We want to help brands flourish. But we’ll never convince you to pour your marketing dollars into a strategy that won’t help you succeed in your local SEO goals.After all, we only work with businesses that can benefit from our tried-and-tested SEO services, which have helped over 1,800 businesses in 355 niches for 15+ years.
“The switch to Digital Spotlight has been a great success for our business. As a specialised aviation consulting company, our needs are very unique, but [Digital Spotlight] has catered to us, and we’ve achieved amazing results without spending a cent on adverts”.
Avlaw Aviation Consulting
Continue reading to determine how our local SEO services can elevate your Australian-based business’ online presence and help it dominate your local community.
What Are Our Local SEO Services?
How do you know you’re working with a local SEO service provider who can help your business capture your local market and get ahead of its local competition?
Here’s a hint: the right local SEO agency will gladly define its local search engine optimisation process instead of hiding behind grandiose promises of top SERP placement.
So, with that out of the way, here are the steps we take to help your brand dominate its geographic territory:
SEO Audit
Our first and most critical responsibility is understanding what makes your business tick.
That’s why we conduct preliminary technical audits before clients sign up for our local SEO services and more site audits as their campaigns progress.
This way, we don’t have to guess what’s limiting your local search potential and what actions we need to take to overcome these challenges; we’ll always know.
Website Audit and Update
An SEO technical audit is like a health check for your website to help you see what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do to resolve the issues preventing you from ranking higher on SERPs.
So, what’s included in our SEO audits, you ask? Everything. We’ll research and analyse your unique business situation, competitive landscape, and local market conditions.
We’ll also explore the website elements influencing your local search rankings, from your web pages’ responsiveness and online listings to your website’s URL (uniform resource locator) structures and page titles.
On-Page SEO
Our on-page or on-site optimisation process involves tweaking everything we can on your website to help search engines and searchers understand what your web pages are about.
Some of the enhancements included in this stage of our local SEO service include the following:
- Crafting compelling meta descriptions that make searchers want to click on your website
- Making your pages’ URLs easier to remember and link to, such as by integrating relevant keywords
- Assigning keywords to your web pages to improve your website’s overall structure
Page Titles
Do you put thought into your web page titles or title tags? You should. After all, it’s the on-page ranking factor that has the most influence on your local search rankings.
That’s why one of our primary duties as an SEO service provider is to craft page titles using keywords with local relevance, proper formats, and unique, compelling language.
Local Landing Pages
Your landing pages— the pages that searchers are redirected to after clicking on your SERP link— are your first point of contact with potential customers.
Fortunately, our local SEO service has you covered. We’ll create localised, mobile search-optimised landing pages as relevant and informative hubs that turn local searchers into lifetime customers.
Internal Linking
Your website’s internal links give it its structure. Hyperlinks help search engines and searchers navigate between your web pages, so linking your web pages together is a must.
As part of our on-site SEO efforts, we ensure the pages you want to appear on SERPs and, more importantly, rank aren’t “orphans” or can redirect to other pages within your website.
Technical SEO
Before your website can appear on SERPs, search engines must find (crawl) and copy (index) it into its database. Technical SEO is about helping search engines accomplish these two steps.
That’s why our technical SEO process includes the following steps:
- Ensure your business site has a sitemap or a file that contains a list of all your web pages.
- Monitor the cache date of your web pages to ensure your content is within two weeks old.
- Install an SSL (secure sockets layer) certificate signed by a trusted certificate authority.
Building and Managing Local Citations
Any mention of your business’ NAP throughout the digital landscape is a citation. They help put your enterprise on the map and improve your local search and Map Pack rankings.
Like our backlink-building strategy, our in-house outreach team’s local citation approach focuses on finding local opportunities to acquire high-converting, accurate online mentions, not random citations.
Business Listings and Directories
Your brand’s profiles on online business directories, such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Yellow Pages, impact your local presence. That’s why our local SEO service includes claiming and managing your web listings.
On Google Business Profile, for instance, we’ll ensure your listing communicates what your business is about and displays essential operating information, such as your service area and phone number.
