How Stratus Helps You Boost Local Search Results

Did you Google your business? Did it show up?

In today's digital world, it's crucial for your business to appear in search results when potential customers look for you—whether by your specific business name or by broader categories that describe your business (e.g., "downtown restaurants" or "chiropractors near me").

But how does it all work?

Your business can appear on search engine result pages (SERPs) in several ways. Today, we'll focus on the differences between organic search results and local search results.

Organic Search

Organic search results appear on the page after paid search ads and local search results. Getting your website to show up, or rank highly, is influenced by:

  • Your Website: Do you have relevant content? Does your website load quickly? Is it mobile-friendly? Is it optimized for SEO?
  • Links: Do other sites link back to your website? Does your website link to other sites?
  • Other Factors: Google Business Profile listing, online reviews, and directory citations also play a role in helping your business appear in search results.

Local Search

Local search results determine how your business appears in the local map pack view or how your Google Business Profile shows up on the right-hand side of the search results page. Getting your business listing to show up is influenced by:

  • Your Google Business Profile: Is it verified and accurate? Have you filled out your service category? Are your hours of operation, phone number, and address accurate?
  • Your Proximity: Is your business location close to where someone is searching?
  • Your Online Reviews: Are you getting new reviews? What is your average rating? Are you responding to reviews?
  • Your Website and Links: While they don’t have as big of an influence here as in organic search rankings, your website is still important.

How to Boost Your Local Search Rankings

Local search queries, like “auto repair near me,” have significantly increased over the past few years. As consumer behavior evolves, having a strong local search presence and ranking high for relevant searches will help grow your business exposure.

Here are a few tips on how to get started and how Stratus can make it easy:

Step 1: Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile

Ensure your Google Business Profile is claimed and verified. You can do this at google.com/business if you haven’t already.

Step 2: Complete Your Profile

Make sure your profile is complete, including:

  • Accurate Business Name: This needs to be your legal business name.
  • Accurate Address: This should match what is listed on your website and other online listings.
  • Accurate Phone Number
  • Accurate Hours of Operation
  • Completed Primary Service Category and Additional Service Categories (if applicable)

Step 3: Grow and Manage Your Online Reviews

Online reviews are the second biggest factor, after an accurate listing, in determining how well your business ranks in local search. Stratus makes managing and growing your reviews simple.

  • Set up customized notifications for new reviews, so you never miss a chance to respond.
  • Create custom and personalized review response templates, allowing you to respond within seconds.
  • Gather insights on the keywords and themes people use in their reviews.
  • Get new reviews through the review invite feature by sending emails or text messages asking customers to leave a review.

Get Started with Stratus

Managing your Google Business Profile and online reviews doesn’t need to be a huge time commitment or just another task on your list. With Stratus, feel empowered to make the updates that matter and increase how often your business shows up in local search results.

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