SEO is clearly a method or strategy. But the question is, how can an average businessman employ such an SEO strategy? How can he apply SEO in his business’ internet marketing context when he’s only used to traditional marketing? What are the specific strategies he could use, and is there some sort of SEO that is specifically designed for a local business? These are just some of the unresolved questions a local business owner can have if he attempts to involve his business in internet marketing through SEO. And thus, in this paper, we would like to emphasize specific SEO strategies, particularly local SEO Philippines, for an effective search engine optimization Philippines for local businesses in the Philippines in contrast to their foreign counterparts.
For business owners, SEO is an effective marketing tool to reach local consumers. But for an average businessman, SEO is simply promoting a business and letting others become aware of it. However, in the internet marketing world, SEO is more than a marketing tool – it’s a method, a strategy to be exact.
Local business in the Philippines has definitely come a long way. In fact, various local companies are now competing in terms of business visibility with their foreign counterparts. These companies are aware of the increasing number of local consumers, thus making every proposition possible to make their local company known to all Filipinos. Fundamentally, the increase of local consumers, particularly on the internet, has fueled business owners to centralize their newfound market on the internet. This is where the demand for search engine optimization or SEO has begun.
Importance of Local SEO in the Philippines
The logical next question that arises is whether a small business actually needs SEO. The answer is a big yes. Consulting firm, McKinsey and Company, has undertaken a yearlong study which compared the performance of more than 1000 companies in seventeen industry sectors and the results were quite revealing: the use of internet marketing tools is strongly correlated with the economic performance of high-growth companies. These internet marketing tools generally include having a website, employing search engine marketing (SEM) services, and having search engine optimized websites. In fact, more than half of the surveyed companies that claimed to have had internet marketing investments in the past year reported an increase in revenues, with companies that were aggressive in their internet marketing strategies posting 44% higher year on year revenue. While the size of the companies surveyed ranged from 500 employees to global corporations, these statistics strongly advocate the utilization of internet marketing tools, including SEO, for small businesses that are seeking to establish themselves in the marketplace.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a dynamic internet marketing strategy that focuses on growing visibility in non-paid (organic) search engine results. Visibility means ranking higher in search engines such as Google and Yahoo on the first few search engine results pages (usually up to the first two pages), and it also means appearing more frequently – which implies having search engines “find” your web pages more often.
Boosting Online Presence
The evolution of online presence of Filipino netizens has grown exponentially in the past 5 years, with statistics showing an overall increase of 528%. This is due to the fact that more investors realize how much potential the Philippine market holds for their line of business. Because of these entrepreneurs, we now have a wider selection of goods and services available to us. A company’s website is a virtual business card. Consumers need a way to inquire about the product without necessarily visiting a physical store to acquire information. A website is the most effective cost-efficient way to reach a wider audience as compared to printed media. The information available is limitless and can be accessed 24/7. The pride and joy of a webmaster is to have a site that is both aesthetically pleasing and informative, but it is a waste of effort if it cannot be seen. One of the key factors of a successful website is good search engine visibility, for it is the primary method of acquiring new customers. This fact is especially true for companies that provide services and not merchandise. A company can only progress if there is a steady flow of new clientele.
With the spread of high-speed internet and massive technological advancement in the Philippines, most businesses have started to establish their online presence. It has become a habit for Filipino netizens to first search online for services or products they are interested in. This goes hand in hand with today’s modern lifestyle. Scoping the internet for information is the most convenient way of getting what you need. You can do it in the comfort of your home, you have a wider range of choices, and you can look for the best deals available. Unbeknownst to most consumers, when they use search engines, they do not just “search”. Studies have shown that 92% of searchers do not look past page 1 or page 2 of the search results. This means the companies that are listed on the pages thereafter have a significantly lower chance of being found, thus missing a potential customer who is their targeted audience. Global SEO may have worked in the past for companies, but it is time for local business owners to consider using localized methods to target their specific demographic. This is where Local SEO (Philippine SEO) effectively comes into play.
