10 Tips on How to Optimize for “Near Me” Searches on Google

Your Google Local Business SERP Guide

If you're not optimizing for local SEO, you’re missing out on ranking locally for 46 percent of all Google searches. Showing up in the SERP for “near me” searches is crucial to customer’s ability to find information about your business. If you’re not showing up, your competitors most certainly are. Learn how to get the most out of your website and Google My Business for a better local SEO strategy with our top 10 tips for optimizing for “near me” searches on Google.

1. Update Your Google My Business Profile

Make sure to include and update key information in a Google Business Profile optimization, including your address, contact information, hours of operation as well as keywords of the business and industry you’re in. Adding photos with names that match strategic keywords can better increase your ranking, too.

2. Make Sure Name, Address and Phone Number Are Consistent Throughout Your Site

You should make sure that the same basic information about your business is clearly listed throughout your site. Having your standard “Contact” page is a must, but including info in the footer of all your pages, let’s Google do its job even easier. Make sure this information matches exactly what it is in your GMB listing.

3. Use Landmarks, Neighborhoods and Cities in The Content Within Your Site

Some businesses are more well known in the offline world, and local search results can reflect this in the businesses’ local ranking. For example; landmark hotels, famous museums, celebrated restaurants, or even well-known stores nearby that are familiar to users can also show up in local search results.

4. Add Written Driving Directions on a Page

This may sound pretty granular, but it can help! You want to do as much optimizing as you can to appear in the coveted Local-3 Pack Section of Google’s SERP, and sprinkling in directions around local landmarks and neighborhoods can help you stand out.

5. Add Schema (Which Also Includes and Matches the Data on Your Site and GMB)

Structuring your data properly makes it easier for your site to communicate with all search engines. Adding accurate and relevant schema not only helps optimize your site for local SEO, but increases your likelihood to show up in quick answers, or “zero click” territory at the top of the SERP. With schema that matches the data on your site and GMB listing, search engines can more easily scan through your site and understand its structure, and help optimize the way it displays your content for the most relevant searches.

6. Make Sure the Pages Load Fast and Correctly on Mobile.

The majority of mobile website visitors will leave your site if the page doesn’t load within three seconds. Google accounts for site speed in your ranking, so ensure your pages are fully functional to avoid getting dinged by Google and giving customers incentive to look for alternatives.

7. Push For More Positive Reviews Across Multiple Sites (Especially Google).

What truly separates you from your competitors? Your customer experience! If you’re up against fellow businesses in your area, the number of high-rated reviews you have across multiple websites can amplify your chances of ranking above them. After all, 84 percent of users trust online reviews as they would personal recommendations. With a good strategy for soliciting reviews, not only are you building brand affinity with strong, consistent reviews, Google will reward you in the SERP.

8. Make Sure That Your Listings Are Correct on All Top-Ranking Review Sites.

Even though Google My Business is the largest, we always suggest searching the "near me" terms you wish to rank for and make sure you have a listing on the review sites that appear on page 1. The more authority you can generate across review sites, the higher you’ll rank. These sites might include Yelp or Clutch, just to name a couple.

9. We Have Seen Minimal Success With Including the Actual Term "Near Me" in Content.

Dropping the “near me” phrase in your content is very difficult and often sounds out of place. Frankly, we’ve seen minimal success with including the term verbatim in content, so don’t feel like it’s a make or break keyword to include. As long as you follow the rest of our tips, you’ll be fully optimized to show up in those “near me” searches and rank better for local SEO.

10. Test And See How the Results Are Working.

You don’t know what you don’t put to the test. If you are having difficulty with a particular keyword, look to optimize for synonyms of that keyword. This usually requires going back through several of the previous areas, so only do this if you are sure that you have done the previous steps correctly.

Optimize for Local SEO With Noble Studios

Noble Studios is a top-rated SEO and PPC marketing agency that has helped countless brands rank higher on Google’s SERP. Our SEO and PPC services can help your business show up in far more than just local searches, and drive more organic traffic to your site. Interested to see what creative digital performance can do for your business? Contact us.