Optimizing for ‘Near Me’ Searches: A Local SEO Guide

If you own a business today, being seen online is one of the primary criteria for your business to gain eyeballs and bring in sales. Having a solid website for your business isn’t enough to establish your presence; it is more about showing up on the search results of your target audience. Also, with the increasing dependency of people to find local services online, Local SEO plays a massive role in bringing in more business leads and customers.

Since people are on the go, “Near Me,” search terms are the most used when scouting for the best local business. Whether you run a local food joint, coffee shop, an agency, or a neighborhood plumber shop, optimizing your business for “Near Me” searches will add to your visibility and boost your bottom line.

Now, you might be wondering how to optimize your business for local SEO and ensure your business shows up for ‘Near Me’ searches; then worry not. In this guide, we’ll provide you with local SEO and “Near Me” search optimization strategies so that you appear on top when a potential customer is looking for services near them.

What is Local SEO?

Local Search Engine Optimization or Local SEO is a practice local businesses with brick-and-mortar locations adopt to heighten their search engine visibility and improve their local presence. Optimizing for local SEO, businesses can benefit from getting seen by local prospects in nearby areas since they have high intent to turn into customers.

The best local SEO practice involves leveraging local content, and local queries. keywords, citations, Google My Business profile, links, and social profile to present the most relevant local results to the user. Optimizing for local SEO and local queries, you can convert interested queries into visiting your website and becoming a customer. If your business ranks on top of the “near me” query, your brand gets visibility, spikes your leads, and boosts your conversion.

To ensure the user finds what they’re looking for when they use the “Near Me” search term, Google SERP uses GPS, cellular data, Wi-Fi, and various localization technologies to display the most relevant and highly rated Google Business profiles, such as Local Pack or Map Pack. So, if you’re a business that wants to gain local leads and customers, make sure that you have a Google My Business profile with a business name, phone number, website URL, photo, ratings, reviews, opening and closing time, and more.

Understanding ‘Near Me’ Searches

“Near Me” searches are the search terms users type in when browsing for services or businesses in their vicinity or nearby locality. “Near me” search queries have had their moment for the last few years. MEDIA CAPTAIN states that “near me” queries have grown by 150% in the past two years.

Since most people are accessing the internet from their phones, and the phone has the location turned on, it helps the search engines display results that are close by. Ranking for the “near me” search business can win high-intent leads who need their products and services and grow their sales.

Apart from the obvious growing sales, ranking in “near me” offers several other crucial benefits for businesses, especially those with physical locations or local service areas that have a lasting impact. Some noteworthy advantages are:

Increased Visibility

When your business ranks in the top spots for the “near me” searches, it becomes more visible to potential customers actively looking for products or services in their immediate locality. This rise in visibility can lead to higher website traffic and foot traffic to your physical location.

Higher Conversion Rates

“Near me” searches indicate a strong intent to purchase or visit a local business. If your business is ranked at the top of these search results, it enhances the chances of attracting motivated visitors and leads who are ready to invest in your business, which boosts your conversion rates.

Competitive Advantage

Marketing your business for global ranking is highly saturated, with huge corporate giants willing to invest huge chunks of their budget to rank and remain in the number one position. However, the local ranking is less competitive, and many of your competitors may not even optimize for “near me” searches. This leaves an opportunity and first-mover advantage for your business to stand out and gain a competitive edge in your local market.

Google Search “Near Me” Ranking Factors

You might think that when a potential customer who lives closer to your area searches for something relevant to your business, it immediately shows up the name of your business in the search result. Although location plays a huge role, some key metrics are the most considered factor for “near me” local searches according to Google’s standards. The metrics include:

Relevance

The relevance here stands for whether your business is relevant to the search query of your users. To help you understand relevant information better, imagine a user closer to the physical location of your business is searching for the best gym near me, and there is a local coffee shop, which there is no relevance to what the user is looking for. So, your business will not show up in their results. Also, to make your website relevant and rank for relevant searches, optimizing the website on local keywords is very important to match the user’s needs.

Distance

The second most important metric is distance. The closer you are to the location/distance of the user, the higher your chances of appearing in the search result. You must understand that “Near” is a subjective term and doesn’t have to be literally a block or two away from the searcher. If the location of your business is over 15 miles away, it lowers your chances of showing up in the search results. However, you might rank in the search results if there are very few relevant businesses within the 15-mile radius.

Prominence

Another factor that holds significance in local ranking is prominence. This particular aspect is challenging to measure since it comprises elements such as authority, the perception of your brand, customer feedback, and more. It relies on the quantity of information available about your business in the online space. The greater the amount of information about your business, the more trustworthy and relevant your business appears. It considers factors such as the quantity of customer reviews, the volume of backlinks directing traffic to your website, and various other factors.

How to Rank For Near Me Searches

The steps to enhance your local SEO and optimize your business’s website for local ‘near me’ searches are as follows:

Create and Optimize Google Business Profile

To optimize for “near me” searches, first and foremost must also have a Google My Business profile. Having a GMB profile of your business gives you the chance to rank on the first page of Google for local searches. Given that they are map-based rankings, it enables people to find your business if it falls in their search vicinity.
Since ranking on map results is dependent on your Google My Business (GMB) profile, you must step up and optimize your profile if you’re looking to appear for relevant “near me” searches. The ways you can optimize your profile are:

• You must add the complete and accurate name of your business, business location, business hours, and contact number
• Add the relevant business categories
• Mention the product or service you provide and add the images to support it
• Remember that reviews are also extremely important to strengthen your profile. Ask existing and old customers to leave their online feedback.

Note: Your NAP (name, address, phone number) must be the same and accurate across all your web properties.

Optimizing Local Keywords

Another effective practice is to identify the local keywords that are relevant to your business and the service or product you deliver. Once you’ve identified the keywords that your target audience is looking for and which will boost your local visibility, combine them with the location or region your business is from. Then optimize your landing pages on those keywords, and watch how it pulls the traffic.

Build Backlinks With Geographics Anchor Text

Backlinks are extremely helpful in establishing the relevance and authority of your website for both the search engine and the users. Especially for local SEO, generating authoritative and relevant backlinks and placing the relevant geographical anchor text will send interested people to your site.

Schema Markup

Schema markup plays a vital role in people finding your website through local search. Consider schema data as a signal for search engines to collect and present accurate information about your business through rich snippets. Add schema markup for your business hours, address, and contact information to provide the viewers additional context about your page, helping searchers determine its relevance to their query.

Also Read: 9 Killer Local SEO Tips

Customer Reviews

Reviews from your customers are extremely crucial for business. Confidence from your satisfied customer votes that the service or product you provide is of quality. You should request your past and existing customers to leave an online review for your business so that when an interested local audience looks through your profile, they can trust your services. Also, displaying the reviews on your business website will further validate your value to your customers.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve gone through the ins and outs of “near me” searches, and have read through how ranking your business for the near me term will generate revenue for your business, it’s time to implement it into action. Hire Splendour Group as we have the expertise and experience to help your business connect with your consumers. From optimizing your website for local ranking, and social media, to your accounts, we will position your business as the best in your locality.