Targeting Local Customers
To increase the relevance of the search, local SEO can cater to a specific target city or a state. This is very beneficial for small businesses, or businesses that provide a service in a few different cities. When you create a site with a specific location in mind, you need to make sure that you are getting in front of your target audience. Again, this will help to increase the probability of your website being at the top of the search when potential customers are using a local search term. Now, traffic is increased to your site, and if you have done your on-page SEO efficiently, there is a chance of high conversion rate. High traffic and a location-specific site can increase the probability of making a sale, whether it is a visit to your store or a contact to your services. This is the profit to any business and an extra benefit with local SEO. High probability of sales will allow for a better ROI (return on investment). This must be the most beneficial to a small business with limited finances and resources. A focused plan can facilitate an improved spending scheme and measure the effectiveness of the plan. This subsequently will lead to higher profitability.
Increasing Website Traffic
More often than not, local businesses will be receiving irrelevant traffic from keywords that have nothing to do with the business. This often results in a high bounce rate from the visitor and low conversions. Tracking traffic from local search and then implementing further strategy can give your business highly relevant traffic. This, in turn, can be further monitored and improved over time.
It’s important to keep track of your website traffic from organic search results and rankings. This can be achieved using quality web analytics that can provide digital marketing professionals with a wide range of information. This data can then be used to improve not only traffic results, but also your business or service.
With local search traffic being highly targeted, the visitors are more likely to be interested in your product or service. More traffic means more interest, more enquiries, and more sales. Local search delivers the highest conversion levels of all local advertising channels.
Increase in local search not only benefits online visibility, but also generates more website traffic, enquiries, and sales. With the recent study on local search behavior, when we search for local information, we often end our search with a phone call or visit to a local business. 75% of mobile searches result in a visit to a store within a day, and 28% of those searches result in a purchase. This is significant for the tourism and hospitality industries in the Philippines.
Key Local SEO Strategies in the Philippines
Considering that it keeps growing, it’s best to invest in this. You should take advantage of everything that Google offers for this particular platform. Always keep an eye out for any changes that Google makes within GMB; your account might be affected by it.
GMB just keeps growing and growing, and now it’s even more powerful than before. With its features, you can do a lot of things. Having these set up and optimized can increase your probability of showing up on Google local pack and Google Maps, and can also improve your organic rankings. Now what’s most important with this particular strategy is the information consistency. The information on GMB has to be the same as the information on your website. Any inconsistency can cause Google to not favor your business to be shown on the local pack or local organic results. Implementing these strategies requires careful consideration and attention to detail.
Optimizing Google My Business (GMB) should be your top priority. GMB is considered to be the most important factor in ranking businesses on Google local pack results.
Optimizing Google My Business
GMB is a powerful tool, but it only works if you use it properly – and lots of businesses don’t. There are businesses out there that have been listed without their knowledge, others that are poorly represented and many that just don’t take full advantage of what GMB has to offer. At the very least, you should be claiming your business listing, verifying that you are the business owner and checking that the recommended information is accurate. But the more effort you put in, the more you will get out of it. A fully completed listing with attractive pictures, a detailed business description and regular posts will help Google to consider you a legitimate business and go a long way to increase your visibility.
Google My Business (GMB) is the heart of local SEO. It’s the most important thing that you can do; in fact, your business can’t really survive in competitive local markets without it. If you have only a limited time to spend on your local SEO marketing, then nothing can give you a better return than getting your business into the GMB ‘local pack’. This is ultra prime real estate – it appears at the top of the organic search results complete with an eye-catching map and your business details. You don’t have to pay for the ad and, if you can get into this pack, you will open the floodgates to more clicks to your website and customers to your business. It’s the marketing sweet spot.
Creating Location-Specific Content
As an alternative to creating signature industry-related content, there is also the option of curating content of a more general nature to appeal to a wide audience, then injecting a local spin or tie-in to make it relevant to the target community. This method still provides a means to build content and target a particular set of keywords, while not needing to establish a direct correlation to the brand or service being offered. The content can also be shopped out to other sites or used as a reference in local PR efforts to promote the brand.
Success in SEO is primarily anchored on providing users with the most relevant information to their queries. This would mean the need for content to be sufficiently comprehensive so that it fulfills the demand for information on a given subject. For local businesses, this can mean creating content based around the features of a particular product or service being offered in comparison to that of their larger competitors. This tactic can serve to establish the small business as an industry authority as the content becomes a point of reference for consumers, as well as providing an onsite relevancy factor for the product or service in question. Building upon this, the usage of video can be a powerful tool with a shift towards blended results in search. Video brings an opportunity to provide highly visible and engaging content, which can help to build brand awareness and provide added value to the user. In the case of localized videos with interviews and presentations, it can be instrumental in the delivery of a particular message or information to a narrow and specific audience.
