Top 10 mistakes companies are making with local SEO

Any business that has a physical local presence, needs to have a website to get found.

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And a website that is well optimised for users who are searching within a specific local area is an absolute must.

But new research has revealed a large number of organisations could be missing out on additional revenue due to local SEO.

Businesses often lack understanding around how well their website is optimised for local search.

Altrincham, Cheshire UK-based digital marketing agency, MarketingSignals.com surveyed over 1,000 workers to find out how they optimised their sites for local SEO.

It discovered that over one in three (39 percent) of business leaders are unsure as to whether their company website is optimised for local SEO.

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A well-crafted and optimised website gives companies the chance to target a wider online audience. However, there is almost no point in having one if it is not well optimised for search engine traffic.

The research identified a number of ways businesses are missing out on improving their own local search engine visibility.

Over one in three (37 percent) of respondents admitted that they do not even have a verified Google My Business (GMB) listing for their business.

One in three (32 percent) said their website was not fully optimised for mobile devices, with 29 percent saying they had not specifically optimised their site's content for local search queries.

Over one out of four respondents (27 percent) said that they are not included on any local business directory sites.

Over one in five (21 percent) said they have never checked whether their own name, address, and phone information (NAP) on their website correlates to the address which is published on other directory sites.

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Almost one in five (18 percent) do not have any customer reviews,  over one in six (16 percent) said their website does not have any localised blog content, and 15 percent have boilerplate or duplicate content on every location page.

Other issues businesses face are: Not being aware of SEO ranking factors such as backlinks, or domain authority (13 percent of respondents), and one in 10 do not have any contact information on the website

Gareth Hoyle, managing director at MarketingSignals.com said: 

 "There are a high number of companies missing out on potential business as they are not optimising their website for local SEO.

This is concerning given the importance it can have for businesses, particularly those that trade locally or have multiple physical locations."

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