Local SEO in Manchester

Local SEO is key for small businesses that operate on a local level, rather than a national level. Local SEO Manchester, for example, will focus on marketing your brand and products or services to customers and leads in the Manchester area – as opposed to trying to get you ranking in the UK as a whole.

The benefits of local search engine optimisation Manchester are that you should end up with more website traffic, which means more leads and therefore more conversions as the strategy you are using are most relevant to your customer base. Focusing in on a local area in this way can help you to compete more effectively against national brands who will probably have a huge budget behind them. They are focusing on brand recognition by optimising for broader keywords, while you can use value propositions to bring in traffic.

So, here are some ways you can improve your local SEO right now:

#1 Optimise your Google My Business account

It is really important to claim your business on Google My Business (GMB) so that your business shows up on Google maps and also your presence is established on the search engine. Not only will it ensure your business appears in search results, but if Google authenticates your business you could appear in the sidebar.

To ensure your GMB listing is optimised you should:

  • Verify your listing
  • Make sure all of the information is correct and up to date
  • Include plenty of images
  • Encourage your customers to leave a review
  • Create content within your account using ‘Google Posts’

#2 Get reviews from happy customers regularly

Getting reviews from happy customers not only helps optimise your GMB profile, but it also helps to encourage other local people to buy from you. In fact, a study by BrightLocal in 2017 showed that 85% of customers believe online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

To encourage customers to leave reviews you could try:

  • Talking to them after the sale and personally asking them to leave a review
  • Send them an email after their purchase (as long as you have pre-screened them to ensure they are happy)

You should also make sure you respond to every review, thanking the reviewer for taking the time to leave a review and addressing any complaints in a professional way.

#3 Ensure you are optimising for voice search

Voice search is on the increase and so when you are undertaking local SEO it is important to take into account the way that people ask their smart speakers questions as opposed to how they would type a question into a search engine.

What it boils down to, really, is customers tend to use more long-tail keywords in voice search compared to normal search. So, the tone of your content needs to be more conversational and account for the usual question starters which are ‘who, what, when, where, why, and how.’

It is also important to take user intent into account as voice searches tend to be performed by people searching for a very specific piece of information.

#4 Create content based on local news stories and events

The great thing about content that factures local news stories and events is that it relates directly to the customer you are targeting, and so it can be a great way to grab their attention.

You can write blog posts based on local activities or events, or make videos about a local charity or cause your business supports. If you serve different parts of a region, you may want to have different landing pages on your website that are focused on these specific parts and which feature hyperlocal content about these regions.

#5 Use location-specific ‘About Us’ pages

If your business has more than one location in a region, then it is critical for you to have location pages for each of these outlets. Each location page should contain:

  • Name, address, and phone number
  • Individualised description
  • Opening hours
  • Parking availability
  • Testimonials
  • Any promotions that are location specific
  • Google Maps attached to each page

If you have been following us then you will know that SEO is changing at a rapid pace at the moment and Google will probably introduce more and more features into its SERPs for local searches. That is why it is essential that you keep on top of local SEO. If you are looking for an agency to help you with SEO in Manchester then please give us a call on 0161 730 0530 or email us at hello@seomcr.com

About the author

Simon is best know for Co-Founding AccommodationforStudents.com, a portal for student accommodation which attracts over 2 million visitors a year. Simon has 17 years online digital marketing experience and has widespread knowledge of building and/or optimising websites in most industries.

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