Local SEO Services for Small Business | Local SEO Agency

New Zealand Local SEO services are complex and multi-faceted. To improve website traffic from local searches you need a:

• Professional consultant with years of experience in technical Local Search SEO efforts
• Sound local search engine optimisation strategy
• Comprehensive local SEO checklist to get you through the process.
• Optimised Google Business Profile – (previously Google My Business)
• Keyword research implemented without keyword stuffing
• Landing pages optimised for user experience by an expert in content marketing

Schema for WordPress

1. Schema Implementation is for WordPress websites in a very competitive niche, where getting ahead of your competitors can take some extra effort. You need to ensure that ALL your pages are outputting accurate Schema data for Location, Organisation, Products, Breadcrumbs, Rich Snippets, Sitelinks etc. That schema needs to pass Google’s Rich Snippets Test. Doing so greatly increases your prospects of enhancing your listings display in search engine results – organic / maps / local pack etc. so this must be included in your checklist.
2. Reviews are a very important component, so we need to connect your Reviews to your website‘s key pages (Home, About, Contact, Testimonials) and into Schema within the site. Getting review requests into invoice receipts and email signatures should be a key part of your local SEO company’s strategy.
3. Implementing instant indexing via IndexNow is important, to ensure that your pages are indexed immediately, not in weeks or months.

NB: This local SEO optimisation long-term strategy for WordPress is designed for those who have already had the standard WordPress SEO services package AND building citation links implemented.

Checklist for Local SEO

Having a local search optimization checklist is an important part of the planning and implementation process for all SEO agencies:

This is a “one-off” cost for the best Local SEO services for small business and Schema for WordPress for a website with 30 pages and posts… It provides both a local search checklist and search strategy and includes at least 2 months of consultancy, monitoring, tweaking and testing by a local SEO consultant.

Place and Service Area Business

Local business SEO services are a local search engine optimization strategy that helps small businesses improve their online presence within their target audience. The reward is lead generation as they receive more website traffic from local search results on Google and other search engines.

Any business that has a physical location (place) or serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO services. If you search Google for any important keywords related to your business and a map with 3 listings appears underneath it (also known as a Local 3 Pack), then local search services can help you grow your business!

It’s an SEO service that focuses on optimising the conversion rate of a website for local search engine results. These efforts incorporate content, on-site improvements, brand awareness and creating citations with a localized focus. Local search optimisation is particularly crucial for brick-and-mortar businesses serving specific towns, cities and regions.

Local SEO efforts, when executed properly, enable potential customers to access information about your business quickly and simply, bringing them one step closer to making a purchase. Social media marketing and other content marketing efforts are often used for online reputation management and to provide data that underpins Map results – Facebook pages, Shares and positive Reviews are examples.

• Local search is a crucial component of any SEO strategy that targets customers in a particular region, city, or neighbourhood.
• Localised SEO is the process of enhancing your ranks and exposure in local search results, such as Google’s Map Pack/Local Pack.
• Organic SEO is the process of increasing a website’s rating in natural search results. Your website’s position in organic traffic results can positively affect its position in the Local Pack.

When Google believes that a Google search query has local intent, organic listings offer an additional opportunity for your local business to be displayed in front of interested searchers.

Whilst Local and Organic SEO are intertwined to quite a degree, they each require different optimisation strategies by local SEO companies or a digital marketing agency.

A search engine marketing company generally uses social media marketing techniques to boost both local SEO and natural/organic search results.

Local SEO FAQs – Ranking Factors

What are the Local 3 Pack Rank Factors?

Courtesy of MOZ: https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

Incorporate these into your local search checklist:

1. Google Business Profile Signals (Proximity, categories, keyword in business name, etc.) 25.12%
2. Links – link building for local citations (Inward text anchors, linking DA, domain volumes, etc.) 16.53%
3. Online Reviews (quantity, velocity, review etc.) 15.44%
4. On-Page optimization (Presence of NAP, keywords in page titles, DA etc.) 13.82%
5. Citations (IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, volume, etc.) 10.82%
6. Behavioral Signals (Click-through rate, mobile clicks to call, check-ins, etc.) 9.56%
7. Personalization  5.88%
8. Social Signals (Google, X, Fb engagement etc.) 2.82%

What are Localized Organic SERP Factors?

A local SEO company should consider these carefully as part of the local SEO strategy:

1. Link Signals (Incoming anchor text, linking DA, domain quantity, etc.) 27.94%
2. On-Page SEO Signals (Presence of NAP, keywords in titles, DA, etc.) 26.03%
3. Behavioral Signals (Click-through rate, mobile clicks to call, check-ins, etc.) 11.5%
4. Google Business Profile Signals (Proximity, categories, keyword in business identity, etc.) 8.85%
5. Citation Links  (IYP/aggregator NAP consistency, volume, etc.) 8.41%
6. Personalization  7.32%
7. Review Signals 6.47%
8. Social Media Engagement Signals (Facebook, Google, Twitter engagement etc.) 3.47%

Rich Results, Snippets & Sitelinks

In search engine results pages:

Implementing Schema

Organisation Schema Data

In setting up Schema data, the Organisation section provides details about the business entity. This is added to the main Schema block within each page as/if appropriate by your local SEO company.

Place Schema Data

The Place section provides details about the business location for local SEO optimization. Your SEO company should ensure this is also added to the main Schema block within each page as/if appropriate.

Schema Type

Set a default schema type to suit the majority of the content. Then amend individual pages/posts as/if required.

Essential Settings:

The website name and description will be auto-filled. It’s important to set the Default Image here! This will be used on any page without a Featured Image…

• note that this can / should be over-written on individual pages. You can also retain a Featured Image AND add a separate 1200×1200 image per page if you want to do that.

General Settings:

Again, set the default settings to suit the majority of content, then revise individual pages as/if required.

• DO set the Google Website Verification ID – find that in your Search Console verification section.

IMAGES:

There are multiple image sizes required to generate the right output for the various schema, rich snippets, Open Graph and Twitter cards. A single 1200×1200 image will be cropped from the centre to generate the various sizes. 1200×900, 1200×675, 1200×630 etc.

You also need the following images:

If you’ve already pre-set the default image, it will show up here – see below:

This a complex process, but a reputable local SEO company will help you with implementation. Ask for a free, no-obligation SEO audit today.

References

Page last updated on Thursday, October 12, 2023 by the author Ben Kemp