Building Local Citations
To establish a local citation means to incorporate your business into local sites and data, for instance Chamber of Commerce or other local business associations. The objective is to validate your presence at a specific location. The final result is a citation, which is a mention of your business on the internet that features your name, address, and phone number. A perfect example of a citation would be a listing in the yellow pages. The structure of a local citation is consistent and is referred to as NAP data. A local citation does not even need to contain a backlink to your website to be valuable to your visibility. The combination of an online search and the existence of NAP data on any given site in the place of your business becomes a citation. The reason a local citation is beneficial to increasing your visibility is that the more often your business is found on the internet the higher it will rank in search engine results. Because search engines are the modern day equivalent to our old phone books it is necessary to have your business listed in as many locations as possible. This will ensure that when potential customers turn to a search engine to locate a specific service your business will result in multiple hits. This method has been tested and proven as an effective alternative to broad search engine optimization. The idea is that the more specific the search destination, in this case the location of the business, the higher you want the search results to rank. A business located in Chicago that has listings catering to both Chicago and general yellow page searches will expect to see an increase in NAP data search results. This indicates that the higher the relevance of local search, the higher ranking the business will receive. While it is still smart to use broad search engine optimization for businesses that can appeal to a large customer base, local citations and local search engine optimization is the key to success for businesses that function in a specific location and want to be found and contacted by potential customers.
Encouraging Online Reviews
And finally, get a badge for your website! This will directly link to your review profiles, and act as a doorway for customers to leave their own feedback. Given the strong likelihood that positive reviews will have a direct effect on your local SEO and PPC, capturing a request for products or testimonials is a worthwhile experiment. After the recent release of new Question and Answer Schema, a feature designed to aid interactions between businesses and customers, a similar feedback method may become available in the future. This development only further emphasizes the importance of gaining recent, positive reviews in maintaining a strong local online presence.
A tactic for encouraging customer reviews is embracing them as part of your sales process. For any sales made via email or in person, follow up immediately with a request for a review, as the greatest likelihood of a response comes from the customer’s feelings being fresh. It is not advisable to offer incentives in exchange for reviews. Not only are these types of fast rewards generally ineffective, but they may also be against the terms of service of the platform the reviews are left on.
In recent times, reviews have become crucial for winning business and gaining local search visibility. Not only are they a ranking factor in local search, but they also have the power to influence consumer decisions. According to a survey, 97% of consumers aged 18-34 read online reviews to judge a local business! Fortunately, it is also acceptable to ask for reviews. Failure to do so may mean you are missing out on a big opportunity to gain recognition in the local search results.
Measuring and Tracking Local SEO Success
Analyzing Online Reviews and Ratings If you are a business that has a number of online reviews, then tracking these to see if there are any positive or negative changes post-implementation of a local SEO strategy can be very insightful. This could be, for example, a restaurant or hotel. If there is concrete data to support that your efforts are making a positive change, this is something to be reported back to the business owner and could even be a testimonial to use in further sales.
Tracking Local Keyword Rankings If you have implemented a specific local search, using keywords with a locale appended – for example, “plumber Sydney” as opposed to a general search term of “plumber” – tracking these keyword positions is essential to see the effectiveness of the campaign. There are an increasing number of tools available to track search engine rankings. One of the most popular free ones is the Google Position Checker. Using this tool, you can obtain the geo-specific result of keyword position in the area in which you are trying to target. This should improve with local search-based activities.
Monitoring Website Analytics Tracking the number of visitors from your target locale that are landing on your site is a key starting point for any local campaign. You can track this information using Google Analytics or a number of other website statistic packages. This can be useful to identify any trends. Locale-specific traffic should increase when you employ local search tactics.
Measuring the effectiveness of any SEO campaign is important to get a true understanding of what is working, what isn’t, and to identify areas for improvement. This is especially true with local SEO where there are different tactics you can employ to see what delivers the best results. These can be simple changes to your website, changes to your online profile, or even the way your business is listed in a local area.
