Are you a Chester-based business looking to improve your local SEO strategy? If so, you’ve come to the right place, as this guide explores everything you need to know about local SEO and how you can find the best SEO Chester experts to boost your business.
What is Local SEO?
Before we delve into finding the right SEO Chester agency, it’s important that you get to grips with the basics of local SEO.
Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that helps improve visibility for businesses on a local scale. Any organisation which has a physical location or provides products or services to a specific geographic area should be implementing local SEO strategies to achieve online success.
What Does Local SEO Involve?
Local SEO involves the use of various SEO techniques which allow search engines to recognize your Chester-based business as a top contender. Search engines, particularly Google, use specific ranking factors to distinguish businesses in local search engine results, including:
The user’s location – for example, if someone is searching for ‘cafe nearby’ and they are based in Chester the top listings will be Chester-based cafes with an impressive local SEO strategy in place
Google My Business listings – to ensure your business ranks at the top of the results, you should have a Google My Business listing. This will include information on the location of your business, how to get there, opening hours and more. The more information you have on your listing the better you will rank
Google My Business listing keywords – the listing is not the only important thing you need to consider, as the keywords used in your listing will also increase your chances of ranking
Online reviews – allowing customers to leave Google reviews will also help to improve local rankings, as long as they are positive and include competitive keywords
Social media shares – Google also analyses social media shares of local businesses to determine rankings
Location ‘check-ins’ – a good number of location check-ins will push your business up the rankings
All of these factors are taken into consideration when ranking local businesses, so it’s important that you work with local SEO professionals who understand what needs to be done in order to become a top-ranking Chester business.
Do I Need a Local Chester SEO Agency?
If you are unsure whether local SEO will work for your business, try Googling some of your top keywords. If the search engine results include businesses near you or even your own business pops up alongside a map, you can definitely benefit from local SEO strategies.
For instance, if you own a restaurant in Chester, you should definitely be making the most of local SEO tools, as this will help your business stand out from the saturated restaurant market in Chester.
Working with our local SEO Chester agency will ensure that you achieve these goals, as not only are they skilled in local SEO techniques, but they will also be familiar with the Chester area and the competition you are up against.
What Does a Local SEO Agency Do?
Before hiring a local SEO company to take over your SEO strategy, it’s important to understand what exactly they do to help your business thrive online. Here at ObenInc, we offer a number of Local SEO services to businesses in Chester and beyond.
Local SEO Audits
First things first, we will perform a thorough audit to determine your current ranking in local SEO searches to help us understand how much work needs to be done. We will also take a look at your Google My Business listing if you have one and decide what changes need to be implemented. We then record our findings and compare them once we have implemented our innovative local SEO strategy.
Keyword Research
Before optimising a listing or any other content, it’s important that we get the keywords right to ensure we target the right local audience. To do this, we conduct thorough keyword research and analysis to establish the right industry-related and geo-specific terms that should be implemented to improve rankings based on search intent. We will then map out your search terms and decide where and when they should be implemented.
Google My Business SEO
Another essential step in our local SEO Chester strategies is the use of Google My Business. If you have never used Google My Business account we will create a brand new account or spruce up your old account with some targeted keywords. Our Google My Business experts will then manage your account and your Google My Business locations, which will involve making sure everything is up to date. We will also offer Bing and Yahoo Local optimization to ensure the top searching engines are covered.
eCommerce SEO
For businesses looking to focus their efforts on eCommerce, our local SEO strategies will ensure that you connect with modern consumers located near your business. This involves optimizing your business profile on Google My Business and other search engines by taking advantage of geo-targeted keywords and content. Our team will also build your local business citations and take charge of your online reviews.
On-Page Optimisation
To ensure your website is optimized for your target location, our local SEO team will conduct effective on-page optimization which will boost your rankings significantly. This typically involves updating your site’s homepage and metadata, making sure there’s a focus on specific locations and geo-led keywords. We will also set up social media signalling, create city, service and industry pages, and of course, applying local business schema to your pages, as this will ensure search engines understand what the brand is offering in a specific area.
