If you want local clients to find your personal care services company, one of the top ways to do so is to get listed in Google’s local pack. These are the featured results listed near the Google map on the top of the search results when someone makes a location-based search or a search that Google thinks is location-specific. Because these are the customers who are most likely looking to book a service by searching for nearby personal care services, they are the most likely to become customers if they find your contact information. In addition, the Google local pack lists the details, like hours, name, address, and phone number, that a customer would need to book an appointment. Clearly, these are valuable results, so how can you get listed here? These tips will help you increase your chances of winning this top spot.
Local Pack Competitiveness
Clearly, the local pack makes a lot of sense from a marketing perspective as it increases local visibility and reaches your target market, but getting picked for that slot is hard. Why? Because Google only shows three businesses. Thus, you need to send all of the right signals to the search engine to ensure that yours is one of the chosen businesses.
What Google Wants to See for the Local Pack
To win the game and get listed on the local pack, you must understand what the algorithm is looking for. Unlike traditional search algorithms, the local pack algorithm is looking to give searchers locations they can visit or call right away. Thus, it is looking for the following:
Relevance
First, you need keywords and SEO signals that show your business is relevant to the search terms the user inputs. Thus, the keywords you emphasize are directly related to your success here.
Distance
Google will attempt to see where the searcher is located and then will show results that are near their location. Thus, your local SEO plays a role. Also, if your business has more than one location, having all of those locations listed with the proper city and zip code is vital.
Importance
Finally, Google will attempt to assess the prominence or importance of your business to the searcher. This is where the actions you take can have a direct impact on your results.
Top Strategies to Secure Your Google Local Pack Spot
So, how can your personal care services business increase the chances of landing that spot? These marketing strategies for salons and other personal care businesses will help.
Claim and Optimize your Google Business Profile
Before Google will list you, it needs something to list. Your Google Business Profile is the key to this. Claim and verify your profile, or you cannot get listed. Make sure you fill in all potential business details. Properly categorize your business, and include a list of the personal care services you provide in the description.
Once you have your profile, keep it updated. You can post offers and special events, and the more you do, the more relevant and active you will seem to the Google bots. These updates also give you a spot to focus on your local keywords. Also, make sure you post good photos of your business or services you have performed.
Utilize Local Keywords
Next, focus on your local SEO efforts. Typically, local keywords will be the normal keywords you are targeting for your services or industry and a location-specific keyword. For example, you might say “spa services in Chicago” or “spa services near 61018.” Sprinkle the local keywords into headings, content, and your profiles.
Use local keywords everywhere you can. Your website, blog, social media posts, and business profiles should all have a good number of these. Be careful not to add so many that you appear to be spamming the system, but use them where they make sense.
Add Matching Citations in Directories
One of the ways Google determines the importance and relevance of a local business is by matching name, address, and phone number (NAP) citations in business directories and on your social media pages. Not only does this show the right signals to Google, but it also helps your customers find you when they want to book a service or do business with you.
Because there are so many directories out there, this particular step can be challenging. Using an all-in-one platform, like Surefire Local, to target multiple directories and social media pages at once will help you create many listings, and keep them consistent. These listings need to match, so be careful with this step.
Generate and Interact with Reviews
When you search for a service provider or retail business type in your area, what do you notice about the local pack listings? Most, if not all, of them will have Google reviews, and those reviews are likely very high. That’s because Google uses its own reviews as a way to measure the relevance and importance of business.
In other words, Google is going to choose businesses that have Google Reviews, and hopefully positive ones, for the local pack listing. You need to encourage your customers to leave reviews, especially on Google but also on other review websites, to improve your listing.
There are several ways you can get reviews. First, consider asking for them immediately after a client comes in for a service, especially if you sense the service went well. You can print business cards with a QR code that links to your review page on Google as an easy way to do this.
When someone does leave a review, respond to it, whether that review is positive or negative. Google will view this as a positive signal that your business is relevant and popular. Thank the people for taking the time to leave a review.
Like the directory listings, this can be tedious to monitor. Try finding a tool that will monitor reviews and let you respond to them from one dedicated platform.
Keep Your Website Optimized
The SEO efforts you put into your actual website will also impact your ability to rank on the local pack. Make sure the site has all of the tools to be fully optimized, including:
- Title tags
- Site map
- Meta descriptions
- Local search terms
- Alt text on images
- Clear URLs for each page
Be Mobile-Friendly
The Google local pack is designed for the needs of mobile searchers who want to find a company to do business with while they are out and about. While others use it from desktops, Google understands the search intent of its users, and thus, it rewards websites that are mobile friendly. Make your website mobile-friendly, or use responsive web design so it can be easily seen on any device in an optimal format.
Gain More Backlinks
Backlinks are another signal that shows your website and business’s importance in your local community. Encourage backlinks by getting your website’s link on business directories, the local city website, the local chamber of commerce, and similar sites. You can also collaborate with businesses that offer a product your customers could enjoy after getting their personal care needs met from you. You can each promote each other, and offer backlinks, to add to your success.
Increase your Click-Through Rate
Google rewards businesses that other searchers utilize. Thus, the click-through rate on your listings will impact your success, especially when they are shown on the local pack. However, you may not have as much control over the click-through rate as other features. You will need to make your business listing as appealing as possible, with high ratings, reviews, and relevant content, so more people will click on it when it does show up in the local pack.
Increase Your Google Local Pack Chances with Surefire Local
If these tips and tricks sound like a lot of work, it’s because they are. It takes quite a bit of effort to get listed on the local pack because Google can only give listings to a handful of websites out of the many in your area offering personal care services. However, the right tools can make it easier. Surefire Local is one such tool.
Surefire Local provides an all-in-one marketing platform designed with small businesses in mind. It allows you to list your business in directories, monitor and respond to reviews, request reviews, and search for high-quality backlink opportunities, all from one dashboard. It also offers analytics you can use to improve your marketing efforts, positioning yourself for success in the local pack as well as other marketing platforms.
To understand how Surefire Local can help your personal care business find success in the crowded local services marketplace, book a demo to see how it works for yourself.