Did you know that only 49 percent of small businesses utilize search engine optimization (SEO) to increase their business’s online presence and visibility? If SEO isn’t a part of your small business marketing plan, you’re missing out on a cost-effective way to increase your revenue and customer base.
While taking your business national and globally is important, targeting customers that are local to your area is just as essential. A local SEO marketing strategy will increase your chance of appearing on the search engine results pages in your target locations.
This guide will discuss the benefits of local SEO. Continue reading to learn how to connect with individuals in your community.
What’s Local SEO?
Any small business that serves a specific geographical area or has a physical location can benefit from local SEO. If you search Google or Bing for important keywords related to your company and a map with at least three listings pops up, then your company can benefit from local SEO.
Google analyzes the behaviors of users as they search for various products and services. The search engine’s algorithm takes a user’s location into account when they search for a keyword with local intent. This phenomenon can occur even when the user doesn’t include the term “near me” or a city name when they search for something.
For example, if you’re at your office and search “pizza delivery,” search engines will show you locations by your workplace. If you do the same thing when you’re at home, you’ll see a different list of results.
Local SEO has become increasingly more important over the years for any type of business that offers local services or products.
Benefits Of Local SEO
One of the major benefits of incorporating local SEO into your marketing strategy is increasing your website’s rankings in the various reach engines. You want to be on the coveted first page of results when someone searches for something. Let’s discuss some of the other benefits of local SEO.
Increased Foot Traffic To Your Location
The top-ranking businesses in a user’s area are displayed in the search engine results and in Google maps when they search for something. A user can click on the business to find out more information and get directions.
With a local SEO marketing plan, you’ll increase your chances of your business getting shown to potential customers. Your physical address will get displayed and a user can use that information to visit your location. Ranking higher on the search engines and appearing in Google maps could result in increased foot traffic.
Improve Your Online Visibility
If you’re a new or small business, it can be hard to bring in new customers. Potential customers might not be aware that your business exists.
Local SEO can help you rank higher than more established and larger competitions. By increasing your visibility, you can attract organic traffic to your website and into your location.
Generate More Leads And Sells With Google My Business
Google has a free platform called Google My Business. You can publish information about your business, such as:
- Business address
- Website URL
- Contact information
- Reviews
- Photos
When you optimize this information, you can generate more leads and sales. Local customers can find your business on Google because you completed your business profile.
Attract Better Leads
Including generic keywords like “family lawyer” or “digital marketing company” might generate a lot of searches. Those terms are also highly competitive and broad. You’ll struggle to compete with other businesses and potentially attract unqualified leads.
If you have a physical location or serve a specific geographic area, you want to attract customers who live within that location. You don’t want to rank nationally for your keywords if you only serve the Boston area. Targeted traffic results in targeted leads, which will hopefully turn into loyal customers.
Increase Your Website Authority
Link or citation building is an important facet of local SEO. The goal is to attract high-quality links from other businesses’ websites to your own website.
Link building proves that your website has valuable information and increases its legitimacy. It also looks good to Google, helping you boost your online authority.
Improve Your Brand’s Awareness
Local SEO is a great opportunity for public relations. You can improve your online reputation by doing some of the following:
- Submit guest posts
- Post positive client/customer reviews
- Post features on other websites
Positive PR will help you attract new customers over time. It’ll show them that your business has generated great results for others in the past.
Build Trust With Blogging and Content Marketing
An SEO strategy is having an up-to-date blog on your website. Regularly post relevant, SEO-optimized content to the blog.
Research keywords that are specific to your location and customer base. You can attract new users by sharing your blogs on social media or through organic searches.
Improve Your Conversion Rate
Each component of local SEO works together to improve the experience for visitors to your website. Its primary goals are to increase your rankings on Google and to increase your business’s sales.
You should also optimize your website for the following items:
- Mobiles searches
- Improve the load time of your website
- Create a user-friendly website
When a website is easier for a user to navigate, the more simple it’ll be for them to locate the information they need. Once they have the necessary information, they’ll contact you or buy one of your products.
Local SEO isn’t solely about traffic and rankings. It’s about turning your website traffic into loyal fans and paying customers.
Build A Local Following
Businesses that mostly operate out of a brick-and-mortar location heavily rely on people in their community for business. People that live close to a location will make up the majority of their total business. It’s important for you to reach out to people who are new to your area or those in the area on vacation.
Local SEO helps you establish your business as the “go-to” location in your community. You’ll gain additional community support through referrals and searches.
Partner With An Experienced Agency For Small Business Marketing
Local SEO should be a key component in your small business marketing plan. Target customers in your geographic location to bring in more relevant traffic and leads.
Contact us today to learn more about our local SEO services.