Our local SEO efforts also include personalising your online listings through eye-catching photos, unique descriptions of your products or services, and engaging community posts.
Local Competitor Analysis
We don’t stop at knowing your business. Our local SEO approach also involves understanding your regional peers. Doing so lets us formulate strategies to outrank them and defend your SERP positions.
When we do so successfully, we can lock your rivals out of the local search rankings and prevent your target audience from ever knowing they exist— allowing you to monopolise your local market.
Content Strategy
Pumping out as much content as possible is no longer enough to secure top SERP placement. While it might have been an effective strategy in the past, that’s no longer the case.
Today, quality lords over quantity. Fortunately, that’s precisely what our in-house team of writers, fact-checkers, proofreaders, and editors produce: high-quality, relevant articles and blogs that hit user intent for each keyword.
Local Keyword Research
Scattering popular search terms here and there into your content doesn’t work— at least not anymore. But that doesn’t matter since that’s not how we create content at Digital Spotlight.
Our content strategy involves identifying your most valuable audience: those looking for products and services like yours and individuals willing to spend money on those offerings.
We then prioritise targeting location-based keywords— search queries with a geographic area attached to them.
Finally, we find high-value opportunities where we can integrate them seamlessly into your content.
Reporting and Tracking
Unlike some digital marketing companies, we will never try to hide our local SEO progress. Not only do we initiate monthly reports, such as for your campaign summary and link profile, but we also provide an open line.
We believe in keeping our clients in the loop in everything we do. So, if you need help understanding the results we deliver, we’ll gladly explain. We’ll even go as far as using Looker Studio to make our reports more intuitive.
“[Digital Spotlight] is brilliant to work with! Great communication and extremely skilled in delivering awesome results. Thank you!
Jordi Twomey | Twomey Dispute Lawyers
Reputation Management
Your business’ online reviews can significantly influence its SEO rankings.
But you’d be wrong if you think our reputation management services involve discouraging negative feedback or buying positive ones. Besides, these practices are not in line with Google’s policies on fake engagement.
Instead, we focus on replying to all bad, good, or neutral reviews. Doing so fosters trust with your local market and search engines.
Monitoring Local Search Rankings
Why should we be complacent about our strategies if search engineers never stop tweaking their algorithms? We never consider our campaigns finished, even after we’ve ranked you for some keywords. After all, there will always be room for improvement.
That’s why we have full-time researchers whose primary responsibility is monitoring SERPs, looking for patterns across topics, keywords, site authority, and content.
With their analyses and inputs, we’re consistently able to adapt our clients’ local SEO campaigns to algorithm updates that can wipe once-prominent websites from the face of the World Wide Web.
Local SEO Services That Convert
Don’t get us wrong. Increased website traffic is good, as it puts more eyes on your offerings. But unlike other SEO firms, our SEO efforts don’t stop at giving your brand more exposure.
After all, the true hallmark of an effective local SEO service is when those clicks lead to subscriptions, calls, purchases, or, in other words, conversions.
We’re proud to say that our local SEO brand also focuses on converting site visitors, not just fishing for clicks. And you can see this commitment in how we work with our local SEO clients.
Establish Goals
We’re not saying clicks are bad. If your brand needs more exposure than sales, we’d be happy to direct our local SEO efforts on driving as many visitors to your offerings as possible.
But all enterprises, even those competing for the same local audience and market, are unique. That’s why we never offer off-the-shelf local SEO packages.
When you partner with us, you can be confident that we’ll deliver a bespoke marketing solution tailored to your ambitions and business objectives and no one else’s.
Work One-on-One
We work differently. Unlike other online marketing firms that disappear after you sign up, we work closely with our clients— always available to answer any questions and ready to accept feedback.
We want you in the loop at every stage of your local SEO campaign, informed in everything we do. After all, it’s how we ensure our strategies consistently deliver your desired outcomes.
Get Results
If you ask any of our local SEO service clients, most of whom came from other firms and referrals, to tell you why they chose us as their partner in one word, we’re confident they’ll answer with “Results”.
