Local SEO Services Malaysia: What do they do?

If your business doesn’t have any online presence, you could be missing out on many potential customers coming your way. Besides social media, local SEO services are crucial in order to be seen by your target audience within a certain location. If you wish to learn the importance of local SEO in Malaysia, this article explains in detail everything you need to know. 

What is Local SEO in Malaysia? 

Local SEO, also known as local search engine optimization, refers to the optimization of the overall online digital presence to increase visibility based on specific locations. For instance, local SEO in Malaysia involves a business appearing within certain states and cities when a customer is looking for a product or service on search engines. 

Difference between Local SEO and Organic SEO

You might be wondering – isn’t local SEO the same as organic SEO? There are several key differences between the two. Here are some of them: 

• Ranking difficulty: With organic SEO, ranking on the first page is based on several factors. But with local SEO, only a few simple factors are considered to rank on the first page. 
• Competition level is high: It’s much more difficult to rank on the first page for organic SEO as compared to local SEO which only requires focusing on certain locations. 
• Search and targeted keywords: Local SEO only involves localised keywords with specific locations whereas organic SEO involves a wide variety of keywords. 
• Search results display per page: On the first page, only the top 3 results will appear while organic SEO displays 10 results. 
• Click-through-rate is higher: Local SEO shows results above the organic search results, so the click-through-rate will be higher than organic SEO. 

How does Local SEO work? 

For search engines such as Google, they prioritize local searches based on geographic locations. This is because most customers who are keying search terms on Google will be looking for services or products within their location. 

An example would be if a person is looking for a burger restaurant in Petaling Jaya, they will search for ‘burgers in Petaling Jaya’ on Google. 

Why do we need Local SEO Malaysia services? 

Engaging with local SEO services in Malaysia does wonders for any business. Take a look at some of the reasons why we need local SEO: 

1. Increase brand awareness 

If your business dominates local SEO for specific locations, your brand will be known to be a reputable one within the locations. It will be customers’ go-to product or service whenever they are around the area. 

2. Boost leads and conversions 

By appearing on local search results, you could attract potential customers if they haven’t heard of your business. These customers are highly likely to act such as purchasing a product or engaging with a service as they are actively looking for them on Google. 

3. Better business credibility 

Most customers will only make a purchase or engage with a service if they have some sort of online presence. Your business will be considered credible if customers are able to find you online and build trust among them. 

4. Improve organic traffic 

When you engage with local SEO services, it’ll also naturally increase your organic traffic to your website. This is because customers are more likely to click on the first few pages of Google to learn more about a business. 

5. Expand your business’ online visibility 

These days, customers are searching for products and services online – be it through social media or search engines like Google. Your business could be missing out on potential customers without any online presence. Naturally, with local SEO services, your business will be visible within search engines and increase your target audience reach. 

Local SEO Strategies to Boost Your Business in Malaysia 

There are several ways how you can implement local SEO for your business. Here are some of the best strategies to consider: 

1. Optimize your Google My Business (GMB) Listing 

One of the best ways to improve your local SEO in Malaysia would be to create and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) listing. Upon creating it, you can start by adding important basic business information such as business hours, phone numbers, and so on. 

Optimizing your GMB listing includes adding photos, customer reviews, and posts, to name a few. It’s recommended to regularly update your GMB profile as it builds authenticity and credibility by ensuring your customers of any recent updates about your business. This includes changing your business information should there be any new location or operating hours. At the very least, customers won’t complain why your information on Google isn’t as accurate as the physical location. 

2. Gather more reviews or ratings

Online reviews, especially on Google, are important as customers tend to trust businesses with good ratings. Most customers will refer to online reviews before purchasing a product or engaging with a service. If the reviews are bad, they might not be interested in your business. 

You can encourage new or regular customers to write a review for your business in exchange for a promotion or reward such as discounts or freebies. Ensure they are positive reviews to build credibility and trust with potential customers. If they write bad reviews, then it’s best to address the reviews and reply to them in a professional manner. This shows that you are keen on improving your business by taking their feedback seriously.

3. Build local backlinks and citations 

Local backlinks are important as these are links from other websites that include a link back to your website. Backlinks are also one of the ranking factors for SEO. If you can get websites such as specific industries related to your business or review websites, it’ll help to boost your local SEO. 

Local citations are business directories such as Hotfrog Malaysia and Yellow Pages Malaysia. It’ll be good to submit your website to these directories as well. Most local SEO services offer local backlinks and citations so that you don’t have to do them yourself. 

Don’t forget to ensure your information across all backlinks and citations is updated to the latest details. You could lose out on potential customers if the information isn’t accurate. Keep track of all local citations and backlinks acquired so that you can always update them easily whenever necessary.

4. Optimize your website content 

To improve your local SEO, it’s crucial to ensure your website content is properly optimized with keywords that include local areas and your service or product. For example, if you own a dentist in Subang Jaya, it’s recommended to include the keyword ‘dentist in Subang Jaya’ within your website content. 

Basically, you should perform on-page SEO on your website as it helps to boost your rankings on Google Maps as well. Another strategy would be to ensure your website is mobile-optimized. This helps your website to rank higher on search engines as well as Google Maps since Google tends to prioritize websites which are mobile-friendly. Customers these days often use their mobile devices to search on Google too. 

5. Create local content 

Another way to boost your local SEO in Malaysia would be to write up creative local content such as guides, case studies, or news related to your industry. Local content helps to boost your credibility within the area and reach your target audience. 

For example, if you’re a wedding planner in Damansara, you can create content such as ‘5 Best Wedding Venues in Damansara’. Within the content, you can include professional photos of the wedding venues and include information about each venue. This can attract potential customers who wish to engage with a wedding planner. 

Conclusion 

We can see how beneficial local SEO services in Malaysia are for any business. You can step up your game and be ahead of your competitors by implementing local SEO. Do remember to also include other online channels to boost your online presence alongside local SEO. If you wish to understand further about SEO, you can check out our SEO guide!