If you’re a business owner, you know that attracting new customers is essential to your success. And while there are many marketing strategies you can use to reach new audiences, local SEO is often one of the most effective.
So if you’re looking for a way to reach new customers and grow your business with little effort and without having to break the bank, keep reading to learn more about how to implement local SEO into your digital marketing strategy.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website so that it is more likely to appear in search results for local searches.
Why is this important?
It’s important because most small businesses want to be found online by potential customers in their area.
How is this possible?
When people search for businesses or services online, they regularly include their location in the search. So if you optimize your website and content for local keywords, you’re more likely to show up in these results.
A big advantage to using local SEO is that it is budget-friendly, relatively simple to implement, and can be used by small businesses to compete with larger ones that may have a higher ranking in general search results.
Mobile Local SEO
Mobile local SEO is an exciting new development in search engine optimization – it allows businesses to target potential customers searching for products and services in their local area using their mobile devices.
– 78% of Americans use a smartphone to find local information.
This type of optimization can be beneficial for small businesses that want to increase their visibility and reach potential customers who may not be aware of their business.
Manifold Advantages of Local SEO For Your Business
There are many advantages of local SEO but the main ones with the most direct effect on your bottom line are as follows:
1. Increased traffic. Local SEO can help increase your website’s traffic from people searching for businesses like yours in your area.
2. More leads and customers. Getting more traffic to your website can lead to more leads and customers for your business.
3. Improved search engine rankings. Optimizing your website and content for local SEO keywords can help improve your ranking in search engines like Google, making it easier for potential customers to find you when they’re searching for local businesses like yours online.
4. Cost-effective marketing. Local SEO is a cost-effective way to market your business online since you’re only targeting consumers in your geographical area.
5. Boosts brand awareness. Not only does local SEO help your website show up more frequently in local searches, bringing more eyeballs to your search engine listings, but it also helps improve click-through rates which can contribute to increased brand awareness and visibility.
6. Target niche markets. Local SEO also allows you to customize your message for each market, so you can speak directly to the needs and concerns of your target audience. As a result, you’ll see higher conversion rates and ROI from your local SEO campaigns than from other marketing efforts.
7. Traffic Relevancy. Relevant local keywords attract targeted traffic – visitors who are ready to do business. By using local SEO, you can avoid “tire kickers” and deal directly with only those who are ready to buy.
By implementing a local SEO strategy, you can rank higher in search engine results pages for your target keywords, get more website visitors from your target geographic area, build trust and credibility with potential customers in your target market, and save money on advertising and marketing costs.
Local SEO Ranking Factors (Understanding The Algorithms)
To better understand how to apply local SEO to your online marketing strategy, you must know about the algorithms that affect rankings in local searches.
The following are some of the main factors the search engines look at to rank local keywords.
Proximity
One of the most important factors that are often overlooked in local SEO is proximity – how close your business is to the searcher.
– Local SEO Proximity is a process by which you can optimize your website and content for users searching for businesses near them.
There are a few key things you can do to optimize your proximity for local SEO.
First, make sure your website is optimized for local keywords. This means including your city or region in your titles, tags, and descriptions.
Second, create locally relevant content. This could be blog posts about local events or attractions or even just listings of local businesses.
Third, get involved in the community by creating profiles on local directories and review sites. This will help improve your visibility and authority in the eyes of both potential customers and search engines.
Relevance
Many factors that contribute to local relevance, but two of the most important are on-page factors and off-page factors.
– On-page factors are elements on your website that signal to search engines what your website is about. This includes things like your title tags, meta descriptions, and content.
– Off-page factors are signals from other websites that tell search engines how relevant your website is. This includes things like backlinks and online reviews.
There are a few key things you can do to optimize your site for local SEO relevance.
First, be sure to include your city and state in your website title and throughout the site content. This helps search engines understand where you’re located and makes it more likely that you’ll come up in searches for local businesses.
Second, claim your Google My Business listing and make sure all of your information is accurate and up-to-date. This will help you show up in Google Maps results, giving potential customers another way to find you.
Finally, create local landing pages on your site for each city or region you serve.
– The goal of your local landing pages is to create a page that accurately reflects the products or services offered by your business that appeal to the people who are searching for those things in your area.
Popularity
One of the most popular ways to rank your site based on popularity is through reviews.
– Good reviews are especially important for local businesses, as they can help to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
The easiest way to garner positive reviews is to encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews on popular review sites like Google and Yelp.
Two other time-tested ways to ensure good reviews are as follows:
1. Provide great products and services. This is the best way to make your customers happy and leave a positive review.
2. Offer incentives for leaving positive reviews such as discounts or coupons. This is a sure way to motivate your customers to leave positive comments.
If you optimize your site for the three above factors, your business is more likely to rank higher for local searches in your area and get more leads, sales, and long-term customers.
Google Business Profile and Local SEO
As was briefly mentioned in the last section, Google Business Profile is an important part of local SEO – perhaps the most important, which is why it warrants a section solely dedicated to it.
– By creating and verifying your Google My Business listing, you can help your business show up in relevant local searches.
You can use your listing to share important information about your business with potential customers, such as your hours of operation, products and services offered, and contact information. This will not only improve your chances of driving traffic to your website but also give that traffic the information they are looking for, increasing the chances of more leads and sales for your business.
Here are the basic steps to set up a Google My Business account and listing:
1. Go to google.com/business and click “Start now”
2. Enter your business name, address, and phone number. You can also add additional information, such as your website URL, category, and opening hours.
3. Choose whether you want customers to be able to find you on Google Maps or Google Search.
4. Verify your listing by phone or mail. This helps Google confirm that you are the owner of the business and allows you to manage your listing going forward.
5. Once your listing is verified, you can start adding photos, descriptions, and other information to help potential customers learn more about your business.
Through Google My Business, businesses can create a profile, post updates and photos, answer customer questions, and even offer coupons and deals. In addition, businesses can use Insights to track their performance on Google My Business and make necessary changes to improve their visibility.
3 Additional Tips for Local SEO
Aside from the previously-mentioned ways to optimize your site and set up your Google My Business listing, there are some other important things you can do to ensure local SEO success.
The three most important ones are as follows.
1. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly: In today’s world, more and more people are using their mobile devices to search the web, especially for local businesses.
– As of 2019, over half of all web traffic worldwide was generated through mobile phones.
2. Keep your business information up to date: Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) should be accurate and consistent across all directories and listings.
– Inconsistent NAP information can lead to lower search engine rankings and decreased web traffic.
Additionally, make sure to keep your business hours, categories, and other details up to date.
Use multiple channels to drive interest in your business: According to a report by Borrell Associates, businesses should use a mix of online and offline marketing methods, as well as paid and organic search.
– Multiple-channel marketing can bring more brand awareness to your business and more website traffic to your site than just applying online marketing methods like local SEO alone.
While using offline marketing channels may not directly affect online search rankings, they will help bring more attention to your business and possibly more visits to your website and other online profiles, listings, and properties.
Conclusion: Local SEO for Your Business
Whether your business is big or small, with local SEO you can make sure it comes up in the search engines when people in your area are looking for the products or services you offer online.
By optimizing your website and online presence for local searches, you will build brand awareness, reach more customers, and outpace the competition.
Don’t let your competitors take all of the local search traffic. Use the tips and methods outlined in this article and start optimizing your site for local SEO today!