Local SEO is essential for any jewelry business that has top notch customer service and wants to serve clients in a specific area. It enables businesses to appear in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) in a specific area.

Conventional SEO mostly focuses on ranking in countrywide searches, but local SEO targets location-based searches.

Local SEO depends on how you are marketing your jewelry business’s name, products, and services to local shoppers. If your store doesn’t show up when you search “jewelry stores near me,” then this blog is for YOU. Local SEO increases website traffic, and leads, and ultimately results in greater conversions. 

Consider this targeted approach as another tool to help your business compete against larger, well-funded national companies.

Without further dilly-dallying, here are 7 ways to make your mark on location-based searches.

1. Google My Business Account

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows businesses to appear in Google Maps and as a listed business with a website link, hours of operation, phone number, images, services, etc. Additionally, GMB increases your company's visibility and allows clients to leave reviews. 

The more reviews you get, the better your business will rank in GMB. You’ll also want to take advantage of posting regular GMB updates to let people know you are an active and vibrant store.

Your company may appear on various Google SERPs' coveted sidebar positions if you optimize your website and GMB page well. The sidebar is a special position because neither an organic search result nor a PPC ad can get you featured there. Effective GMB SEO is the only method to get featured on the sidebar.

Creating and optimizing your GMB is essential for both online and physical jewelry stores.

2. Localized Content

Add a location page to your website if you have several physical locations. It will assist in "localizing" your website. Each page should have an internal link that takes your audience to another page of your website. Interlinking is quite beneficial as it reduces your website’s bounce rate. 

Make sure to include the city, state, country, and, if possible, the region on those location-specific URLs.

If your locations are in one region, such as Southern California or the Los Angeles area, you might not want to separate your locations. You should consider making this change if you have a large and capable team of developers, SEO experts, and many storefronts in different cities/regions.

Each page of your website should focus on something new or on a particular topic. Incorporating too much information about different things can bore the readers. Besides, you should publish articles that address location-specific queries and, if possible, highlight local events.

3. Citations

A citation page is any page that contains the company's name, address, contact information, and location, such as press releases, business listings, local news articles, social networking pages, and local web directories all count as citation pages. 

Though it can be challenging to appear on all the appropriate reference pages, especially if your company has many locations.

You can expedite your efforts on the citation page by using tools like Moz local, where you can input your company name and address and see which citations need updating or adding.

However, if your company is small and has only one or two locations, you should list your business on various directories and listing sites.

4. Audit Your Local SEO

Once your website is ranking higher and gaining traffic, it can be tempting to move your efforts somewhere else. 

SEO is a continuous, logical process that builds over time. 

So, a thorough audit is essential to understand what you are doing right and what needs to be done to meet your goals. 

How to do a surface-level site audit:

• Google My Business Audit: How do the SERPs display your Google My Business? Whether the data is correct or not? Is your site crawlable according to the Google Search Console audit? With this type of audit, keep a close eye on your listing rankings. Look after your Business profile with an easy-to-navigate dashboard.‍
• On-Page SEO Audit: Does your website comply with all elements that help with the ranking? Check out Matthew Woodward’s 27 tips for on-page seo.‍
• Listing audit: Is your information accurate in the leading business directories?‍
• Analyzing your competition: How does your website compare to other jewelry retailers? Do you have any holes that need to be filled? How do you compare inbound links, content, design, and sites?‍
• Website Audit: Analyze whether your website is correctly optimized to achieve traffic goals through website auditing.

5. Internal Linking

While adding external links to your website is beneficial, enhancing your internal linking can also help you rank in search engines. 

Why do link building?

• Helps navigation on the website
• Helps create a hierarchy of pages
• Distributes ranking and authority of pages

6. Online Business Directories

Websites like Yelp, Foursquare, MapQuest, and YellowPages, to mention a few, are examples of online business directories.

Adding your company's name, address, and phone number to these directories will improve visibility and your local SEO.

You'll get more online PR the more you engage with your neighborhood.

You can generate traffic, brand recognition, and inbound links by working on local SEO and listing yourself in directories.

7. Don’t Ignore Alternative Search Engines

Google generates the bulk of organic traffic to your website. But some clients want to find you through other search engines.

When your profile appears in the SERPs, you may not get a click, but you’ll have made an impression. An impression is when your URL shows up in the search results.

You won't know if your company has been spotted on search engines like Bing or DuckDuckGo unless you are tracking impressions.

Apple Maps is the source of DuckDuckGo's maps. Therefore, you must set your company up with Apple Business Register if you want it to appear in DuckDuckGo and Apple Maps.

Similarly, Bing Places is compatible with Google, so if you have a GMB account, you can import your information into Bing Places and turn on automatic syncing.

Bottom Line

There is much more to local SEO than just getting your website to appear in local directories. 

Utilize proactive strategies that cover the SERPs with positive content about your local business to gain an advantage.

It will take time to rank well on local SEO pages. And it can be challenging to develop a user experience that appeals to a local audience that establishes your company as a resource.But over time, you’ll see more and more local customers are finding their way to your store. 

At ITJ Group, we help small businesses in Los Angeles grow their online presence and local SEO. We offer free, in-depth website and SEO audits, where we pinpoint your brand’s strengths and areas for improvement. Contact us to learn more!