What is Grow with GRV?
Grow with GRV is a series that I felt compelled to release, keeping in mind the current market situation that has badly hit businesses and jobs across the globe. One way to adapt to the rapidly changing market is by going digital. If you offer a product or service that was majorly dependent on offline sales, follow this series to learn how to infuse digital DNA in your business strategy. By doing so, you shall be able to neutralise a notable amount of damage caused by plummeting offline sales.
Why is it important to rank better in local business searches and who is it important for?
If your business depends heavily on your local market it is highly recommended that you rank better in the local business searches. This could be implied for people with small local businesses like home bakers or bakery shops, saloons, beauty spas, makeup artists, nutritionists, fitness trainers… so on and so forth.
If you want to specifically target your local market it is essential that you rank better in local business searches online. So how do you do that?
Address on website
The first thing that you need to do is have your full address written down on your website. If you are taking your business online it is highly recommended that you have your own website, to begin with. Once you have your own website it is of prime importance to write your entire address, the shop address or the office address where your business is located. Write down the full address in clear words because it will help your website rank better when someone enters a search about let’s say a saloon in Mumbai or a saloon in Dubai. If your address specifically states where exactly is your saloon located it will help Google or Bing or whatever search engine people are using, to rank your website better than the ones who do not have their complete address listed.
Claim Google My Business (Bing Places)
To rank better on search engines, you should also claim your business on Google My Business or Bing Places. This is because by doing so you get access to a dedicated real estate on the screens of people who are searching for local businesses online. So let’s say you are a photographer and I search for a ‘photography studio in Mumbai’ or a ‘photography studio in Dubai’ or a ‘photography studio in Las Vegas’… wherever you are located. If I search for that specific term then people who have claimed their photography studio on Google My Business and Bing Places will get access to a special dedicated screen real estate that people who have not claimed their business will not get!
Address on Facebook page
If you are a modern-day business who has digital presence, it is very likely that you might be having a Facebook page. So on your Facebook page, if you have your complete address written down, it will help your page rank better in Facebook searches. People search a lot on Facebook also nowadays!
Address on Instagram page
Some businesses that I know have chosen to have only a presence on Instagram because that is giving them the maximum results. Many small businesses have intentionally opted out of other social media platforms so they could focus all their social media energy on just one platform – Instagram. Now guess what I am going to suggest, even on Instagram there is an option to write down your complete address and will that help, of course, it will! So make sure you write down the complete address on the Instagram profile that you have created for your business.
Create content with local keywords
Create content with local keywords, for example: photography studio in Dubai, best bakery in Dubai, best musical instrument store in Mumbai. If you want to take localisation to another level you could write something like best breakfast in Thane or you could write the best makeup studio in Kandivali. Like for example, you are in Dubai you could write the best burgers in Jumeirah Lake Towers or you could write something like the best Pizzas in Dubai Marina, you get the idea. From just Dubai, you have now moved to more specific localized areas like Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers. Within every city, there are streets and local areas. You can write down articles or create videos using those local areas as keywords for your content. This will help you target a really specific local audience.
Bonus Tip: Get reviews/rating. (Reputation Marketing)
Now because I am feeling a little generous today, I am going to give you a bonus tip. Apart from the tips that I have already mentioned already, there is one more thing which actually you can’t do much about but your customers sure can! Get good ratings on Google, get good ratings on your Facebook page, get good ratings wherever ratings are available! Get reviews written by customers because that will also help you in reputation marketing online. When people search online they want to do business with a trusted business or service provider. Hence, they are eagerly looking at reviews and ratings. If your business is having a better rating than another one in your local area, it should rank better!