Owning and promoting your business in your hometown has unique opportunities and challenges. At such a level, digital marketing is possible, and search engine optimization (SEO) is prominent. This one, in particular, can be used for local promotion, which we call local SEO, which will be discussed throughout this article.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a crucial aspect of digital marketing that involves analysing and optimising search engines to boost a website’s visibility and traffic. In this section, you will learn about the local SEO strategies that can be implemented in the coastal city of Calicut. You can use them to build a local presence for your brand that will strengthen your sales. 

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is a subset of SEO where websites are optimised based on their geographical area. For example, when you start a cafe, the best way of marketing can be done by making such a cafe visible on the local search pages so that customers can count on you when they visit your cafe. Local SEO can be used for the following reasons:-

  • Increasing local visibility
  • Enhance user experience
  • Strengthen trust and credibility
  • Improve conversion rates
  • Drive local traffic for your website
  • Gain a competitive advantage 

SEO Strategies for the Local Businesses in Calicut

The SEO strategies for promoting local businesses are a part of local SEO. These strategies for entrepreneurs in calicut are necessary for promoting the product and bringing effective results. They are essential for enhancing product visibility and thereby generating leads and sales. Let’s go through some local SEO strategies to serve your business locally. 

  1. Build and Optimise your Google My Business Profile(GMB)

When you intend to enhance your local presence online, having a Google Business profile can be the first thing you can build. When customers seek something about your store, this profile helps visitors go through it in a detailed manner. They come across information such as location, reviews, images, etc. These details are to be updated to keep the audience engaged.

                             Additionally, ensure you post regularly about your store’s promotions, events, and news and add a business description that visitors can easily understand. Google Business profiles are designed to strengthen your business by letting customers know about your store.

  1. On-page optimisation

This method involves researching the keywords that match the user’s search at a specific location and using them to improve your website’s visibility. It is called local keyword research. In addition, you have to optimise your website content using these local keywords. From its title tags to meta descriptions, use the keywords to the maximum so that you get a little attention from the visitors rather than just scrolling them out. For a structure, add a heading and subheading for your page. Pages are also optimised by providing long-tail keywords and URLs and adding internal and external links to help you attain customers.                      

  1. Leveraging local citations and directories

You can expand your business profiles further by adding local citations and directories. Here, you can add details about your business on other websites and review sites. Be consistent and regularly update NAP( Name, Address, Phone Number). Some sites where you can find local citations are JustDial, Sulekha, Bing Places, etc., and some directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor are valuable. Maintaining consistency across these platforms can help improve local SEO and increase your business’s visibility. 

  1. Create local content

Crafting content with local keywords is essential for connecting with your local audience. Such content can resonate with people’s interests and aspirations and boost your SEO efforts. You can create content by writing guides about local attractions, events, or activities and sharing stories from customers through testimonials and case studies. Writing blogs and making videos can also be a great idea, as they can be best at providing the trends, events, and local news for the related area.

  1. Adding quality backlinks

Backlinks significantly boost a website’s traffic and meet even the smallest business needs. These links can help your Google Business profile when added to the relevant content you have created. For example, if you’ve published an article about any topic, ensure that you add high-quality backlinks so that the local audience can stay on your website and understand what your content reflects. To get backlinks, build partnerships with the local businesses, organisations and influencers. Other than these, you can consider sponsoring local charities or events so that your brand is recognised, which will improve your business, too.

  1. Social media engagement 

Social media is an important constituent of local SEO. Engaging in social media platforms can build brand awareness very effectively. For example, suppose you’re a jewellery designer and make a social media profile where you create posts, reels, and videos and share the customer orders and their reviews. In that case, you can gain the upper hand in social media presence. You can do so first among the local audience before getting to the global space. Engage with the people locally and sell them at their wants. You can add customisation of products too. You can generate leads and sales by engaging in social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, etc.  

  1. Online reviews

Online reviews are the best way to boost local SEO. If you’re wondering why they are necessary, let’s give you an example. When customers want to see the product and how it actually looks and works, providing reviews can help you. If you happen to see a restaurant, would you be interested in just checking the menu of that restaurant only? Wouldn’t you like to look at the reviews that customers have shared and then look forward to it? The same idea later on drives customers, and this decision-making is simply called data-driven. You can provide a section for the reviews in Google Maps or Google Business profile, where people who have visited can share their reviews in their comfort. The positive reviews will be useful to display as they can further boost your sales. 

  1. Implement Local schema markup

Schema markup is a type of code that can improve your website’s ranking. Without coding skills, you can use the schema markup generator tool to add schema markup. This markup helps your website rank more easily in local searches that it makes your website stand out of the result pages, so to avoid competition from others. This attracts more clicks to your website. It also enables voice optimisation, allowing voice search tools like Alexa and Siri, to understand and present relevant information to the users. Additionally, schema markup helps gather online reviews on your website. Overall, using schema markup can strengthen your business at the local level.

  1. Technical SEO

Apart from optimising the website content and adding backlinks, you must ensure the website meets certain requirements when content is uploaded. You have to check the site’s accessibility and speed, which will sustain your visitors. If your website is not designed for mobiles and is not loaded within the time visitors have waited, you can’t expect them to engage with your brand. Within a period of time, visitors may lose interest and leave. Lastly, you have to ensure your website is secured by using HTTPS. Thus, these technical factors can affect your website ranking. 

  1. Local SEO performance

The final consideration for local SEO is to analyse your website regularly so that you can build SEO strategies for promoting your product at the local level. By understanding how your competitors excel and retain their customers, you can also develop your themes and trends to make your efforts effective. Useful tools include Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and specialized local SEO tools like SEMrush, Moz Local, and Bright Local. These tools help track website traffic, user behaviour, search rankings, and local citations.

                       Analysing local SEO performance involves monitoring keyword rankings, where the local keywords drive website traffic and increase conversions. It also involves analysing customer reviews and metrics to improve customer satisfaction and reputation. Broadly, this approach enhances user experience and boosts visibility in local searches. 

Conclusion

As we have seen how local SEO is crucial in promoting local businesses, let’s sum up some of the points we have discussed above. Local businesses, not just in Calicut but almost everywhere in local regions, have acknowledged that people’s choices do matter, and most business strategies are built to attract people. These strategies have proved practical, and adopting them in marketing can satisfy customers’ desires. 

                            If you’re interested in implementing local SEO, you should ensure a Google Business profile, where you have to implement on-page, off-page, and technical SEO strategies, leverage local citations, directories and social media platforms, create localised content, and gather online reviews. Additionally, you can implement local schema markup as an easier strategy. Lastly, you have to monitor and analyse local SEO performance with the tools that will help you build more effective strategies.    

Aviv Digital is one of the leading Digital marketing course in calicut. We offer a wide variety of globally recognized certification programs that include SEO, SEM, SMM, Email Marketing and Inbound Marketing courses. For more details, Contact us at: +91 8156998844