When you hear “local SEO”, you immediately think of all businesses located in your neighbourhood. But while it may seem easy as pie making, there are many nuances involved in your website searches.
The internet is the whole world, more exactly a world of more than 1 billion websites. Ask any knowledgeable business leader, and they will tell you that to stand out and reach any audience, you need to learn and practice search engine optimization SEO. And they do have a good point.
The modern consumer is expecting to find local businesses in the search results. If you’re not there, you’re going to lose out. You need to stay above the competition, and the only best way to do that is by employing a sound local SEO strategy, one that’s engaging, easy to use, and basically, everything else that can make your customers happy. This is where keeping up with your local SEO updates proves to be critical.
New Features for Google Business Profile
When Google rebranded Google My Business, the new nickname came with a series of new additions, too.
Maybe the most impactful was that business owners no longer need to dig through a platform or app to adjust or update their listings. Google lets you add or update contact details, schedule hours, add images, and more right from Google Maps or Google Search. You can also address issues like suspensions from Search, and complete the verification process in no time, making it easier than ever to gain a powerful presence in the local SERPs. If making these additions to your business’ website seem too difficult, you can always recruit help from SEO experts like Passion Digital and let them handle your online presence.
Local News Are Easier to Find and Catch Up On To
On the back of searchers for [news near me], Google added features to the local SERPs to make local news easier to create and find.
Google’s new projects aid journalists enrich their stories with local data and information. One of them allows you to access geographic comparisons, charts, and data visualizations for data analysis at the national, country and state levels.
Google also made local, new stories easier to find in the search results with these updates:
- Local new carousel: Relevant local news to your query now appears at the top of the search result, making it easier to find while giving local media and publications more visibility.
- Top stories carousel: Local new sources with authority will appear alongside the major publications. Both tend to dominate this portion of the search results.
- More news in the Search: Google connects the news to extensive topic queries.
- Local tweets: Journalists and local publications appear in the new section with tweets rather than just published stories.
Improved Visual Elements and Better Results
Microsoft Bing rolled out last year five major updates focused on providing local searches with a richer experience by adding visual elements within its text-based search results.
- Infographic-like results are very compelling, convincing people using extensive queries to find more about a particular topic
- Integrated visual Search – gives users a better chance to find similar items by tapping the integrated visual search button.
- Expandable carousels provide additional information when you hover over a result.
How do these updates serve your local SEO? Well, search engines like Bing applied the same concept to their local search results.
Instead of text-based facts or image carousel, Microsoft Bing provides a visually rich SERP for local queries that include only relevant results gathered from top images, reviews, Bing Maps, and other sources.
These updates have made Bing a more attractive space to focus your local SEO efforts. Creative business leaders can own the local search environment or call for backing from a reliable SEO agency London if they’re willing to try some of the many local search prospects.
Mobile-Indexing – still a top-of-mind priority for Google
Roughly 90% of the world’s internet population is accessing the internet from their mobile. If that number doesn’t compel business owners to improve their mobile friendliness, then there’s no way they can make it in the SERPs.
Google has improved its algorithms to prioritize mobile-first indexing for new websites, and it’s continually doing so. That can only mean that search engines like Bing and Google will review and rank new websites based on their mobile design, and if you’re not offering a stellar mobile experience, there’s no better time than now.
You can use Google’s mobile-friendly tool to check whether or not your website is optimized for mobile. The tool shows you exactly how your sites look on a mobile screen and also provides suggestions to make your website’ mobile experience better.
Google Introduces Pointy into Business Profile
SEO agencies and local businesses are given a new tool with the introduction of Pointy from Google.
The new feature lets you add products to your Google Business Profile and keep the inventory actualized. It’s always connected to your sales system, which means it will automatically update every time you sell an item.
Pointy was inspired by a study showing that early in June, 50% of consumers in the U.S checked online to see whether the product was in stock before purchasing. But leaving that aside, this new addition can be quite advantageous to your local SEO.
So far, 2022 has been a fast-paced year with several improvements in digital marketing – local SEO included. As Google continues to encourage a user-friendly approach, the best way to stay on the floating line is still to provide an increasingly seamless and engaging local search experience.
