The long-term fate of businesses is increasingly influenced by their ability to build a local search presence. In the current climate, using listing management services, generating customer reviews – and increasing search visibility – will help businesses thrive.
In contrast, as consumers turn to their smartphones for recommendations and reviews, traditions like word-of-mouth just do not offer the results they did in the past. For digital agencies, the ability to recognize high-value strategies and communicate them to clients is more important than ever.
Why Local SEO Is Critical for Local Business Success
A recent study by BrightLocal indicated that the number of consumers using Google to evaluate local businesses in 2022 had risen to 87%. Both data and anecdotal experience all point to the same thing – that without a search presence, local businesses are destined to struggle. Fortunately, by tapping into the local search ecosystem, agencies are perfectly positioned to impact a business’ visibility.
What Local SEO Factors Impact Search Visibility?
As we have seen, local businesses need SEO to reach consumers. But foundational practices like on-page optimization won’t be enough to overcome tough competition. Let’s look at some of the approaches specific to local search marketing.
Leverage Data Aggregators
Data aggregators collect information about businesses and submit it to an extensive network of sources. By leveraging the power of platforms like Data Axle and Foursquare, a client’s business data reaches local search engines, GPS navigation systems, mapping apps, directories and more.
Why is this approach important? Well, one reason was made clear in a post by Mike Blumenthal at Near Media. A recent guidelines update from Google advised that they use third-party sources to check whether a Google Business Profile (GBP) is in good standing.
Mike notes that “this is the first time Google has essentially confirmed that they use trusted data sources such as DataAxle (varies by country) to judge whether a business is eligible.”
Data aggregators are an important pillar of a business’ local SEO strategy. We always knew this, and after all these years it’s great to see Google finally acknowledge that they highly trust the data from these sources.
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