Want to improve your local search ranking in 2024? This article breaks down the 10 local SEO ranking factors 2024. Find out what to focus on and how to optimise your local SEO.
1. Google Business Profile Optimisation
Optimising your Google Business Profile is key to improving your local SEO ranking. This optimisation impacts how your business appears in local search results, so you get more leads. The three key factors that affect Google Business Profile ranking are relevance, distance and prominence. Knowing these will help you optimise your profile for maximum visibility.
Adding a link to your website in your Google Business Profile increases your online presence and authority. This one simple step can impact how search engines see your business. Consistent and accurate business information is key to being visible in Google search results.
Regular updates with good photos and posts increases customer engagement and visibility. Showcasing your products and services attracts customers and search relevance. This makes your profile more appealing and tells search engines your business is active.
Choosing the right primary and additional categories for your business is important. This helps Google understand your services and visibility in search. Respond to both positive and negative reviews shows customer interaction and can improve your business’s reputation. Each of these contributes to a strong Google Business Profile that stands out in local search results.
2. Quality and Quantity of Local Reviews
High quality positive reviews are important for ranking in Google Maps. They convert and validate your business, which is key for local SEO. Imagine a local restaurant with dozens of 5 star reviews; it naturally attracts more customers and ranks higher in local search.
Real customer reviews can improve your review profile and local SEO. Reviews are genuine and professionally replied will boost organic rankings and customer loyalty.
Reviews are important for being visible on Google’s front page listings. Managing reviews including fake ones is key to credibility and local search rankings. Google uses reviews to signal relevance which can impact conditional leads. So you need to actively manage and reply to reviews.
Replying to reviews helps organic rankings. It shows to potential customers and search engines that you care about feedback and service improvement. This proactive approach improves local SEO and customer loyalty.
3. Localised Content (AKA Location Pages)
Localised content increases your visibility in local search results. Location based landing pages attracts traffic even without physical presence in that area. Mentioning local landmarks or events will further increase relevance for local business search queries.
Structured data tells search engines what your content means, attracts traffic. This ensures your localised content is understood and indexed, increases visibility in local search. Local landing web pages should have unique and helpful content for specific locations, not duplicate content across pages.
Using original images of the location on your landing pages increases content relevance and community connection. This makes your content more engaging and tells search engines you have a real local presence.
Relevant and localised content is key to local search visibility. Highlighting each location’s unique selling points creates content that resonates with local customers and improves local SEO.
4. Mobile Friendliness and Site Speed
Over 50% of global web traffic is from mobile devices, mobile SEO is important in 2024. Google’s mobile first indexing indexes and ranks the mobile version of your site. Local SEO is closely tied to mobile search as users search for local businesses on their mobile devices. SEO is important for visibility in these searches.
A mobile friendly site increases user engagement and satisfaction, important for keeping visitors and rankings. Improving user experience through design will increase engagement and better rankings.
Mobile page speed optimisation involves techniques like image compression and minimising JavaScript to load fast. Using AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) will increase mobile page load speed. Google’s PageSpeed Insight tool can be used to check site speed and performance to know what to improve.
User centric design improves site usability, organic traffic and ranking. Focusing on mobile friendliness and site speed ensures your site meets mobile users needs and ranks well in local search.
5. NAP Consistency Across Directories
NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency across directories is important for local SEO. Consistency will help search engines to identify your business and potential customers to find you. Inconsistent NAP listings will lower local search rankings as search engines may not trust the information.
NAP consistency reduces the risk of duplicate listings which can confuse customers and dilute your online presence. Regular NAP audit across listings will help to maintain accuracy and prevent misinformation.
Accurate NAP data helps in analytics, businesses can track customer interactions across platforms. Having consistent and up to date NAP information improves local SEO and business visibility in local search.
6. High Quality Backlinks from Local Sources
High quality links from trusted sources are important for local SEO rankings. Link signals is a big chunk of local SEO ranking factors, it establishes your site’s authority and relevance and therefore boost your local SEO.
Get links from local authority sites to boost your local SEO. Getting backlinks from high authority sites will increase your credibility and rankings.
