As consumers continue to turn to their phones and computers to find local businesses, brick and mortar stores must evolve their marketing strategies to stay competitive. Local SEO marketing is an effective and cost-efficient strategy for brick and mortar stores to reach their local audiences. Here are four local SEO marketing strategies for brick and mortar stores to build their local presence and drive more in-store traffic.
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Understanding Local SEO: Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your digital content for local search engine results. This includes optimizing web page titles, meta descriptions, content, URLs and images for local keywords relevant to your business. Investing the time and effort to research local keywords and updating your website accordingly can greatly increase your ranking in local search engine results.
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Claim Your Directory Listings: Claiming and optimizing your directory listings, including Google My Business, Yelp, and Yellow Pages, is a key tactic for improving local SEO. Ensure all of your directory listings are accurate and fill out all of the appropriate fields, such as contact information and business hours. This can help ensure your store’s presence in local search engine results and make it easier for customers to find your business.
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Establish Social Media Presence: Establishing a strong presence on social media not only helps you reach your local audiences, but it also helps increase your ranking in local search engine results. Additionally, it gives customers a way to engage with your business, allowing you to build personal relationships with your customers.
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Keep Your Website Up-to-Date: Your website is the digital face of your business – it’s where customers go to learn more about your products and services and make buying decisions. Make sure to keep your website updated and optimized for local search engine results. Also, include local content such as a blog or about page that can further engage your local audiences.
By following these strategies, brick and mortar stores can become a strong competitor within their local markets. Additionally, local SEO marketing can help protect brick and mortar stores from online competitors, helping them to reach their local audiences and increase in-store visits. Investing the time to establish an effective local SEO strategy can take your brick and mortar business to the next level.