6 Common Local SEO Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Over 80 percent of smartphone users rely on search engines to find local businesses. For this reason, businesses can benefit greatly by improving their local SEO strategies. These strategies can bring in the traffic needed produce the number of desired conversions and sales. At InterActive Circle, we can help you optimize your local SEO marketing efforts to achieve success in your industry.

Local SEO must be done correctly. Shortcuts will not suffice when you are competing with other determined businesses in your local marketplace. Some of the mistakes that are made in the realm of local search engine optimization, and which can be avoided, include the following:

Content Related Issues

Non-GEO-specific content is a problem. About 66 percent of smartphone users are more inclined to purchase from stores that customize their information based on their location.

However, stuffing GEO keywords is counterproductive. Google’s algorithm will likely pick up the insertion of a town or city in the footer or header of the document. By doing this, you may incur a penalty as opposed to a better ranking in SERPs. Only target areas you provide products or services to with GEO specific keywords.

In addition — low quality, irrelevant, or non-substantive content will not help prospective buyers make a purchase. About 70 percent of customers visiting a business have made the decision to purchase due to the information they read online. Unhelpful content will not motivate sales.

Inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)

If potential buyers of your products and/or services can find your contact details and search engine page results, they are more likely to buy from you. It is especially important for local businesses to have consistent contact information listed on all various platforms and directories online.

Not Claiming Google My Business (GMB)

More than half of local retailers have not yet claimed a Google My Business listing. Having this listing is generally recognized as an important part of an effective local SEO strategy.

Failure to Use Your Location in Keywords

It is important to have your GEO in your keywords and at the same time avoiding any keyword stuffing with the locations around you, i.e. towns, cities, etc.

Failure to Optimize and Tracking Attribution

You can increase the optimization of your site’s content and identify the origination points of your customer by implementing methods to track attribution. By tracking attribution, you can also pinpoint high performing channels and understand better the search behavior of your customers.

Not Effectively Using Structured Data

By implementing Schema Markup, you can assist search engines in knowing the location of your office and facilitate the delivery of highly relevant content through SERPs to your users.