Your website, social media, and any digital marketing are amazing methods to expand your businesses reach around the world and in your local community. The world’s most used search engine, Google, reports that greater than 46% of all online searches have a local intent behind them, meaning that these searchers are looking for information, services, or other content that is specific to their location.
To help connect those searchers with localized search results, Google continually makes changes to its algorithm to account for location in its search engine results pages (also known as SERPs). Another super important tool that Google has created to help with localized search results is called Google’s Local Pack.
What is the Google Local Pack?
Any Google user who has searched for a local business is already familiar with the Google Local Pack, even if they do not know it by name. The Google Local Pack appears on the first page of search results for any search with local intent, and it features a map of business locations along with listings for three relevant businesses. Here is an example:
Originally the Google Local Pack showed seven results, but Google has since decreased this down to three, with an option for users to click “View All” to see a longer page of results. Google creates the Local Pack results through its Google My Business listings, which are free and every business should have one!
Why should you care about Google’s Local Pack?
The Google Local Pack is very valuable to ANY business looking to strengthen its visibility to a local audience. As doulas and birth workers this can have a great impact on your business since many of your businesses focus on your local area!
The Google Local Pack has other benefits too! It makes it easy for searchers to find your website, hours, address, email, and phone number. Even if you don’t have a physical location, you can set up your Google My Business profile for a coverage area (include any area that you are willing to travel to!); this will make it a little bit more difficult to get onto the top of the Local Pack but not impossible!
Why should you add Local Business Schema?
The first and most important step to have your business have the possibility to get onto the Google Local Pack is to have a Google My Business profile completed. Instructions for this are much larger than this blog post, but I guarantee that you can do it! It’s not hard, just takes a little time, and the ability to receive a postcard to your business (or your home!).
Once your Google My Business profile is complete, there is one easy thing you can do on your website to improve your chances of appearing in the Google Local Pack. This solution is to add Local Business schema to your website!
So what exactly is schema? Schema markup is a form of microdata. This microdata can be added to a website to enhance a description of something, whether it be your local business, an event, person, product, recipe, review, video, or more. The idea of schema was actually created by the top search engines, including google, Yahoo, and Bing, so we know it has to be important to them!
How to add Local Business Schema to your Birthing Your Brand website
We have done our best to make it easy to add and/or update your local schema. To get started, login to your website dashboard and find the “SEO” option on the menu on the left side (under your “Marketing Tools” section). Click or tap on the “SEO” option.
On the page that loads, on the right side you can find the “Local Business” option. Click or tap on that next.
This will take you to where you can enter in all of your information. This information includes:
- Business type
- Street Address
- City
- State
- Postal code
- Country
- URL
- Telephone
- Price Range
- Opening Hours
Fill out as many fields as possible, making sure to at minimum complete the ones marked as “Required” by Google.
You can test to see if your schema is working by using google’s Rich Results Test tool by clicking or tapping here.
And that’s it for now! A quick step to help your business get found! Enjoy!!!
