The Importance of Local SEO for Local Businesses
If you’re familiar with just a portion of the vast world that is digital marketing, you’ve probably heard the words ”local SEO” muttered a lot.
It’s often referred to as one of the most critical facets of leveraging a business organically – and has been the backbone of success for many.
With this in mind, you should aim to have a clear idea of why this technique holds an incredibly dominant position in any online marketing strategy and understand how to strive for success around it. But, before that, we think it’s only fair to gather a concise idea of what strictly local SEO is, the importance of local SEO in today’s world, and how it impacts businesses -predominantly service-based ones.
Let this article act as the guide you need to fill you in on everything you need to know to thrive in your local business.
What is Local SEO?
Grab your phone, head over to Google, and search for ‘Electrician near me.” What is the first thing that pops up? Most likely, you won’t see electrical work services in the U.S countryside -and they probably won’t be part of a vast chain company either.
You will see a bunch of local electricians based just a few miles from where you are right now. This is where the power of SEO for local businesses creates an impact.
Search engine optimisation includes various marketing techniques. Just one of them? Local search engine optimisation. Local SEO focuses on improving visibility for local businesses in local search engine results.
Similar to the example we gave above, the results in a local search typically appear when a ”near me” intended question is conducted. This leads Google to look for something in their location -showing a good understanding of the geographic constraints within each search.
The Importance of Local SEO
The importance of local SEO is evident – it exists to provide businesses with a chance to enhance their visibility in local search outcomes for terms related to their products, services, or business as a whole.
This is an essential tool to have in today’s incredibly digital world. In fact, with each day that passes, almost half of all Google queries are local searches. So much so that even if a consumer was to perform a typical daily search, there’s a high chance that Google will show businesses nearby.
If your business happens to pop up on various local SEO search results, you’ll see your traffic shoot up, your products or services fly out, and your profits increase.
Quick tips to Improve Your Local SEO
To improve your Local SEO, focus on the following key areas:
- Optimise their website for local keywords and phrases: This includes including the business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) on your website and ensuring that it is consistent across all online listings.
- Build citations and listings on local directories: This includes creating profiles on popular directories such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Bing Places for Business.
- Encourage customer reviews: Positive reviews from customers can help improve a business’s visibility in local search results and build trust with potential customers.
- Optimise for mobile devices: With most of the searches conducted on mobile devices, businesses need to have a mobile-friendly website that is easy to navigate.
The Importance of Local SEO for Service-Based Businesses
Although local SEO is essential for every single business out there, service-based businesses tend to depend on it that little bit more.
This is because service businesses usually sit in categories that are rich in information. Mainly, they are trust-based transactions with multiple decision-makers and longer sales cycles.
SEO for local businesses that offer their services is something powerful. Not only does it help drive traffic to a physical location, but it will also help you land honest, local reviews, increase traffic through word of mouth marketing, gain total support from your community, and establish yourself as a leader in your local market.
What more could you want out of a free, organic marketing strategy. Right?
