Consumer habits are changing, and more people are performing extensive research before buying a product or service – all the more reason to have a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, particularly a local SEO for home care businesses. In fact, studies show that, even before the new normal, 81% of shoppers research a product or service online before purchasing. With so much information available online, consumers can easily find options around them without having to leave the comfort of their own hom. If you want to be seen by people in need of home care and their family members, you’ll need an effective local SEO strategy to put you on the map. And this is where our home care SEO services come in.
But what is local SEO for home care businesses, how does it work, and why local SEO is important business? If you’re new to home care digital marketing, SEO, and local SEO, this is your guide to local SEO and understanding how it can increase your business’ visibility to relevant users and boost your quality leads and sales.
What Is Local SEO?
SEO is a digital marketing strategy where you optimize your website, its structure, and its content for search engine results pages (SERPs). When search engines like Google index websites like yours, it has crawlers that go through your web pages to determine what your website is about and which keywords it’s likely relevant for.
These factors, along with other criteria outside of SEO, can determine what your website’s ranking will be in SERPs for specific keywords. Given that the top results are the ones most users visit, many businesses that have an SEO strategy compete for the top spots of keywords relevant to their business.
That’s what SEO is, in a nutshell. Local SEO, however, is a subset of an SEO strategy as it involves targeting users in a specific location.
Why Local SEO Is Important
For example, let’s say that your home care business, which provides palliative care, is located in City X. You serve clients in City X as well as nearby areas, like City Y and City Z. A good local SEO strategy for your home care business will target users in any of these cities searching for palliative care. It’s relevant traffic and a quality lead because you can cater to leads in these areas, so the chance of a conversion is likely.
In contrast, let’s say that you don’t go for a local SEO strategy. This means you might rank for keywords related to palliative care, but you could be getting traffic from a faraway city or even someone abroad. It boosts your traffic, but it’s traffic that’s unlikely to convert. So, there’s really no point in casting a wide net when your services are limited to a certain area.
Some of the other benefits of choosing a digital marketing strategy with local SEO for home care include:
- Establish your business on the map. By establishing your visibility on local search results, you can be seen by consumers looking for home care in your area or within nearby areas. Even if you’re not at the top of SERPs, your business can still appear on Google’s Local Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps.
- Reach quality leads likely to convert. Local SEO allows you to fine-tune your target user and narrow down your visibility to users who are likely to consider you. This means that the traffic that ends up on your website are those within your service areas, which makes them a quality lead.
- Drive more conversions. Even if you don’t get to the top of SERPs, having established your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) will put your details available in its widgets and Maps. This gives users access to information like reviews, contact information, services, and more without needing to visit your website.
- Enhance your local reputation. Having an active Google Business Profile allows you to optimize your listing, enter all your contact information, provide images of your service, and even display reviews from your existing clients. Google’s reviews are a good way to sway users’ decision making, especially if you’re taking an active approach to monitoring and responding to feedback properly.
- Provide nearest branch or franchise. If your home care business has multiple branches or franchises, local SEO for home care can help direct users to the branch closest to them. Your business can manage multiple locations on the map, increasing the chances of having your business seen by relevant users.
How Does Local SEO Work?
Think of local SEO as your typical SEO strategy, except fine-tuning your target from anyone who searches for relevant keywords in general to users who are either within your area or searching for your services in your selected areas. This means taking additional steps to establish your location and setting up a Google Business Profile (GBP) to put you on the map.
Managing a Google Business Profile
The first thing to do local SEO effectively is to have a GBP. If you don’t have a GBP, it’s still possible for your home care business to appear on local searches organically. However, it’ll be impossible for you to optimize your business profile and appear in Google features like Local Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps.
Once you’ve claimed your business, you’ll have to constantly monitor and optimize your profile to maintain your local visibility. This includes performing the following:
- Adding relevant media to your business listing
- Ensuring that the information (contact number, email, operating hours, etc.) are up-to-date
- Responding to questions posted on your listing
- Monitoring and responding to reviews
One of the biggest advantages of a GBP is that you don’t have to be at the top of the rankings to be seen on Google Maps. As long as your local SEO and your profile is optimized, users looking for home care services in the area are likely to find you on the map or on local listings.
Tips for Home Care Marketing with Local SEO
Because of the nature of home care businesses, having a local SEO strategy can be a huge advantage for reaching out to users in your area. On top of optimizing your GBP, here are a few more home care marketing strategies to optimize your digital marketing strategy.
1. Content Quality Over Quantity
Older search engine algorithms used to value content quantity and keyword density. Today, algorithms take content quality into consideration. That’s why having original quality content that answers users’ questions about home care can help your SEO strategy. Not only does it help users, but optimized content is likely to include keywords and organic latent semantic indexing that can boost your authority.
For instance, having pages on your home care website that answer the following phrases can boost your topical authority:
- Can I afford home care?
- How to choose a home care agency
- What is home care?
- In-home care vs group home care
- What is palliative care?
- Home care services near me
These are just some of the questions and phrases that users looking for home care services are likely to search. By having diverse content that answers these questions, you can boost your online visibility organically.
2. Monitor Your GBP
The nature of home care services means there are plenty of users with special cases in need of additional services. Not all users will make it to your website, and even less will reach your contact page. That’s why constantly monitoring your GBP can increase your leads and conversions.
Users may use your GBP listing on Local Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps. If your contact number or operating hours have changed, users trying to contact you may end up with a dead end and resort to looking for other home care services. They may also use the Questions & Answers portion of your listing, and the sooner you can provide them with a response, the more likely they’ll reach out to you.
3. Build Your Topical Authority
A good content marketing strategy can boost your topical authority, which is Google’s measurement of how you’re a credible source for your niche. By constantly adding original, relevant, and meaningful content, you can be rewarded as Google recognizes you as a reliable source that will appear on both organic SERPs and on local listings.
Spread the Word of Your Business with Local SEO Services from Care Marketing
Local SEO can be a beneficial strategy if you want to be seen on local listings and cater to users within specific areas. For businesses like yours in home care, local SEO is important to ensure that the users you’re reaching out to are relevant to your business and have a chance of converting into sales for your business.
At Care Marketing, we understand the needs of businesses providing home care services. Talk to us today to learn more about our SEO services and how you can improve visibility and reach out to households in need of home care in your area.