Link Building
One of the most important things you need to consider when improving rankings is link building, as this will take your business to the next level. This will help you expand your digital footprint
Invest in affordable local SEO services and expand your digital footprint. This can be achieved by creating hyperlocal SEO landing pages, building local SEO citations, leveraging keywords with high domain relevancy and launching email outreach campaigns.
Content Creation
Using geo-led keywords is not the important thing you need to do on a local basis, as you will also need to showcase high-quality content. Our team of local SEO content specialists will help you take your content to the new level. To do this, they will perform thorough keyword research, page optimisation, outreach and guest blogging.
Reputation Management
To ensure your business stays on top, you need to ensure that the majority of your reviews are positive. It can be hard to keep track of this, however, with our help, you can rest assured knowing that your brand image and customer reviews showcase your company as a reputable and very capable organisation.
How Does Local SEO Benefit Your Business?
Local SEO offers some undeniable benefits for both physical businesses and those who sell to buyers in certain areas. If your business falls under any of these categories, then you can expect the following benefits:
Brand Awareness
Did you know the first five results on Google generate more than 67% clicks? This means if you are not in one of these top ranking positions, then it’s likely that users don’t even know your business exists. Working with a local SEO agency that will implement effective local SEO strategies will allow you to break into the top ranking positions, leading to a significant increase in brand awareness and recognition.
Local Links
With the rise of online businesses, the local economy has experienced a dip, however by focusing on local SEO and connecting with other local businesses you can help keep your local economy afloat. By working with other businesses in the same area, you can generate reputable, and maybe even free backlinks which will instantly boost your rankings.
More In-person Visitors
According to Hubspot, 72% of local searches result in in-person visitors from users within 5 miles of the venue. This is why local SEO is so important, as narrowing the focus on specific locations will not only increase website visits but will also encourage customers to visit your physical business, which will result in increased sales.
Returning Customers
As discussed, more consumers are looking to support the local economy, so you can make the most of this when implementing local SEO strategies. The first step will involve the discovery of your business and with the help of a local SEO Chester agency, you will be able to appeal to Chester locals who are looking for something specific, and will most likely visit the store. By making a lasting impression on them both online and offline, you should expect a significant increase in return visitors when your business pops up at the top of their search engine again.
Become a Trusted Business
The majority of consumers will select a business based on Google’s rankings and suggestions, so having a local SEO strategy that focuses on increasing the number of positive reviews and ratings will help you become a top-ranking local business. This will not only improve your rankings, but will also show consumers that you are a trusted and authoritative brand.
Cost-Effective
Instead of paying for expensive paid advertising, you can focus your efforts on local SEO, which is not only cheaper but will also engage with a specific audience type that are almost guaranteed to visit your business online or offline.
Increased Sales
One of the most obvious benefits of local SEO is that it significantly increases relevant traffic by targeting smaller areas. This targeting method almost always leads to a boost in sales, as local customers are typically won over by convenient and trusted brands that are recognised by Google as one of the best businesses in Chester.
How to Choose the Right Local SEO Agency in Chester
Now you know the ins and outs of local SEO and how it can help your business, it’s time to start weighing up your options when selecting the right local SEO agency in Chester. Here are some important characteristics to look out for when comparing local SEO services:
Specialist services are provided which means they will offer creative campaign ideas that are guaranteed to improve profits
Communication is clear and they manage expectations by giving you realistic goals instead of promising you the world
Well-trained and stay up to date with the ever-changing Google algorithm
An well-established list of happy clients with references and case studies
An experienced team of local SEO experts who are highly-trained and capable of managing multiple accounts
Here at ObenInc, we offer everything above and more, as we understand the importance of local SEO and how it can massively improve online and in-person transactions. To find more about our local SEO Chester services, get in touch today to get the ball rolling with your new local SEO strategy.