Before we go into the details of how we go about our task of building up a local SEO campaign, we shall have a look at the basics of SEO.

Look at the following image. We are reproducing the first page of Google Search engine showing the results for the keywords typed in the search bar.

Google takes less than a second to dish out more than 1.5 million results. Do you have the time to go through the entire list before making a choice? If you have the time, you do not have the inclination to shift base. Normally, one does not go beyond the first page of a Google search engine. Under such circumstances, you have a clearly defined objective. That is to rank on this page of the search engine and no further. You need to get your basics right. Everything else will fall into place. This article will help you with the basics.

In order to achieve your objective, you need to go through a process known as search engine optimization, SEO. This entails optimizing your website and other information in such a way that your website starts attracting high volume of traffic. The higher the volume, the higher will be your rank on the SERPs.

There are two aspects of search engine optimization, the promotional aspect and the user experience aspect. You also know it as the off-page SEO and the on-page SEO concept.

You need an effective combination of both these aspects in order to rank high on the SERPs. Let us look at the promotional aspects first before moving on to the user experience factor.

Every business has its competition. Moving companies have theirs as well. The image on the previous page shows more than 1.5 million entries. That should give you an idea of the competition involved. You need to find a way to beat the competition and rank ahead of them. One way is to entice the customer and offer him something different from what others do. It can be by way of rebates or discounts in rates. In fact, it can be anything that the customer would love to have.

Your customer should be able to locate you among the high level of competition. This is possible only if you have your presence in all the local directories in your category. Note that there are some more categories as well having some connection with the moving companies industry. Have your listing in such directories as well. One such example could be the transport operator industry.

You have a presence in all directories. Have you checked out the consistency of the information? It can be “3 Men Movers” in some directories and “Three Men Movers” in some others. When you read it, it might sound the same, but your search engine bots do not read such information. They scan through them. Under such circumstances, they might lead your customers on the wrong path. There might be another business by that name. Hence, you would end up doing him a favor. In this age of competition, is this necessary? Exercise care and maintain consistency of your information.

Refer to the search done in the previous paragraph. The same search results give you the following information as well.

This is a Google My Business listing. Is it that difficult to get a listing? How much does it cost? We shall see these aspects in this paragraph.

To answer the first part of the question, ‘It is very easy to get your Google My Business listing.” It costs about five minutes of your valuable time. This answers the second part of your question. Let us look at the procedure and the wealth of information on display.

Access the official website of Google My Business and fill up the simple form on the screen. It does not need any explanation of our part as to how to fill up the form. You have to submit your basic details. Google has its process of verifying the information. Once they are through with that aspect, you get your GMB listing.

What do you see on the listing page? You have a map as well as the names of three moving companies. Recently Google has changed the procedure and reduced the number of listed companies from 5 to 3. Of course, you have the option ‘More Places’ to bank on. Each of the companies has its address, phone number, and category. There is an option for including the working hours as well. You have the option of including your website details, images, landmarks, and any such information that can be of use to your customer. There is a ‘Directions’ tab as well to help them drive right up to your doorstep.

Do you require any more advertising than this? Similarly, you can have your listing in other search engines like Bing, Google, Apple Maps, and so on.

Moving companies need to have a strong local SEO strategy. You should employ an assortment of both the off-page and on-page SEO techniques to have a high ranking on the SERP. This is what you should be looking for if you wish to employ sound strategies for local SEO for moving companies.