"Near me" searches are typically used by people who are looking for venues, services, or events in a specific area. It's a great idea to try and optimize for these keywords, as it can attract customers interested in your services who are also in your area.
How to Optimise for “Near Me” Keywords?
Below are a few ways that you can begin optimizing for those "near me" keywords!
Don’t add “near me” keywords!
Although it may sound counterintuitive, one common mistake people make is adding “near me” keywords into the platform's keyword research and keyword sitemap section.
You want to add keywords into headings, titles, and page content. You’ll find it’s very difficult to add “near me” keywords naturally here, and it could negatively affect the quality of your content. Instead, you can optimize for 'near me' keywords in other ways:
Optimize your Google Business Profile
Once you have a Google Business Profile, follow these steps to help optimize for "near me" keywords:
Enter your business name, address, and complete directions using Google Maps.
Provide business hours, contact information, and category details.
Add photos of your services and ask for reviews on your business page.
Keep NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistent on all business profiles, including social media.
Maintain accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date business information.
Build backlinks with geo anchor text
When adding anchor text (the clickable text on a link), having geographic locations within the text is good. This goes for both internal and external links.
Create and optimize location-based pages:
Have a user-friendly URL structure that includes the location you’re targeting
Optimise title tags and meta descriptions for target keywords
Use location words in alt text for images of your business
Make use of local citations
Make sure to add your business name and information to the likes of Bing, Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, and Apple, as well as other citation directories.
Ensure that customer feedback is visible
Encourage customers to leave feedback to build up your review profile and showcase your reviews.
Start blogging
Creating blogs with valuable and relevant content will encourage local customers and users to share and link these articles. Creating these local backlinks can further boost your search engine rankings for the “near me” keywords.