How to Rank for “Near Me” Searches
- “Best pizza near me”
- “Plumber near me”
- “Pho Restaurants near me”
The NEAR ME search is part of local SEO and typically is only relevant for local small businesses that serve consumers at their location but it is also great for service companies. NEAR ME searches are also hyper-relevant for Voice Search. When people say “Google Find Me Plumber Near By” Or “Alexa Call a Plumber”, the searches are taking advantage of the local search algorithm.
There is a lot of revenue to be gained by ranking your business for searches in your nearby area that drive local revenue. Near me and Local Search is also very important to multi-location brands that have stores that compete with local businesses.
How to Rank for Near Me Searches
Google My Business referred to as GMB
It is very unlikely that your business will show up for a near me search if your business is not listed as a business on GMB. GMB uses structured data about your business that is often confirmed by Google. This data includes your address, service area, phone number, and services offered. Google policy is verified all-new Google My Business listings by sending a postcard with an activation code or by calling the business.
Citations:
One of the important aspects of local search is citations and being listed on local directories such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, and whatever local directories are important to your niche. At Lyft, we are not big fans of Yelp but they are very important to some of our clients.
Social Media Signals
All your social media listings have the ability for you to add your address and phone numbers, they may, in some cases feed data into the search engines and give our what we call a signal – the signal lets Google know that you are a legitimate brand. If you can add your address and phone to your social media profiles, we recommend you do it.
On-Page Optimization
We recommend using micro-schema and other tools to let Google know your vital data and where to find you to better help you come up in Near Me searches. Some of our competitors like to add the text “Near Me” wot web pages. This is not a practice we engage in unless the client requests it.
Mobile Phone Optimizing
Google, long ago started indexing websites based on their mobile version. They rank your site speed and the usability of your website as it relates to mobile. Most businesses have a mobile-friendly responsive web design. Even so, it always a good thing to make sure the site performs well on mobile. Most of your “near me” searches like local SEO services near me will be users on their smartphone.
The Rank Secret for “Near Me” Searches
If you really want to rank higher in “near me” searches near your business you should contact an SEO like Lyft SEO.