Local SEO. How can the right keywords help you in the positioning process?

Achieving great local SEO results with the right keywords may seem like an impossible task, but it doesn’t have to be. If you learn how to properly use specific keywords, both in your business name and within your content, you’ll have a better chance of increasing your web traffic and making more sales – even if you’re just starting out! Here are some essential tips to help you succeed with the right keywords.

What is a keyword?

According to Google, a keyword is the words or phrases that people use to search for a topic. They are used to position and optimize websites in order to achieve synergy between websites and network users. They are especially important in the context of local SEO, when the search engine algorithms additionally use the Internet user’s location. What is it about? For example, if you are looking for a pizzeria, thanks to the appropriate keyword and algorithms you do not get the results of the best pizzerias from around the world, only those closest to you.

Choosing the right keywords

Before you can craft an effective local SEO strategy, you need to think about what keywords matter. Choose a niche and focus on it—it will pay off.

General keywords

These are phrases consisting of one or two words, most often used in the context of e-Commerce searches, when users do not yet have precisely defined preferences. Their use is extremely difficult due to high competition and the volume of searches. They help you identify your preferences.

Brand words

In this case, we are talking about words that are related to a specific page, but the recipients do not remember its URL address. As the name suggests, they are tied to the company’s name and its domain.

Long-tail words

This type of keywords has a much greater number of words than general phrases. Users already have specific preferences and know what they are looking for. Positioning long-tail words is easier due to limited competition. Additionally, they contribute to increasing the conversion. They can also be entries in the form of questions.

The impact of keywords on the positioning process

In order to ensure that your business is visible on relevant searches, make sure you have researched and selected appropriate keywords. These will help you reach your target audience and make sure you are ranking high enough for them to click through. The more the words match your search intent, the higher your ranking position.

How to check keywords?

• Search engine – the most basic possibility of searching for keywords, all you need to do is enter a general word into the search engine and a bar of the most popular words entered by users at that moment will expand under it.
• Google Keyword Planner – the planner is integrated with Google AdWords and offers a number of functions for searching for keywords and analyzing them in terms of queries. This is a free password generator that will help you get started with the basics.
• Keyword Surfer – this Chrome plugin will allow you to analyze the results appearing in the context of a given query. It includes the monthly average number of searches for a given phrase, a list of synonyms and related phrases.
• Senuto – this platform is based on SaaS and allows you to easily track words in website content management. It creates a database of words regardless of their type, it also offers to create your own passwords. Thanks to the intuitive platform, you have access to all statistics and sorting of results.
• Ahrefs – is a keyword generator with a wide range of functions, has access to over 8 billion queries. Additionally, the platform is equipped with training materials and a forum with a helpful SEO community.

What is Google My Business?

Keywords are also used in the virtual business card in the Google My Business panel. Google My Business (formerly Google+ Pages) is a free and easy way to manage your business information online, from anywhere. This is how Google describes its local listings service. Essentially, it allows local businesses to enter their contact details and other information about their business on one centralized page.

The GMB card is your business’s presence. It has a physical address, and allows you to provide additional information about your business including hours of operation, contact details, and even customer reviews. For local businesses and SMBs, it is an essential part of online marketing strategy.

Name as a brand word

Branding is a big word. It comes from a brand’s promise to its consumers, as well as its commitment to live up to that promise through great products and services. The right branding can take your company from a local small business to an international presence in no time—but it takes more than just nailing down a killer name. The process of getting search engines to recognize your brand name as a specific keyword can be difficult, especially if you just started operating a business and haven’t yet developed any reputation or traffic, but it’s important to try and get your name out there.

Choosing the right category

The right categories are essential. It will depend on them how we will be displayed in Google maps. It should be mentioned that there is one basic category and up to 9 additional categories to choose from. The most important thing is that the basic category should reflect our business in the best possible way, as it often also appears in search results on Google maps. The appropriate category uses keywords written out by the recipients to the search engine.

Description in the business card and keywords

The description gives us the greatest opportunity to show off. We have as many as 750 characters available here (but think that only the first 250 characters are displayed in full, the rest of the description is displayed after clicking the “more” option). This is our main content, where we should use the strongest keywords. The most important thing to do when analyzing these keywords is research your target audience and understand their needs. This will allow you to find words that are relevant, easy to rank for, and convert well.

To sum up

We do local SEO to help our clients find their potential customers online and convert them into paying clients. With that in mind, it’s important to know that you can have a fantastic website but still have a low local ranking if your meta data is not properly written or optimized. Fortunately, there are many free ways to ensure that your web pages are up-to-date on all of these aspects. The business card is one of them. If you don’t have one yet, it’s time to change it! Just remember that every word matters.