What are the Benefits of Local SEO for Your Business?
5.00/5Often, local business owners feel discouraged from optimising their websites and content to try to rank in the search engines. They feel that they are competing against large companies that dominate the SERP arena. But nothing could be further from the truth when you consider working with local SEO. Through this guide we will explain the many benefits of local SEO.
Our whole purpose is to convince you to hire a local SEO agency or add an expert to your team so you can successfully design and implement a strategy that will have your business ranked for different search queries.
What Is Local SEO Marketing?
Local SEO refers to the process of optimising your website for local searches. It is a powerful marketing technique designed to help local businesses increase in-store foot traffic and sales.
This practice is the result of years of studying and analysing how people search the Internet. Google found that people who search for something in their area tend to use specific keywords (queries with local intent). So they started taking the user’s location into account for local keywords to provide more relevant results.
As you can imagine, any business, large or small, that serves a specific geographic area or has a physical location can benefit from this optimisation strategy. It’s important to note that the vast majority of searches on Google and other search engines are personalised by the user’s country. But local SEO goes a bit further and provides results based on cities and even neighborhoods.
Examples of Local SEO
Here’s a quick look at how local search works. Let’s say you’ve traveled to a new country and want to find a nice sushi restaurant for dinner. The problem is, you don’t know much about the area you’re in. So you turn to Google and search for “best sushi restaurants near me”.
Google will quickly give you a list of results with the best restaurants in that area, based on ratings and reviews.
The same thing happens if you are looking for an air conditioning repair company in your area. A quick Google search will tell you who those contractors are that you can contact.
Local SEO for Small Businesses: A Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
Local SEO allows you, as a small business owner, to target local customers and track the effectiveness of your efforts. The main reason you need to include this as part of your optimisation strategy is that it comes at a low cost and has a great ROI.
The fact that you can also optimise your website helps you leverage online resources and avoid spending thousands and thousands of dollars on ad campaigns or various marketing materials.
Key Components of Local SEO
There are five main components to local SEO:
- Your Google My Business profile: Have you ever Googled your own business? What did you see? Everything there can be controlled by simply creating your free Google My Business profile. It lets you list your business name, hours, address, phone number, products and services, photos, and more. You can even collect reviews and comments from your customers.
- Targeted local keywords: Any optimisation strategy revolves around the keywords your target audience uses to find your products and services. This is no exception. Take the time to understand what searches people are using so you can increase your relevance and visibility. Remember to use these keywords in your content, website, landing pages, Google My Business profile, and more.
- On-page SEO:You will also want to check that your website is optimised for local searches. Include your local keywords in a variety of places, including H1 titles, headings, tags, meta descriptions, image optimisation, URLs, and more. You want your on-page SEO to work in concert with your local optimisation efforts.
- Off-Page platforms: Social media, forums, local listings, yellow pages, maps are just a few of the different platforms you should be targeting to post information about your business. They all help put your brand in front of more potential customers.
- Local-centric content: Finally, you’ll want to include content pieces (blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc.) that revolve around local keywords. Making it local helps people feel connected, engaged, and excited.
How Local SEO Differs from General SEO
The world of SEO is so big it can be confusing. So let’s take a quick look at why traditional SEO and local SEO aren’t the same thing. The first thing you need to understand is that the former focuses on improving your website’s visibility to all searchers. It doesn’t take into account where they are located, as it revolves around informational, navigational, commercial and transactional keywords.
Local SEO, on the other hand, focuses on targeting local users and optimising content for local keywords. You can think of it as a way to get your business name in front of your neighbors so they can quickly find you when they’re searching for products or services in the area.
In short, the main difference lies in the focus and target audience.
What Is the Power of Local SEO? Importance of Local SEO
Local SEO comes with a number of benefits that make it clear that you need to get started in this area. Whether you hire a local SEO agency or add an expert to your team, you will need to spend the next few months developing and implementing a strategy that will help rank your local business.
Increased Online Visibility
According to recent research, people are turning to Google, Google Maps, and websites to find out more about a local business before they make a purchase. In this sense, local SEO helps you rank your site and provide useful information to your potential customers (address, phone, website, etc.).
As a marketing professional, you need to optimise your site for local keywords so that you can rank in the top three results on Google. Otherwise, you won’t appear in the search snippet for local businesses.
In short, the better your ranking, the more SERP real estate you will have. As a result, the more exposure you have to potential new local customers. Of course, this does not happen overnight. You need to have a strategy and work on it.
Enhanced Web Traffic and Leads
Every visitor who comes to your site from a local search is more likely to convert. Why is that? Simply because they are actively searching for a product or service you offer.
You want to make sure you provide a great user experience and an easy way to convert them into customers. It could be a button to call or book a meeting, find your address, or make a purchase.
Builds Trust and Credibility
In addition to sharing contact information with your target audience, a Google My Business profile gives your customers a place to share comments about their experiences with your products and services.
These reviews have a huge impact on your rankings in the SERPs. Most importantly, they help others make purchasing decisions. Remember, people trust others more than they trust you. So letting your customers share their happy stories will help you earn the trust of more and more people.
More Calls and More In-Person Visits
Without a doubt, the main benefit of local SEO is that it brings more people to your business. Once you start implementing a local SEO strategy, you’ll see an increase in traffic, whether it’s someone calling to place an order or someone actually walking in.
Why? Simply because you are letting them know, through Google, where you are, how to get there, and what they will find there.
Information is power, and in this case, your best ally.
Competitive Advantage
This approach to website optimisation also allows you to beat the competition. It encourages you to conduct a competitor analysis to understand what they are doing and incorporate best practices into your overall SEO strategy. You can use this as a starting point for a robust approach to this art and attract, engage and convert more leads into customers.
Builds Relationships and Connections Through Local Business Listings and Directories
Local SEO takes into account third-party sites such as local business listings and local directories. They allow you to put your business in front of more targeted prospects who are actively searching for brands that can solve one of their problems.
In other words, local SEO isn’t limited to the elements of your website. It goes a step further and considers off-page actions that will impact your results.
Conclusion
In short, any brick and mortar business or local service provider will greatly benefit from a local SEO strategy. And why is that? Because it’s designed to rank your site on Google’s search results pages for keywords your neighbors use to find businesses like yours.
You have the option of working with a local SEO agency or hiring an expert. Whatever you choose, don’t put off developing and implementing this optimization strategy. It will pay off quickly and boost your sales.
