Any SEO strategy aimed at customers in a particular area, city, or neighborhood must include local search.
It would be best to concentrate on local SEO to increase your rankings and visibility in local search results, such as Google’s Map Pack/Local Pack.
Going national is often the first goal that small and medium-sized businesses set for themselves.
Constantly evolving algorithms can make digital marketing more complicated than one might expect. It can be challenging to stand out from the crowd of rivals who have been building Google listings for years.
This can be intimidating for business owners just starting, but a competitive market does not preclude growth.
You can achieve your growth objectives more effectively with local search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques.
This article has compiled what local SEO entails and how it can benefit your business, keep reading to learn more.
First, What is Local SEO?
Search engine optimisation for local search results is known as local SEO.
This entails assisting Google in making your company’s listing in the Local Pack/Map Pack rank higher and show up more frequently in response to a higher volume of pertinent queries.
Gaining a higher ranking for your website in search engine results pages (SERPs) is the primary goal of SEO. Thus, local SEO refers to a set of tactics that boost your company’s visibility in local search results.
Your website must be indexed on Google’s first page of search results to draw many visitors; otherwise, potential customers won’t find you. After all, on search engines, only about 75% of users click past the first page.
Additionally, many people use search engines to locate nearby local businesses. Thanks to local SEO, these individuals can discover your company before they discover your rivals.
Why Local Search Is Important
Here are some data showing the continued value of local search for businesses:
Google reports that 28% of local smartphone searches result in a purchase, and 76% of those searches lead to a visit to a business.
Google estimates that location is a factor in 30% of all searches it processes.
In a recent survey on local search, 61% of consumers said they conduct daily local searches.
According to a recent local SEO survey, 82% of customers conducting a local search read online reviews of businesses and take close to 14 minutes to do so.
Google Maps is used by 86% of people to locate businesses.
92% of the time, Yelp is among the top five search results for SMB searches.
Around the world, 74% of in-store customers who conducted their search before entering the store claimed to have looked for information such as “closest store nearby,” “locations,” “in stock nearby,” and other kinds of hyperlocal data.
More than half of all Internet users worldwide use a mobile device for their local searches.
To find out more about nearby businesses, 83% of searchers use Google Search; 55% use Google Maps, 44% use Apple Maps, 39% use Yahoo, and 31% use Bing.
How to Improve Local SEO
You can directly implement some local SEO techniques on your website, like:
Create “contact” and “location” pages. All addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information for your business should be included.
Incorporate a map. This can make finding you even more convenient for customers.
Make the phone number and email clickable. Customers can contact you more efficiently if your phone number and email address are clickable.
The Benefits of Local SEO for Your Business
A better online presence
Numerous local SEO-related activities will help you increase your visibility in local search results and your overall online visibility.
For instance, citation building is a crucial component of local SEO work. This involves increasing the number of directory listings, social media profiles, and online review sites that list your business name, physical address (ideally with zip code), and phone number.
You’ll do this in as many different locations as possible, making it more straightforward for customers to discover your company at the right time.
More In-store Foot Traffic
Whether you run a cafe, dry cleaner, or hardware store, increased local visibility can help to increase foot traffic to your brick-and-mortar location.
If you’ve made significant investments in specialised machinery, created an avant-garde environment, or have a physical location because your products are best experienced there, increasing the number of visitors can help you generate buzz about your establishment and boost sales.
Profit from the Local Shopping Boom
The buying habits of consumers have undergone significant change in recent years. One of the most notable is that consumers now prioritise local businesses when choosing which products to buy.
According to research, consumers choose smaller, independent businesses over more prominent, well-known brands or experiences they may have previously preferred.
56% of customers claim to actively seek out locally sourced goods and give their business to local businesses on purpose.
Additionally, 76% of consumers say they intend to do more local shopping in the upcoming year, which suggests that there is a chance for smaller, independent businesses to grow their customer base.
One of the main advantages of local SEO is that it places you in front of nearby customers precisely when they require your goods or services. This will enable you to fully capitalise on the change in consumer behaviour and expand your business.
Targeted Unique Web Traffic
Every minute you waste as a small business dealing with leads who need to be qualified or clients who aren’t likely to make a purchase or schedule a service is money lost.
Local SEO can help weed out ineffective traffic and eliminate time-wasters that hinder the smooth operation of your company by making sure that only local searchers can find it.
This can be a significant advantage since 59% of search users use Google to research a purchase they intend to make in-store. This lets you concentrate your efforts on the customers most likely to convert.
Enhanced Visibility on Google Maps
Your Google Business Profile can be optimised to increase its visibility on Google Maps. Since Google Maps was explicitly created to assist users in finding local services and organising their journeys, this could increase calls and in-person visits.
Any Google Business Profile optimisation you carry out will directly aid your Maps visibility, increasing your number of calls and in-person visits. Google Maps is populated using information that Google gathers from Business Profiles.
Bottom Line
In some ways, local SEO is similar to traditional SEO but strongly focuses on regional keywords and target markets.
In local SEO, everything about you should identify you as a local company, including your content, keywords, and citations (and adjacent locations).
Consistency is vital, especially when it comes to your contact details, to maintaining local SEO. However, it’s crucial to keep in mind that best practices are constantly evolving with local SEO and traditional SEO.
The only local SEO strategy guaranteed to succeed adapts to new trends. And as a digital marketing agency, we understand this. This is why we provide top-notch digital services that would improve the quality and quantity of your website traffic.
Contact us today to get started.
Related:
https://atuzalmedia.com/2022/10/30/5-proven-reasons-why-your-business/