There is a lot of talk about Local SEO these days. SEO has been around for several years now. Local SEO has shown up more recently. Nonetheless is has grown much over the last 2-3 years. Local SEO is basically focussing your search engine optimization locally. Attracting local customers with SEO. The advantage is that you can focus on customers nearby and that you are likely to have a lot less competition than when you decided to keep on a global level.

Local SEO Application

For a lot of clients when done well, local SEO can be a real godsent. And therefore it is highly recommended on doing local SEO. And for that some time has to be spent doing research on your local standings.  One of your best free tools for that are Google search and or Adwords Keyword Planner. I will be using Google search in this article for a nice test case.

Usage Case Baqala

Imagewize has been located in Amwaj, Bahrain for 2 years now and we are in the business of webdesign and online marketing. This means we help customers with webdesign as well as SEO and content marketing. I thought it would be fun to do a short local SEO test on groceries in Amwaj. This as I met Amjad Puliyali the other day at CH9 for SeedStars GCC. He set up Baqala – a local groceries delivery service. So I thought, let’s do a little digging on Baqala and local SEO.

Trial One Groceries Amwaj

When I use google.com.bh and search for “groceries amwaj” I do not see Baqala on page one. I see Alosra, Leisure and Shopping Amwaj Islands, Al Osra Supermarket Bahrain, Jones the Grocer and others.

It does however show up on the second page at the very top with the title “Grocery Delivery Bahrain, Juffair, Seef, Amwaj Islands, Reef Islands”:

This seems to be partly due to meta data on the page. Other stores have Amwaj and or supermarket loaded by Google for meta description. Baqala has groceries, but not Amwaj or supermarket. The latter makes sense as it is a delivery service.

Trial Two – Grocery Delivery Amwaj

So let’s try “grocery delivery amwaj” What do we find? Talabat and Alosra are still very prominent, but Baqala does show up on page one and as no. 7:

And that my friends is not bad at all! Sometimes even on position no 4:

Changes depend on searches being done and data being changed. Perhaps my searches are even changing things as we speak.

Advantage of Local SEO

If Baqala would have been playing at a more global level this result would have been much harder to achieve. As you see Alosra and Talabat mention delivery services too. Talabat talks restaurants here, but does focus on delivery in Amwaj and therefore shows up at the top. However, on a national level you see that Baqala does not even show up on page one:

They show up at the end of page two. Bigger focus so harder. Would have been great to see them on that map perhaps. Or at least at a later stage as well. If Baqala would ever want to expand and show up more nationally they would have to work on that too. Still, showing local availability and so working on local SEO will matter. It is more specific and there will be less competition. People tend to search local. So you have to be there.

Focus choices

As Baqala is not only delivering in Amwaj they cannot of course only focus on that location. As you see in search results to focus on several regions such as Seef, Juffair, Reef, Amwaj. Sometimes you have to be more general in your Local SEO or at least be more regional. They could however consider tweaking their meta description for the homepage. Or they could consider adding pages for specific locations in Bahrain where they deliver. That is often how bigger players do it. They either create separate pages, subdomains or even sites dedicated to specific regions. In the case of Baqala a separate page or specific mention could improve their standings for sure.

Local Links

Local links by local businesses to Baqala’s grocery business could also boost their local SEO / presence at Amwaj. Just because Baqala is online it does not mean it should not work on local links or citations. This is sometimes counterintuitive. But showing you do service people locally though you sell online will boost your general ranking in Google. Moz has an interesting video on that here. Baqala is mentioned by Amwaj Islands here. And that is helping them a lot already for sure. But more links to Baqala and especially local links would help. Doing a:

link: http://getbaqala.com/

in Google does not get me a lot of links and few local links. So there is definitely room for improvement there.

Local Maps

I did not see Baqala registered with Google for Business. Which would give them a map, images and other details in the right sidebar when searching for them. It could also give them a potential local SEO boost. When I looked them up on Google Maps I could not find them either. So here too room for improvement. Showing store location including delivery areas such as Amwaj would definitely help with general SEO and local SEO as well.

Baqala Verdict

Local SEO and general SEO is an ongoing process and there is alway more to be done. So it the case for businesses like Baqala who could benefit from more local SEO in Amwaj. I must say they do really well overall though. They show up either on page one or two and seem to have enough content to stand out locally in quite a few situations. So thumbs up for Baqala!

Keep on working on Local SEO

Perseverance and vigilance is important. Constant tweaks to SEO and local seo as well as content marketing matter. As I mentioned a few times there is work to be done for Baqala still. And if they or you need a hand, Imagewize is nearby here at Amwaj waiting to lend you a hand.