5 tips for optimizing your online store for local searches on Google

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Local searches on Google occur when people search for businesses or services in a specific geographic location. It can range from restaurants and cafes to stores, dentists, and hair salons.

In this article, we will look at how you can optimize your online store for local searches and give you useful tools and tips along the way.

When someone performs a local search, Google displays results tailored to the specific geographic location of the user.

Eivind Nessen Tangen works in the Growth department in Maksimer. He is responsible for the analysis team and has seen over several years how local searches can be optimized for online stores.

portrett av Eivind Nesse Tangen, fagansvarlig for analyseteamet på Growth avdelingen i Maksimer
Eivind Nessen Tangen, subject manager for the analysis team at the Growth department in Maksimer, uses his expertise daily to optimize local searches for online stores.

He explains specifically what local search is

It is primarily searches made via mobile phone and searches in combination with place names. For example, “dentist Bergen”, “lawyer firm Sandnes” and the like, he says. – If you go on your phone and search for “pizza”, Google will come up with suggestions on where you can buy pizza near where you are.

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A search for “dentist Bergen” will show an overview of dentists in Bergen who are nearby.

Let’s explore how potential customers in buying mode and on the go can discover your store using Google.

1. Create Google Business Profile

The most important thing you can do is start with Google Business Profile, says Eivind.

Google Business Profile, also known as Google My Business, is a free service from Google that gives companies and organizations the opportunity to create a profile that appears on Google Search and Google Maps.

The company profile displays information such as name, address, telephone number, opening hours, photos and reviews, and may also include a link to the company’s website and social media accounts.

Add appropriate categories and the best-selling goods or services to the profile. If you supplement with active SoMe profiles, videos on your own optimized YouTube channel and your own landing pages on the online store for the search terms, Google will get clear signals from you about what you offer. In combination with your location, this will be able to give good results in local searches.

skjermbilde av google bedrift
The most important thing you can do is start with Google Business Profile
kvinne som sitter foran mobilkamera

2. Create YouTube channel

Upload simple videos about new products, offers and campaigns.

YouTube is one of the world’s largest search engines, and is owned by Google. By creating videos that are optimized for local searches, you can increase your chances of being discovered by potential customers searching for related products or services.

By including local keywords such as location in video titles, descriptions and tags, you can increase your chances of being discovered by potential customers in your local market.

By leveraging YouTube as one of the world’s largest search engines, you can reach potential customers by optimizing videos for local searches.

3. Update social media

Keep your social media accounts up to date and relevant. There is great value in linking to your articles and not least YouTube videos on social media.

This means that the videos are seen by more people. And videos that have high views, comments and interactions make Google rank them higher. In combination with specifying locations on the videos in tip 2, this will help to rank high in local Google searches.

He encourages you to publish offers, new products and campaigns on social media to show that you are current and relevant.

Also use the advertising platforms for the various social media and target local target groups.

In addition, it can be smart to be a sponsor for local events and activities. It can be very beneficial for local branding.

3d illustrasjon av mobil med hjerter og tommel opp
Update and keep your social media accounts relevant for increased visibility. Link to articles and YouTube videos to reach more people.
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Eivind encourages you to be active and ask for feedback from customers via the Google Business Profile

4. Obtain valuable feedback from your customersr

Good word of mouth is priceless! Customers who give you good feedback will help others to both find and shop with you.

Be active and ask for feedback from customers via your Google Business Profile. You can easily create a link to your profile so that customers can easily leave feedback.

If you have a physical store, you can also make it easy for customers to give feedback by having a QR code in the checkout or on the receipt that the customer can use.

Create a QR code in, for example, Canva or other programs that link to your company profile and place it easily visible at the checkout. Tell the customers that you value feedback.

This becomes a natural way to keep your Google profile active.

It also builds trust, as long as the feedback reflects satisfied customers.

Google does not weight the number of stars. But good feedback gives customers a sense of security, which often results in more clicks and increased sales.

Natural keywords in the reviews are most important.

5. Use Google’s own tools – for all they’re worth

The use of Google’s own tools such as Google Posts and Google Shopping can have a positive impact on local searches in Google.

Google Posts: Google Posts is a feature that allows you to publish directly on your Google Business Profile. Using Google Posts, you can share updates, offers, events and other relevant content directly in the search results.

This gives you an additional opportunity to market yourself and communicate with potential customers who search for your company or related keywords.

Google Shopping: By connecting Google Merchant Center to your Google Business Profile, you can display your products directly in Google Search and Google Shopping results when users search for related products in your area.

This is particularly useful for companies with physical stores that want to market and sell products locally. This can increase the chances that potential customers nearby will find you when they search for relevant products in Google.

You should also make use of Google Merchant Center as an effective way to achieve increased visibility of the store’s goods.

It is a platform that allows online shops and retailers to upload product data to Google. With Google Merchant Center, you can upload detailed information about your products. Such as inventory.

Illustrasjon av en handlevogn og nettbutikkvarer
The use of Google’s own tools such as Google Posts and Google Shopping can have a positive impact on local searches in Google.

How can Maksimer help you?

Maksimer has a Growth team that helps your store with local search engine optimization.

We systematically go through the available data to get a status picture of the current situation. Based on this, we make an assessment of what is missing and which measures can produce good results – in the shortest possible time. In this process, we also look at current competitors in the local area and uncover the competitive situation.

The methods and tools Maksimer uses are mainly Google Ads and Google Analytics.

Here we find data that can be sorted and analyzed to find what is good and what can be improved. In Google Search Console and in the tool SEMrush, we follow the development of placement in the search engines, potential improvements and any errors that can be corrected.

Maksimer helps you to increase turnover in your online store. Our dedicated Growth team takes care of marketing, SEO, analytics and website optimization to ensure success.

If you want the best solutions to optimize your online store, contact us today.

Performance marketing manager i Maksimer, Mila Grcic

Mila Grcic

Head of Growth

Shall we have a chat?

Tell us a little about your company, needs and objectives. We will contact you for a non-binding conversation.

+ 47 55 91 31 35
post@maksimer.no