that include your local keywords
• Including local keywords in your titles (e.g., “HVAC company in Harrisburg wins award”)
• Using schema mark-up to mark out your address, phone number, and location, as well as reviews.

To further improve your local optimization, both on and off your site, let’s have a look at a few steps you can take:

Step 1: Look at the overall SEO optimization of your website, put together a solid local SEO strategy, and make sure your website has a functional, mobile-friendly version.

Step 2: Add NAP information wherever possible, making sure they are consistent across your site by running NAP audits and updating wherever you need to.

Step 3: Sign up to Google Business Profile and list your business. When you are optimizing your profile, be sure to add to your category.

It’s important that you also look at a few secondary categories, as this will affect the way you appear in search results. For example, if you only choose ‘air-conditioning services,’ you may lose out on ‘HVAC Services.’

Next, fill in the services and product fields. Then, ensure that your opening hours and other basic information are updated and appear the same as your website information.

Step 4: Look at sending out a mailer or ask customers to leave a review — you can send them the direct link to leave it on your GBP listing to make it an easy journey for them to do so. This benefits you since it’s one of Google’s local SEO ranking factors, and besides that, it can also build trust with future customers.

These are only some ways you can optimize for B2C local search marketing. Many other factors come into play, so don’t stop at what’s in this introductory guide!

Optimize your B2C’s local search presence

As you can see, there are many ways that we can optimize our B2C local search presence, but knowing exactly what to do and how to do it can be the confusing and time-consuming part. Getting in touch with a professional agency that specializes in B2C local search can help you clear up your schedule and start paving the way for local success.

Contact our B2C local SEO agency by calling 888-601-5359 or contact us online for a free quote today!