SEO Melbourne going local for growth

If you have a website for a business that is local to Melbourne or the adjoining areas, one factor that will get you ahead of the competition is SEO Melbourne optimisation. The goal of such an SEO or search engine optimisation is to get your business found right on top of the list when someone is searching for your type of business locally.

What specific optimisation like SEO for the Melbourne area does is drive more ‘organic,’ ‘non-paid,’ traffic through search results on search engines like Google.

You certainly know if you have been reading and searching for SEO Melbourne that according to leading SEO sites Google changes its search algorithm about 500-600 times a year.  For instance in April 2015, Google made major changes to its algorithm on search criteria that prioritised mobile-friendly sites in search results across all genres. Very good news for the locally optimised sites as anyone looking for a local business got super targeted search results on his mobile, optimised results for Melbourne which he could turn into a connection and later a deal that was beneficial to the website and the searcher.

How does local SEO Melbourne differ from the usual global SEO campaign? While the links and on-page SEO factors are  still very important super targeting of the page makes it more relevant to local searches and there are some practices and procedures that are put in place to optimise the site specifically for SEO in the Melbourne area for instance.

Business Page

The first step in super targeting your business for SEO Melbourne is by setting up a Google ‘My Business page’ with all the details of your business like, name, nature of business, address, working hours,  phone number all included in the Business page. This also has a verification process by Google after which the search engine directs specific searches to your address as its crawlers recognise your business page as a legitimate business in the area.  One factor to be kept in mind is that all the details given to Google are consistent throughout your website. Any discrepancies and your locally targeting is removed from Google at once and your SEO for Melbourne area then goes to the bottom of the pack and will have to be rebuilt from scratch.

Local reviews

Another big factor that the Google algorithm uses to gauge the worth and reputation of your business especially when it comes to local competition are the reviews written on your establishment.

Say for instance you own an automobile tyre business in Melbourne and you have a website and are listed in Google business pages. On Google 100 people have given you good reviews, there is a competitor company that has just 40 local reviews on their business. Your company will be listed above the competition as reviews have a direct impact on local search rankings.  According to a Google-run survey, 88% of its search engine users in Australia trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations when it comes to ordering from local businesses.  (Australia Business Review Online 2016 June ). Therefore it is imperative that you request satisfied customers to write reviews for your business in order to rank higher in SEO Melbourne.

Building links

Another big factor in SEO Melbourne is local link building. For this, your local SEO  should focus on linking your business with other local websites relevant to your business. The best way to do that is by linking with local online business directories. Local searches lead to 50% of mobile visitors to order online according to Google’s own research.

If your website is not showing up in local search results, you’re missing the biggest opportunity to grow your business.  It’s time to start working on your local SEO Melbourne strategy so that more customers can find you in the local listings in Google and you will watch your online business grow exponentially.