By Beatrice Köhler

In our digital world, online visibility is extremely important for local toy retailers. There have been big changes in consumer behaviour over the past two decades:

• In many cases, Saturday window shopping has given way to searches on Google and the like.
• Instead of getting personal recommendations for stores, potential customers now check star ratings on various platforms.

The Google Business Profile (GBP) plays a key role in regional online visibility and is one of the three main pillars of local search engine optimisation.

Three pillars of local search engine optimisation

This article focuses on Google, as it is the most important search engine.

There are three key elements when looking to establish and maintain visibility in Google’s local search results:

1. Google Business Profile
2. Own website
3. Listings in business directories

These are the three pillars of local search engine optimisation and effectively the basis for your online visibility.

Three pillars – three tips

Here are three tips for boosting local visibility on Google.

1. Google Business Profile

Extremely important: The owner of the toy store must be the owner of the Google Business Profile. Otherwise, anyone could make changes to the profile. The blog article “Google Eintrag erstellen” (English provided by Google Translate: Creating a Google profile) provides step-by-step instructions on creating a new profile and acquiring ownership of an existing profile.

Once ownership has been secured, it’s time to optimise your Google Business Profile. For example:

• NAP (name/address/phone) data
• Opening hours
• Company description
• Product and service descriptions
• Images and videos
• Posts and news

The Google Business Profile is central to collecting reviews. Google users trust these reviews and make important purchase decisions based on them.

2. Local landing page

From an SEO perspective, it’s essential to have a local landing page on your website. This is generally the home page. In the case of branch stores and franchise companies, there may also be dedicated sub-sites.

A local landing page should encourage website visitors to visit the toy store in question.

As a minimum, the following information is recommended:

• NAP (name/address/phone) data
• Opening hours
• Directions
• Ratings/customer testimonials

The information should be flanked by appealing images that give potential customers a feel for the store and the people who work there.

From a technical perspective, the page can also be enriched with structured data, which means snippets of code integrated into the source code. This data (also referred to as markups) helps search engines to better understand and index websites.

The LocalBusiness markup is important for local stores. Google provides comprehensive information on this here: Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search. If you feel outside of your comfort zone with this topic, there are experts to help. Generally speaking, there’s no rocket science involved in creating and adding the markup and it shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes to an hour.

3. Listings in business directories

It’s also useful to list your toy store in various business directories. There are around 70 in total in Germany, with the best-known being Das Telefonbuch, Gelbe Seiten, 11880.com and Cylex. Having a listing in such directories will ensure you reach a larger target market and also increase search engine trust in your website. Data consistency is absolutely crucial here. The address, telephone number, opening hours and website information must be the same in every listing.

You can use this link to check how your company appears in the individual directories: Review business directory listings.

What are the benefits of local search engine optimisation?

If you apply the tips given above in a professional way, you can look forward to the following results:

• Greater visibility: Local SEO helps toy stores to achieve a higher ranking in search results for relevant keywords linked to their locality, such as: “Toys + [location]”.
• Appropriate targeting: Marketing measures can be precisely targeted using local SEO, so that you are appealing to people actually in your locality.
• Increased customer retention: You can encourage customers to read and leave reviews by optimising your online presence. Positive ratings and recommendations help stores to gain trust among potential customers and strengthen customer loyalty. Ratings also boost new customer business.
• Local Google Maps presence: Local SEO ensures your toy store is prominently displayed in Google Maps and other local directories.
• Competitive advantage: Using local SEO effectively can set you apart from competitors.
• Cost savings: Local SEO is more affordable and effective than traditional advertising measures, such as print ads and flyers.

All in all, local SEO can greatly help to ensure that toy stores are found online. If you are highly visible, you will appeal to more local customers. Local search engine optimisation is an effective way to acquire customers actively looking for toys and gifts in your area. By improving your local online presence, you will ensure that your toy store is equally successful in the digital realm and the real world.

About the author

Beatrice Köhler, Managing Director of online marketing agency Kampagnenreiter GmbH, is an expert in local search engine optimisation. She is passionate about SEO and loves to share her knowledge. Kampagnenreiter GmbH is a specialist SEO agency for companies that want to reach customers in their region. The agency also helps niche online shops increase their online visibility.