CEOs overseeing businesses with a local demographic as their primary target group always obsess over local search engine optimization (SEO) tactics. However, rarely is the case that their obsession brings them fruitful results. The reason behind this is simple – they are not doing local SEO properly.
Local SEO strategies evolve every year. As we near the end of 2023 and enter 2024, they will tend to evolve once again. For CEOs looking to capitalize on local SEO strategies and trends in 2024, here are a few tips.
#1 Hyper-Personalization
Currently, personalization in local SEO goes far beyond just including a user’s name in an email or showing product recommendations based on previous purchases. It’s about delivering a highly tailored experience to users based on various factors. These may include everything from their location to their preferences.
According to Forbes, hyper-personalization is already here. In the future, it’ll only get more cutting-edge, and a lot of it has to do with the involvement of AI. Advanced AI-driven algorithms can analyze a user’s location, search history, and behavior to provide personalized content and offer in real-time.
For CEOs, the takeaway is clear – invest in AI-driven personalization. Make the most of technology that can adjust your web content, campaigns, and product recommendations to cater to your local customers’ needs and preferences. Doing so will enhance the overall user experience and significantly increase your chances of conversion.
#2 Content Localization for Voice Search
Over the years, voice search has rapidly gained popularity among the masses. Unfortunately, according to Entrepreneur, it’s something that businesses fail to utilize to their full capacity. Come 2024, the need to optimize your content for voice search will grow immensely.
Most voice search queries these days are basically people asking their devices for directions, restaurant recommendations, and other local information. People are simply conversing with their devices if you think about it. Thus, CEOs should focus on creating content that caters to natural, conversational language.
Think about the questions people might ask when looking for a business like yours and provide concise, informative answers. Structured data, like schema markup, is also essential to ensure that search engines understand and present your content effectively in voice search results.
#3 AI-Enhanced Local Link Building
Link building has been a staple of SEO for years, and it will remain so in the coming years as well. However, the approach to link building has evolved significantly.
AI-driven tools can now help businesses find the most relevant and high-authority websites for link-building opportunities. These tools can also predict which links are most likely to bring in local traffic.
As a CEO, it’s essential for you to invest in AI-enhanced link-building strategies. Rely on data-driven insights to identify websites and influencers who can help promote your business within your local community.
Quality always trumps quantity in link building, so focus on building relationships and obtaining backlinks from reputable sources. Consider working with an SEO agency to help you with this if necessary. SEO agencies have all the required personnel and resources to guarantee high-quality local link building. These agencies can help you properly understand how local SEO works and the importance of geographical anchor text in these cases.
According to the Connection Model, when it comes to local SEO, always focus on high-authority backlinks that have the correct geographical anchor text. For instance, let’s say you want to rank for “near me” searches in LA for the category “finance software.” Here, you shouldn’t target the keywords “near me.” Instead, you target “finance software in LA” or “LA finance software.”
#4 Visual Search Optimization
As reported by TechRound, visual search is gaining momentum as a powerful tool in the local SEO landscape. People often use their smartphones to take pictures of products, landmarks, or even local businesses and then search for information related to those visuals. Visual search is especially popular for finding similar products or identifying a particular brand.
To leverage this trend, CEOs should ensure that their website and online assets are optimized for visual search. This includes using descriptive alt text for images and providing clear and detailed product images. Structured data is also needed here to help search engines understand the context of visual content.
Visual search optimization can enhance user experience and attract customers who prefer this mode of search.
Conclusion
The business landscape in 2024 will not be the same as it was in 2023. Change is inevitable, so business leaders must adapt their strategies accordingly.
Hence, if you’re a CEO focusing on local SEO, keep these strategies in mind for 2024. Unless you do so, it might become hard for your company to survive the competition from other local businesses.