Local SEO is a tool that many businesses either misunderstand or undervalue. Nonetheless, Local SEO has the capacity to build your business; hence, it would be of tremendous benefit if you did your best to optimize your local search results.
Thankfully, if you are reading this, then you know how valuable local SEO is. If you are going to implement local SEO, you must, therefore, know how to do it right. Here are common pitfalls that you should endeavor to avoid to make your venture successful.
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Do Not Write or Pay for Fake Reviews
Fake reviews may seem like the way to go if you are looking for a quick boost for your local business profile. Nevertheless, before you go down this road, you need to know that you are not only violating guidelines by Google but also breaking the law.
Fake reviews can ruin your online reputation. Once people realize that your reviews are fictitious, they lose faith in your brand. Some folks may even give you negative reviews for having fabricated reviews. On the other hand, you may also face a lawsuit for having fake reviews. Fake reviews give fraudulent info about your business which violates laws on consumer protection and deceptive trade practices.
Do Not Make Reviewing Difficult
According to a market research 90% of consumers today make their buying decisions based on online reviews. In terms of SEO, online reviews constitute of up to 10% of the factors that Google and other search engines use when ranking their search results.
Reviews show you what conversations customers are having about your business. Many feel the urge to control these conversations. Some may even want to shut down such discussions. Before you restrict consumers from reviewing you, you must understand that besides content and uniqueness, your business will also be ranked in terms of its user-friendliness and social sharing.
Do Not Make Your Content Unnatural or Spammy
Google’s algorithm is dynamic and always undergoing improvements to make it better at detecting poor content. Unnatural language and keyword stuffing will, therefore, be detected quickly, and the results will adversely affect your SEO score. Your content should, therefore, be rich and informative; it should be meant for human reading and not for search engines.
Spammy content is usually designed to make visitors click on ads or sign up forms. At first, it might seem like a genius way to generate leads. Nevertheless, spam will annoy visitors. They’ll eventually hate your site and stop coming there. Search engines will also pick up on the spam and rank you lower in their search results.
Do Not Plagiarize Content
Google has explicit guidelines concerning duplicate content. Going against these guidelines bears a penalty by Google and other search engines. It also results in lower SEO ranking. Surprisingly, plagiarizing content may affect the source just as it would the person stealing the content. In the worst-case scenario, you may be removed from search results altogether.
The internet offers a number of plagiarism checkers that you should employ to safeguard against posting plagiarized content. A website owner could additionally use Copysentry to monitor the web for content copied from their site.
Do Not Include Irrelevant Content and Categories
Search engines usually verify the information contained in your site. They’ll compare it with other listings. In case inconsistency or misinformation is detected, your site maybe de-valued.
With time, some of your content may become outdated. Such content then becomes obsolete and irreverent to your site. Visitors will stop looking at such content, and search engines will devalue it. You must try your best to keep your content as fresh and relevant as much as you can. You can install WordPress SEO plugins to help you with preventing Google from indexing your category and tag pages.
Don’t Have Hidden, Missing or Inconsistent Contact Info
If people and search engines can’t find you through the contact info you provide, your reputation goes down; so does your ranking on SEO. Including your contact information is not only an excellent way to publicize your business and be found; it also is a means to improve your SEO score. Therefore, make sure that your contact info is visible, precise and consistent.
Do Not Harbor Inconsistent NAP Information
Regarding contact information, your Name, Address and Phone Number as so crucial that we have to discuss them separately. Google takes in your NAP and determines whether or not to show your business in the results listed for geo-tagged searches. Therefore, always make sure that your NAP is always correct and up-to-date.
Do Not Ignore Google+
Google+ is not the top-most player in social media world. It, therefore, is possible for businesses to ignore it in their social media endeavors. You should, however, remember that Google is the top-most player in SEO world. Google+, therefore, offers you an excellent platform to expand your online presence in an easy way that Google can measure and tweak.
Do Not Have Multiple Local Places Pages
Some businesses are tempted to cheat local search results by having several local listing pages created for multiple cities. Sadly, this will rarely work as it is impossible to maintain the consistency of your NAP when you create multiple pages in multiple cities. The pages will eventually get flagged and in so doing, interfere with the accuracy of the information provided on your site.
Do Not Ignore Your Online Reputation
Getting good local SEO results is all about getting lots of good genuine reviews. Your online reputation is thus a critical component of your local SEO rankings. In today’s world where almost everyone is digitally connected, every business must try to work towards building an impressive online profile that appeals to and attracts consumers.
Conclusion on Implementation of Local SEO
Local SEO is not only relevant but is also hugely important for the success of a firm in today’s competitive business world. Since your customers are well armed with computers and host of other hand-held devices, they have the power to find you on the go with a simple click. You must thus ensure that your business shows up in your consumer’s search results in relation to your location, services, and products on sale.
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