When people talk about SEO, the first thing that strikes their minds is optimizing the website for search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. They often miss out on the location aspect of it, whether it is to optimize for worldwide search results or for local search results. That’s when local SEO comes into the picture.
How local SEO became a big thing in the last few years and why businesses, especially small businesses should not overlook it. Let’s find out. But before that, let’s quickly understand what local SEO is.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) tactic with which businesses strive to improve their visibility for local search results on Google and other search engines. Any business that serves a physical location can reap the benefits of optimizing their website through local SEO.
If you own a local business, like an eatery, salon, shop, plumbing service, or car repair service, you may want your website to appear at the top of the SERP for a certain set of keywords. Optimizing your website for local business results will ensure that people in the same geographical location can find you online and offline.
Having considerable knowledge of local SEO, let’s dive into the reasons why businesses should not overlook it under any circumstance.
Related Article: What is SEO / Search Engine Optimization?
5 Reasons Why Businesses Should Focus on Local SEO
More often than not when people discuss SEO , they think about performing well on SERP worldwide. Emerging brands and agencies tend to be left out, thanks to the huge investments on advertising and SEO by larger enterprises.
Local SEO levels the playing field by providing small brands with the ability to rank in local search results and compete with the top brands in the industry that operate worldwide. This is where most small companies fail.
Most companies don’t realize the importance of local SEO when building their brand in a given geographical location. In fact, they even fail to comprehend the difference between global and local SEO. Because of that, they put minimum to no effort or investment in local SEO.
There’s a lot more to talk about when it comes to local SEO, how it works, and how to implement it. But for the time being, let’s walk through the top 5 reasons why companies shouldn’t overlook local SEO.
Here are the 5 main reasons why your company should start investing in local SEO:
- Better SERP visibility.
- Motivated customers.
- Customers are going hyperlocal.
- Competition is low.
- Low investment high returns.
Better SERP Visibility
This goes without saying, butthe single most important purpose of optimizing your website for local results is to improve the visibility on search engines. Whether you own an online store or a physical store, your business needs a local SEO strategy to gain online visibility for your business.
As Brightfocal reports, an average user spends around 40% of the time online looking for a local business. Moreover, Google has been laying emphasis on local results by auto-suggesting ‘near me’ type searches for a given business related query.
Even if you make a Google search without specifically mentioning ‘near me’, Google still suggests local businesses around you with map listings. So, there’s no denying the fact that Google and users prefer local business results as their primary choice of purchase. To back this point, stats say that 78% of local mobile searches end up with the user making an offline purchase.
Wait no more and start investing in local SEO today! You may want to hire a local SEO service company like us to seamlessly get the job done for you.
Motivated Customers
Getting highly motivated customers and clients to your store is one of the best benefits of local SEO. If you keep an eye on how people behave online and try to find their pattern of purchase, you’ll see that local results are the best drivers of their purchasing decision.
For example, if you are looking for vegan food, you type in “vegan food” into the Google search bar. The search results will most likely show you a lot of vegan food outlets near you because Google is aware that your preferred location for dining is likely near your current location. The results also include business information like addresses, phone numbers, reviews, and photos of the business.
If you would like to visit stores online, you should select the “More places” option. A point worth noting is that Google doesn’t show you results far from your current location, but it chooses to fetch and display the online stores.
Imagine how your business could boost the returns on investment if your local store manages to get there. It would definitely outrank the top brands and retailers, which would have otherwise ranked higher if your site wasn’t optimized for local results.
Hyperlocal Customers
To be honest, the local SEO term sounds too vague. The trend is swiftly moving towards hyperlocal user needs making local SEO ever so prominent.
According to some studies, 80% of consumer spending occurs within 20 miles distance from home, which is roughly around 30 mins. Anything beyond that and people, more often than not, choose not to make a purchase at all. This includes day-to-day purchases like grocery, clothing, hardware, and gas. Obviously if you have something unique and rare to offer, you can expect a lot of visitors.
So when starting to implement this strategy, ensure that your local SEO efforts are dedicated to a specific location in a given geography.
Related Article: What’s the Difference Between Organic and Local Optimization?
Local SEO Is Less Competitive
In comparison to national and worldwide SEO, local SEO is much less competitive. As discussed earlier, companies are hesitant to implement SEO for multiple reasons like lack of awareness, knowledge, and funding. This opens a world of opportunity for your business to leverage the benefits of SEO if you have the right strategy to work with.
To check if your competitors are investing in local SEO, do a Google search for the business type and location. If you find your competitors on the top, understand they’re investing heavily in their local SEO strategy.
Follow the local SEO best practices, like creating a Google My Business account, getting real reviews from customers, optimizing for voice search, creating local content, making the site mobile friendly, targeting local keywords, and registering on online directories.
Low Investment High Returns
Last but not least, local SEO can be one of the most budget-friendly marketing tactics. It empowers you to excel in search rankings with minimum investment.
By optimizing your website for local search results, you sideline national brands from appearing for search terms by local users. This helps you get more leads and ROI.
All you need is an SEO service to help you evaluate your competition, strategize content for local keywords, create a budget plan, and execute the strategy to stand out from your competitors.
Start Your Local SEO Journey Today!
SEO is evolving and Google is focusing on local results more rigorously than ever before. Small brands and agencies have the opportunity to capitalize on the trend and compete with major brands worldwide.
Not being optimized for local results could backfire and impact your business in the long run. So, what are you waiting for? Start your SEO journey now. Book a consultation call with us today!
Got any questions? Leave them down in the comments section below. Until next time, take care and cheers!