Mention local charities and organisations on your landing pages to build community connection and get backlinks. High engagement on social media will also get you more backlinks as your content is shared across platforms. Getting high quality backlinks will increase your local SEO performance.
7. On-Page SEO for Local Landing Pages
On-page SEO for local landing pages is using local keywords to increase search visibility through local search engine optimisation. Natural language processing is important for content optimisation as voice search uses longer and conversational phrases.
All in One SEO plugin optimises content by setting key phrases, on-page analysis and generating meta tags. A title tag starting with a keyword will perform better and is an on-page SEO signal. Schema will help search engines to understand your content and can lead to better rankings.
Implementing schema will increase your search listings visibility through rich snippets. Internal links is important for SEO as it connects pages, increases rankings and enhance visitor navigation. URL for local landing pages should be short and include keywords and location names.
Google will penalise pages for keyword stuffing; natural keyword usage is important for SEO and using tools like google search console can help you monitor this.
8. Social Media Engagement Signals
Social shares is not a direct ranking factor but can indicate business popularity and relevance and indirectly impact local SEO. A big Twitter following with high engagement means a legit business profile that likely attracts local customers.
Social signals includes engagement metrics like likes, comments and shares, it reflects the business’s online interaction. Using branded anchor text and creating strong social signals will establish authority in the community. Focusing on social media engagement will indirectly boost your local SEO and attract more local customers.
9. User Experience and Behavioural Signals
User engagement metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and bounce rates will impact local SEO rankings. High bounce rate will negatively impact a site’s ranking, means users don’t find the content relevant.
Search engines will consider user signals like time spent on the page and overall interactions when determining rankings. Social signals from Facebook and Twitter don’t directly impact Google rankings but can increase website visibility and traffic and indirectly benefit SEO.
Optimise user experience and monitor behavioural signals to boost your local SEO and make sure your site meets your audience needs especially when using google analytics.
10. Correct Schema Markup Implementation
JSON-LD is the preferred method for schema markup because of its simplicity and ease of maintenance. Schema markup is important for local businesses as it will give search engines detailed information about their services and increase visibility.
Schema markup will ensure search engines to show your offerings correctly in local search results. Updating schema markup regularly according to changes in services or offerings is important to maintain accuracy and relevance.
Showing accurate schema in local search results will boost your local SEO big time. Implementing and maintaining schema markup will increase your business visibility and attract more local customers.
Conclusion
In summary, optimising your Google Business Profile, getting high quality local reviews and creating local content are all important to boost your local SEO. Being mobile friendly and maintaining NAP consistency across directories will increase your visibility in local search results.
Getting high quality backlinks from local sources, focusing on on-page SEO for local landing pages and leveraging social media engagement signals will help a lot in your local SEO. Improving user experience and correct schema implementation is important to have a strong local SEO presence.
By following these 10 local SEO ranking factors you can drive more traffic to your business and attract more local customers. Take action and optimise your local SEO now and beat the competition in 2024. If your looking for a local SEO expert in Perth, Please talk to our Perth digital marketing agency professionals to start dominating your niche today.
FAQs
Why is Google Business Profile Optimisation important for local SEO?
Google Business Profile Optimisation is important for local SEO because it will increase your visibility in search results by increasing your relevance, distance and prominence. Keeping your information updated and actively engaging with customer feedback will impact your ranking and attract more local customers.
How do local reviews affect my business’s SEO ranking?
Local reviews will increase your business’s SEO ranking by validating your business and convert. Managing and responding to reviews will increase your visibility and credibility in local search.
What is local content for local SEO?
Local content is important to increase your visibility in local search results. By creating location based content and including local landmarks you will attract more relevant traffic and boost your local SEO.
Why is mobile friendliness and site speed important for local SEO?
Mobile friendliness and site speed are important for local SEO because it will increase user engagement and comply with Google’s mobile-first indexing which prioritise mobile version of sites for ranking. Investing in a fast and mobile optimised website will increase your visibility and attract more local customers.
How does NAP consistency affect local SEO?
NAP consistency is important for local SEO because it will allow search engines to identify your business correctly and prevent lower search ranking and customer confusion. Keeping your NAP information uniform and updated is important for local visibility.
