Investing in local SEO India is a smart way to build a successful small business both offline and online. A solid SEO strategy will enable you to build brand awareness and even grow your business to newer heights.

As a small business owner who wants to compete on the same playing field as full-blown companies with more resources, having a well-thought local SEO strategy is essential. Unlike regular SEO, local SEO play by slightly different rules. You do not need hundreds of links pointing to your platform or reams of funding at your disposal to be relevant and visible to a local audience. All you need is some understanding of aspects that go into play and apply them into your marketing strategy.

But local SEO is somehow a confusing topic; or even tougher for those who are new to the concept. If you are trying to differentiate your business from the internet noise and build your organic search presence to grow your brand and profit margins online, then this article is for you. We shall highlight some of the top SEO strategies for your small business:

So, first things first, what is local SEO

It involves optimizing your website to rank better for a local audience. Having a site allows you to target clients from across the globe. However, if your focus is on the people who live in your city or adjacent towns, you will need to perform some local SEO as well. So, for instance, if you are in India, and your target market is local, then you’ll need to practice some local SEO India to help capture the audience that’s in the same geographical area as you.

Note that local SEO is not all about search engines. There’s indeed plenty of things to do online to optimize your platform for a local audience. But for a local business, things like print brochures and word-of-mouth also contribute to local SEO. The same applies to mentioning your site and social media platforms on your offline promotion/communication too – this might increase your Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and even direct traffic to your site.

Other than that, here are some few SEO tactics to improve your local SEO in India

Verify your Google My Business (GMB)

Your first step should be to link your business’ Google Plus page with GMB. GMB allows you to update their data across Google Search, Google Plus, and Google Maps at one go, to ensure that a prospect never misses you irrespective of their location or the device they are using.

According to Local SEO Stats published on Hubspot, about 46% of all Google searches are looking for information and that 88% of clients who perform a local search on their mobile devices call or visit a store within a day. The post further revealed that 78% of location-based mobile searches led to an offline purchase and that local searches result in purchases 28% of the time. That’s why the value of verifying your Google Plus page cannot be overstated – because it allows you to monopolize a significant part of the search result pages for your brand name – most importantly for the Local Business Card on the right. You can also leverage the incredible features available for businesses on GMB like booking tab, Google Posts, Questions, and Answers, messaging, etc.

Host user-generated reviews

Google looks at customer reviews as a top-ranking factor – but besides that, reviews (especially peer-to-peer) also helps users to connect and trust you more. In which case, the web has made it easier for small business through the exposure and power of online user-generated reviews. Google loves content. It thrives on content. And since these reviews are unique to a user (but with similar phrases and word as those that searchers use), there is a higher chance of your business showing up on result page when users search for your services.

Create quality content

In the online world, content is king. People are often seeking for fresh content to consume, and so does Google. When you provide high-quality content that’s packed with relevant information that users are looking for, then Google will often recommend you to its users. Again, when people can count on your website for quality information, they are bound to view you as an authority, and will often come back, sometimes with a friend or two.

Use local directories and citations to boost your exposure

Citation is your company’s online listing with information like phone number, web URL, ratings, physical location, and reviews. Local citations play a significant role in ranking for small businesses since sites like Yellow Pages and Yelp are highly trusted by Google. So, take advantage of different online directories and be sure to include critical information like addresses, links to your site, working hours, brand logos, office locations, among other things.