We don’t need to make top-spot guarantees, and we never will. That’s because we don’t rely on gut feelings or guesswork. We dive deep into the numbers— the only language search engines speak.
This data-driven and algorithm-research approach to local SEO helps us understand what tweaks impact your search rankings most, allowing us to deliver the results you’re after consistently.
Don’t just take our word for it. Our 95.67% client retention rate proves we can help you achieve your desired outcomes.
“Working with Digital Spotlight has been great! We took the time to figure out a realistic strategy that helped our organic rankings immensely!
We are now on the front page for so many head terms that were previously out of reach!
Sean Hersee | SAGE Painting
What Is Local SEO, and How Does It Work?
Try searching for “meat pie” on Google. What websites do you see? If you live in Sydney, you’ll likely notice results from Sydney-based brands offering or discussing meat pies.
On the other hand, if you’re in Melbourne, chances are you’ll receive a list of web pages and business listings from meat pie-related businesses within that geographic area. Now, why do you think that is?
Simple: search engines like Google consider the user’s “proximity factor”. In other words, your physical location is a factor that search algorithms use to determine which websites best match your query.
Local search engine optimisation (SEO) leverages this location element, ensuring your brand appears on organic search results when potential customers within your vicinity are seeking offerings like yours.
Local SEO Australia
Every country has a local search engine version specific to it. Google, for instance, has Google.com.au for searchers in Australia.
Note that local SEO is about ensuring your website provides the geographic signals search engines look for. Geographic signals tell you which local area you’re relevant in.
The four primary geo cues Google checks are the following:
- Domain name extension: This can either be a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) name extension like “.au” or a generic top-level domain (gTLD) name extension such as “.org” or “.com”. ccTLD tells Google which country you want to rank in.
- Country target setting: If your website uses a gTLD, Google will determine your target region by checking the geographic location selected in your Google Search Console (GSC).
- hreflang:This is a code in your web pages that informs Google which version of those sites is more relevant based on the searcher’s country or preferred language.
- Server location: If your brand’s website uses a generic domain name extension, Google will check your server location. For example, if it’s located in Melbourne, Australia, Google will consider your site an Australian website.
As a local SEO service provider, it’s our responsibility to tweak your business website so that search engines know which local market you’re targeting and aiming to conquer.
What Matters for Local SEO
When you Googled “meat pie” earlier, you saw search engine results pages (SERPs) matching your query, right? But do you remember getting anything else aside from the traditional search results?
If not, here’s what you missed: Google’s Map Pack results. These are the local business listings with their Google Maps location that the search engine giant deems relevant to your search query.
The Local Map Pack is a SERP feature that uses a distinct algorithm from Google’s standard search, with the former emphasising businesses’ local context.
Appearing on the standard search and Map Pack results can help your brand get organic traffic, qualified leads, and potentially more sales— the ultimate goal of SEO.
But which one matters most for local SEO?
If you picked the local Map Pack, you wouldn’t be wrong, especially considering that Map Pack results appear above the organic search listings.
However, we also can’t say you’re wrong if you chose the standard search results as more essential. After all, almost 70% of internet users click one of the first three organic results.
The correct answer lies in a strategic balance. Fortunately, we employ a sophisticated analysis process that uses statistical and data segmentation and modelling techniques.
This data-driven approach allows us to craft bespoke local SEO solutions tailored to your unique business situation, ensuring your enterprise achieves the optimal blend for maximum local search visibility.
Why Should You Opt for Local SEO Services?
Here’s what you’d never expect a digital marketing company like ours to say: You can do SEO on your own. That’s right! You can establish local search visibility independently if you have the know-how and the resources.
The question is, “Do you?”
Search engine optimisation, including specialisations like local SEO, has a steep learning curve. It can take a significant amount of time and money to test and deploy working strategies.
Unfortunately, these tactics can suddenly become less effective. What’s working today may not work tomorrow.
Search engines and their ranking algorithms constantly change to give higher-functioning websites more chances of ranking above competitors.
By partnering with a local SEO service provider like us, you have an ally in the SEO warfare.
