Source: http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/15084-top-local-queries.html
Competition is part of any business. And unfortunately, there’s a good chance that some of your competitors are also located in or near your business address. To get ahead of the competition, your business name has to always appear in local searches and rank high on the search engine results. Below are some tips on how to do so:
Rank higher on local search queries
• List your business on local directory sites and profiles. Make sure your business is listed on all the major local sites and/or directories. Each listing should include the complete name of your business, address and contact number. Google My Business, Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yellow Pages and Yelp are just some of the most popular local directories today.
• Evaluate and use the most appropriate search terms. Use Google Search Console to look at the keywords and phrases people use to land on your site. If majority of your visitors come to your site due to “how to” searches, then this type of content is working for you and you should use this finding to create more and better content.
• Make sure you have a fast-loading website. For mobile searches, which is quite the trend today, Google gives preference to mobile friendly websites. A key factor that can limit your site’s “mobile-friendliness” is how fast your pages load. In general, slow-loading pages may rank lower than those that load fast. And even if a slow-loading site ranks high, there’s a good chance frustrated visitors may just leave due to this unappealing feature.
• Feature locally-focused content. Lastly, to constantly rank high on the first page of search results for your local area, you need to have a relevant content marketing plan that includes generating locally focused content. One way of doing this is to research and prepare for local community events. Write posts about the event before it takes place. Consider sponsoring the event as well. You can also offer discounts to event attendees. After the event, share its highlights through another blog post.