Whilst it would appear that the current lockdown has made Local SEO less relevant, this could not be further from the truth. When everything reopens, local businesses are expected to achieve more success than before.
This is because a large percentage of consumers are expected to continue working from home. There are also forecasts for consumers travelling shorter distances to acquire medical or beauty services.
Thus local SEO remains critical for the success of any clinic. In fact, it is so critical, it can make or break a local business. So we thought that it might be useful to compile a list of important things you will need to watch out for, when optimising for local searches in Google and other search engines.
The key areas to consider
Google My Business
Keeping an eye on Google My Business is important for updates, changing your opening hours and responding to customer feedback when available. Google My Business also allows you to make posts. So taking advantage of all the features can help your clinic be more visible in location-based searches.
Business Listings
Whilst there are many places where you can create business listings, caution is highly recommended. Many business listing websites could hurt your SEO, rather than promote your website in the Google rankings. So work on business listings but be extra careful to pick the ones which will work for your business. Consulting with an SEO expert is recommended.
Data Consistency
Whilst creating online profiles is not hard, maintaining them can take a considerable amount of time. Your data has to be consistent across your online profiles in order for your Local SEO to work at maximum capacity.
Reputation
Reputation health is vital for the smooth running of any business. Monitoring mentions on social media and comments on blogs, forums and the website is important to keep a clean bill of health for your brand. A damaged reputation takes a very long time to repair and can hurt your bookings in the short and medium-term.
Landing Pages
Building relevant landing pages can help with your local SEO. Unique and targeted content, helps Google to rank your website better. Whilst building landing pages is good, it is always important to know how far you can go. Populating your website with too many landing pages can create maintenance issues and affect your standing in Google Search Results (SEPRs).
Google Search Console
Whilst a little more technical, the Google Search Console provides great insights into the health of your website. Logging in and checking from time to time is invaluable. And whilst you might not be able to deal with issues that might arise, you can always try and seek the help of an expert.
Conclusion
Your local SEO is precious. It enables people who have never heard of your clinic before, to find you. If your clinic happens to be in a relatively popular area, local SEO can make a very significant contribution to the growth of the business.
Achieving success with local SEO is not hard. But it does require persistence, consistency and patience. The rewards are too large to ignore.