You can leverage our expertise and battle-tested tactics, skipping potentially years of trial and error and letting you allocate more of your valuable resources to what you do best— running your enterprise.
If you partner with us, you can be confident that your local SEO campaign will always be at the forefront of local SEO innovation and that your marketing dollars will give you the best return on investment (ROI).
After all, we have a dedicated team of researchers continually monitoring search engine shifts and testing cutting-edge strategies that consistently hit what search engines favour.
Essential Local SEO Statistics
You’re seriously missing out if you don’t consider local SEO a digital marketing strategy. After all, it’s a great way to convert searchers with local intent into customers and boost your sales.
Consider these statistics:
- Around 93% of all online activities occur on search engines like Google.
- Roughly 40% of searches in Google include local-based terms like “near me” or “in [insert city here]”.
- About 76% of those conducting mobile searches visit a brand’s physical store within 24 hours.
- Most importantly, approximately 28% of local searches lead to a purchase.
If you need more convincing, here are some more essential figures you must know:
- We’ve helped over 1,812 businesses in more than 355 niches achieve first-page rankings in Google.
- 79% of our clients are on the first page of Google for non-branded keywords or search terms referring to products or services that don’t include branding.
- We’ve brought our clients over $130 million in additional annual revenue by improving their local SEO rankings.
Is Local SEO Competitive?
Local SEO is effective at what it does— giving enterprises the visibility they need to attract a local audience. Unfortunately, it’s a significantly underrated online marketing strategy.
About 56% of brands have yet to employ one of the simplest yet most effective local SEO efforts: claiming their Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business listing (GMB).
What does this figure mean? You’ll be amongst the few enterprises in Australia, possibly even in your industry, to capitalise on the value of local traffic, giving you a head start over your local competitors.
What Is the Difference Between Local SEO and SEO?
“Standard” search engine optimisation and local SEO function similarly. Both digital marketing techniques aim to boost your brand’s organic search rankings.
The primary distinction between the two strategies lies in their scope. Standard SEO involves a broad approach, while local SEO focuses on enhancing your online presence in a specific local area.
Local SEO Is a Different Pattern
Let’s make one thing clear. Standard SEO also considers a geographic component.
On the other hand, local SEO is specialised— the optimisations explicitly aim to capture searchers from a specific location.
For instance, instead of only highlighting your products or services through relevant content, our local SEO efforts also involve showcasing your NAP (your business name, address, and phone number).
In short, local SEO is a branch of standard SEO. Although both utilise many of the same methods, local SEO uses techniques tailored to help local searchers find businesses near them.
How to Do Local SEO: Local SEO Techniques
Not to sound like a broken record, but our local SEO solutions are meticulously crafted to suit our clients’ unique challenges, objectives, competitive landscape, and SEO situation.
However, while our local SEO service generally includes the processes mentioned earlier, your enterprise might not benefit from some. So, here are the most critical local SEO techniques we believe have the most substantial impact on your brand’s local search visibility:
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Optimising Your Google Business Profile Listing
Your business listing on Google Business Profile can influence your chances of attracting a local audience. After all, it can appear on standard search and Map Pack results, giving you double the odds.
Additionally, it displays essential information about your brand, such as your offerings, contact details, and Google Maps location, giving your business credibility and authority in your local market.
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Building Local Citations
Citations can help your enterprise establish a robust local presence. We focus on obtaining these online mentions from highly relevant local sources.
But there’s another reason we don’t focus on quantity: consistency. Inaccurate phone numbers, misspellings, and missing business information can negatively affect your SERP placements.
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Targeting Keywords
Keywords or search queries refer to the terms and phrases internet users type into search bars. Targeting your local audience‘s keywords and integrating them into your website can help you secure top search ranks.
For this reason, we don’t leave our keyword selection process to chance. Instead, we use sophisticated, tried-and-tested data models to isolate locally relevant search terms that generate highly targeted traffic.
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Monitoring Ratings and Reviews
Positive online assessments of your enterprise can enhance your local SEO standing. However, while we don’t hide negative ones and won’t discourage them, we identify them.
