Local search is evolving, the way we optimize for local SEO must evolve with it. Think of when you’re interacting with one of the major AI home systems (Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa). You might ask “Hey Siri, where is the closest gas station?”- I know I’ve done this countless times when on a long road trip and someone in the car needs a restroom break. Before web search went a bit like this: “Gas Station Lancaster, PA”. You would have searched from your desktop computer with Google’s retro search box.
Since searching has evolved, it means our websites have to evolve. To further optimize for local search by inserting a SCHEMA tag, or line of code, within the header of your website. As per schema.org, “Schema.org is a collaborative, community activity with a mission to create, maintain, and promote schemas for structured data on the Internet, on web pages, in email messages, and beyond.”- which was founded by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Yandex.
Now that you know the technical term for SCHEMA- it means helping the crawlers for search engine have a better understanding of what is on your web pages. For our clients, we were able to input that the webpage is a business, specifically an auto repair shop, their location, phone number, and an about us section.
This simple line of code will make the difference when it comes to page rank for local search. If you have this inserted into your website and your competition doesn’t you will be ahead of the game. As a best practice for site speed, you can insert this code into Google Tag Manager, this will be a conversation for another article.
If you want to ensure your digital marketing is doing its best to convert prospects into customers. You will want to hire a marketing firm that sole purpose is just that, your web presence is in need of constant optimization. At Business Actualization, we specialize in helping auto repair shop succeed online.