Monitoring Website Analytics
A good strategy can make changes to the global website that will likely not influence the location of the customer, and thus a further local landing site here will follow the similar data collection, and it can be directly compared to know the success of SEO strategy changes aimed at location customers. Using both methods, tagging and landing page, creates a microcosm of the website in which lower levels of traffic allow further improvements to directly change the desires of and acquisition of customers. Web analytics can provide data on the current position of the customer on an accessed website. This has long been used in eCommerce, in which case it has more recently been admitted to help improve more general content and encourage customers to stay on the website. This can help any business understand the position of local customers and improve web content to suit customer location.
Website analytics is an important tool that measures the success of local SEO strategies. It is used to report, collect, measure, and analyze the internet data on a particular website in order to understand web usage. It can help in knowing how people find the website and what they are doing on the website. An effective local SEO strategy helps visitors view more relevant pages on the website and increases conversion rates. In that case, a dedicated local landing page will help identify customer movement and then customer decision, ultimately resulting in customer acquisition. This is usually tagged in the URL string, in which case the session data is then stored against a location, thus a simple report can be generated. Website analytics can help in increasing the acquisition process from a customer’s location due to the data, which can then be used to concentrate marketing efforts on a structure that would attract customers from a high conversion area to avail services to the advantage of the customer.
Tracking Local Keyword Rankings
The primary method I use to track rankings is to sit at a PC in the client’s local town and manually search for the keywords every morning. This may sound tedious, but it is by far the most effective way to determine what the client is seeing. Using a rank tracker tool can be highly unreliable for local results, so I would advise staying clear from these. Rank trackers produce inaccurate results as they collect data from too far afield and don’t use local IP addresses. Although it may be a time-consuming effort, tracking keywords and finding out what works and what doesn’t can be the difference in an effective local SEO campaign. A very attractive alternative would be to outsource this important task to a web marketing company who can guide the business through the ins and outs of what works for their niche and the specific demographic of their local area. Tracking rankings and discovering how a customer finds them is extremely important and conclusive to any local business.
Local SEO is a strong tool for small companies to stand firm against giant chains because it is a lot more cost effective. However, this is only if they are able to target the right keywords. Tracking rankings through a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is an old practice, but it is still useful to know where you’re ranking, even if it is just a rough guide. It is also important to track the first page rankings, as this is what gets the majority of search traffic. Track the rankings of the targeted keywords at regular intervals. It is ideal to check on a daily basis if a good amount of data is coming in, however, this is largely unrealistic, so the best advice is to check as much as reasonably possible. There are two main data points to collect: the ranking of targeted keywords and organic traffic from those keywords.
Analyzing Online Reviews and Ratings
By analyzing reviews and ratings of current clients, a small business can collect insight on the experience of services which they have provided in the past. This user-generated information is an often overlooked portion of keyword research and trend analysis, yet it can provide a different angle when considering what keywords and phrases best reflect the company’s service. A reflected example can be seen when comparing the phrases “yard clean up” and “yard maintenance”. When one small landscaping business did a search into the volume of local search traffic for each phrase, they found that more people had searched for “yard maintenance”. Then by going on to examine the ratings and reviews for jobs using these search phrases, it was apparent that the jobs which yielded the best customer satisfaction were those which were found directly through search engine. Thus the company was able to determine that the search terms were indicative of the service most valued by their clientele and could use this information for SEM to find similar jobs.
For small businesses with a single location or smaller-scale service companies, be it housekeeping or home improvement, the decision to turn away customers who are located too far outside of the serviceable area is not an uncommon one. This is done in an attempt to save time and expense of travel for both parties involved. Making an informed decision based on local search data can be especially useful to these companies as it ensures the best direction in the allocation of their services.
Although it is not solely a method of on-page optimization, the value in analyzing online reviews and ratings is that it information can be applied to better a company’s local search standings. On the broader scope, merchant credibility has been proven to have a direct impact on search engine ranking results. In the case study compiled by Eccolo Media, results showed that 87% of people who made a business-to-business product or service purchase in the last 6 months “frequently” or “occasionally” used online professional reviews and rankings prior to the purchasing decision. Of those, more than half of respondents “often” used online professional reviews and rankings to aid their purchase decision. Translation being that the more credibility a company has to its name, the more likely people are going to search the company specifically and at that point SEO is no longer a factor.