Why? Doing so allows us to develop PR (public relations) strategies to help protect your digital image and overcome the harmful effects of damaging reviews.
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Building Links
Like local citations and reviews, backlinks or referrals from other websites help establish your brand’s credibility and authority. For this reason, building links is one of our core local SEO efforts.
Yes, quantity does matter. However, the quality of these backlinks will always take priority. Fortunately, you can be confident that our outreach team can identify link-building opportunities.
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Analysing User Experience
Redirecting users to a web page different from what search engines see is against Google’s policies. The reason? Search engines don’t want you to optimise solely for them but also for users.
Search engines reward pages that deliver a good user experience, and our local SEO service ensures yours does. We can make your pages load faster, be more navigable, and have a defined content presentation and structure.
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Implementing Mobile Responsive Design
Your business site’s mobile-friendliness is a crucial ranking factor. Why wouldn’t it be when most Australians and, by extension, your target audience, prefer to access the web through their mobile devices instead of their computers?
For this reason, our local SEO game plan involves tweaking your web pages to meet Google’s mobile usability standards, like ensuring your web pages redirect users to your site’s mobile version.
Why Do You Need a Local Listing?
There could be countless reasons a business should create a local listing. But here’s the gist: local listings make it easier for your local audience to find you.
Your Google Business Profile, for example, can appear on directory and website listings when internet users seek brands similar to yours, giving you more opportunities to engage with potential clients.
“What Can I Include Within a Local Listing?”
Think of your local business listing as an extension of your business website. In other words, it’s where your target audience should be able to find information about your enterprise.
Your local listing should display your NAP or brand name, physical address, and contact information. Depending on the platform, however, you can include other details.
For instance, you can include your business’ operating hours, health and safety protocols, and service area on your GBP. Platforms like Yelp let you add photos, your enterprise’s unique qualities, and its history.
“What Are the Main Platforms Where I Need to Have a Local Listing?”
You’ll find plenty of platforms that allow you to showcase your business and its offerings. But if you’re looking for ones that will have the most significant impact on your local visibility, we’ve narrowed them down.
One of the most critical local listings you should have is on Google Business Profile. Why? Because Google dominates the Australian search traffic, accounting for 93% of all searches.
Other online business directories that you shouldn’t sleep on, aside from GBP, include the following:
- Bing Places
- Facebook
- Yelp Pages
- Yellow Pages
“What Happens if I Have Multiple Listings for the Same Business?”
If you do a quick search for your brand, chances are you’ll find online business listings you didn’t create. How and why this happened is anyone’s guess.
But if you’re trying to establish your business as an authoritative voice in your industry and local market, you must claim and optimise these listings.
Why? Inaccurate online information about your enterprise can negatively impact its legitimacy and authority. So, by claiming your listings, you can ensure consistent details across multiple directories.
What Kind of Businesses Need Local SEO?
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store in your local area or an eCommerce enterprise on the web, it isn’t far-fetched that all businesses can benefit from the increased local search visibility that local SEO provides.
If you need proof, ask our clients. For example, Weatherproof Kitchens, which has a physical presence in the ACT, increased their lead numbers by 137.50% through our local SEO service.
Bird Control Australia, on the other hand, operates as an eCommerce retailer to solve bird and other pest control problems in New Zealand and Australia. Our SEO efforts improved their Australian presence, boosting their leads by 411.94%.
Does Local SEO Work for All Business Types?
Although we have over 15 years of data from more than 2,103 client campaigns that might say otherwise, the truth is that local SEO isn’t for everyone— despite how much we want it to be.
For this reason, we’ll be upfront if our audit, research, and analysis say your marketing budget will be better served elsewhere. We’d rather let you walk away than spend your money trying to make the impossible possible.
Schedule a free technical audit to determine if local SEO is the solution your business needs to drive local traffic to your products or services.
Talk to one of our local SEO experts by calling 1300-891-181 or emailing [email protected].
In [an] industry where many take your money and do very little for it, [Digital Spotlight] is a breath of fresh air for small businesses like mine.
Philip Bonser | Goulburn Offroad Carts