Local SEO refers to tactics that increase the visibility of your website on local search engine results. For eCommerce sites, it means getting your site ranked higher in local search results, which will get more people to visit your site.
Wondering what kind of impact local SEO can have for your eCommerce site?
You can hire a local SEO company that will look at different ways to leverage local searches for your eCommerce site.
7 ways to leverage Local SEO for your eCommerce site
1. Keep your store’s information up to date
The easiest way to ensure that your business shows up prominently in local search results is to make sure your Google My Business information is accurate. Adding information like a detailed business description, photos of your store, operating hours, website and phone number will help Google know what you’re all about.
Don’t forget to update your listings on third-party websites as well. Many businesses have one listing on Yelp but another on Yahoo Local. Make sure all of your listings are consistent and up-to-date with accurate information.
At the same time, pay attention to the SERPs and the results that show up for your name and address — if you’re not showing up where you’d like to be, it might be time to claim the listings that aren’t currently yours. Even if your business doesn’t rank for many keywords right now, claiming these listings can help establish yourself as an essential local entity in Google’s eyes.
2. Create rich product pages for your eCommerce site
If you have an online shop, make sure each product has its dedicated page on your website — not just a long list of features and specifications that users have to dig through to find the information they’re looking for.
Make sure that each product page includes all relevant information about that item — detailed pictures, customer reviews, descriptions — so users who click on the link will leave with all their questions answered.
Create user-friendly category pages. If your business sells different products — say hats and t-shirts — organize them into relevant categories so customers can easily find what they are looking for without scrolling through hundreds of irrelevant products.
The title tag should include relevant keywords related to the product and its category, while the meta description should contain a summary of the item along with a call to action such as “Shop Now”.
3. Connect your site with Google My Business
Google My Business is a free service that makes it easy for businesses to create a Google profile. The profile will show up in the local results on Google. And, you can manage your business information, create or claim your listing, and edit your website all from one place.
The first step in optimizing your eCommerce site for local search is connecting it with Google My Business. This will allow you to add specific information about your products, directions to your location, and much more. You’ll also be able to connect it directly to your Facebook page or Twitter profile so you can make it easy for visitors to find you on social media as well.
You must have a Google+ account if you want to use this feature. You’ll also need to verify ownership of your business by providing a government-issued ID and a mailing address for your business.
Once you have completed these steps, you can start adding information about your business, which you can do through the dashboard on Google My Business.
4. Optimize your site for mobile devices
You must have a mobile-friendly site, or you are going to lose out on business. Many people are using their phones to surf the web, so if your site is not optimized for mobile devices, it’s going to be bad for business.
This will ensure that your page displays correctly when viewed on smaller screens. Make sure your text isn’t too small and that links are big enough to click on with a finger.
The first step is to make sure your site’s content is optimized for mobile users. Make the text readable and the images small enough that they don’t slow down page loading. Also, make sure your site’s URL structure is short and simple — if people can’t remember it, they won’t be able to type it quickly into their phones.
5. Make use of video content on the platform where your customers are – YouTube
The video content is the most crucial part of the website. It is the only medium that can attract customers, so you have to ensure that your eCommerce site has videos.
If your business is new to the market, you must start with a few customer reviews so that people can know about your product and are not hesitant to buy it. You can also use this video content for paid marketing on YouTube, which will encourage potential customers to visit your website. If you are already running an online business, you should use videos on your product pages to increase sales. Also, one of the most important things that you may need to include in one of your video content is a link to your website.
You should also make sure that you are using rich snippets for your search engine rankings. Rich snippets help people find out more about your company and its products before even clicking on them. If they give you a glimpse of what they will find, such as images and ratings, they will be more likely to click through than if all they see is a link.
6. Develop a presence on Facebook
If you are selling to customers in a specific location, promoting your brand on Facebook is necessary. The more people see your brand, the more likely they are to buy from you.
A business page on Facebook is very different from that of a personal profile. A personal profile can be great for interacting personally with friends, but for promotion, businesses need a presence on the Facebook page.”
Create a Facebook page for your business, and be sure to include your business details such as an address, phone number and website URL. This will allow customers to find your business efficiently, and you can also use Facebook’s “check-in” feature to let customers know when you are near.
7. Strategically use location targeting on Google Adwords
This allows you to target people near your business address using keywords relevant to what your business offers.
This can be done by setting up location-targeted campaigns within your Adwords account. Here’s how:
- Set up a new campaign for this region.
- The next step is to set the location targeting. In the ‘Locations’ section, click ‘Edit’. Then, enter all areas you wish to target and click ‘Save and get codes’.
- This will produce a list of ad text ideas. Use these as a starting point for developing your ads! You can then edit them (by clicking on each ad and then ‘Edit’) and adding any other details you might like to include.
- Create your ads and start bidding on relevant keywords!
Conclusion
Small businesses make up a large majority of eCommerce sites and directories and for good reason. In the early days of the Internet, people were still getting accustomed to shopping online, and they needed physical addresses to feel comfortable buying from an eCommerce site.
This led to local SEO being even more critical for smaller businesses because it gave them that extra touch of legitimacy enough to convince people to buy from them rather than their larger competitors.
