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Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
Digital Marketing for Startups: Saad Rajas Advice on What to Know About Local SEO in 2018
If your startup business is about delivering services to a local audience, you’d be delighted to know that 50% of people that do a search on local businesses make a purchase within the same day. This is according to Google.
Most people conducting local searches are at the purchase stage and looking for a quick solution. This is why any startup with a local clientele needs to commit to meeting important local SEO metrics to be in the face of local searchers as much as possible.
We spoke with world renowned marketer Saad Raja Here is what he told us you need to know about starting your local SEO marketing campaign correctly.
Claim Your Spot on Google Places
Saad told us that your local SEO strategy will be unbalanced if you don’t set up your Google Places account. However, you will need a physical address and a phone number to set up the profile. To create the profile, add as many images as possible. Your business front and your products and services are the first images you should have on your profile. Apart from giving an air of authenticity, it is yet another free platform to showcase your business.
Get Reviews
Reviews are vital for your local search visibility. It is no coincidence that the top rated local businesses on Google generally have lots of reviews. Google always watches for signals that show relevance to a search term and when it comes to businesses, there is no better proof of relevance than positive reviews from satisfied customers. A few good reviews won’t cut it. You need to be proactive without appearing as needy or intrusive in the face of your customers. Make it easy for them as most people will ignore your request if they have to go through red-tape-like processes to drop a review, even if they were happy with your service.
Stay on Top of your Social Media Game
If you provide a good service, you are almost certain to generate a ton of free marketing from happy clients that now feel a personal relationship with your brand. The average social media that was happy with a business will unconsciously be more open to sharing posts and marketing messages from that brand. However, you cannot allow this to be a one-way traffic. Your social media profile must go beyond just being another place to announce your products or blog posts.
In fact, established marketers companies such as Saad Raja agree that interactions on your social media profiles is as important as using the right header tags and keywords on your website.
“Learn to be a bit different with your social media efforts. Ditch the boring “brand” stance and adopt a personality-infused method. Fun stories, contests, quality video content, joining in on social media trends and more are some ways to make sure your social media profile doesn’t bore out even your most loyal customers.” - Saad Raja
Target Local Keywords
Like we saw at the start of this piece, local searchers are some of the fastest converting. How will you attract them if you aren’t positioning your business as a solution what they are searching for? Your landing pages, blog posts and all similar content must reflect local search terms. Target long tail keywords and answer as many relevant questions as possible.
Local search is a powerful tool that must be explored by any startup targeting a local clientele. The onus lies on you to ensure that local SEO is part and parcel of your digital marketing campaign. The tips covered here should get you started.
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