As a local & small business owner, you may think there’s no point in spending time and money improving your Google ranking when competing with Walmart and Amazon. While that may be true for most organic listings, that’s not the case with local search.
Whether you’re a Seattle wedding photographer, a small Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, or a Columbus local contractor, local SEO can help you generate traffic and attract new customers. It may seem impossible to compete with bigger, more established businesses, but local SEO gives any business a chance to show up in the top results of Google.
Local SEO doesn’t just help you rank higher in Google. It can also help you increase brand visibility, increase website visitors, generate more leads, and much more. With nearly half of all Google searches (46%) being localized, you can’t afford to let this traffic go to waste.
Keep reading to discover what local SEO strategy can do for your small business.
Why Local SEO Is Essential for Small Businesses?
It is the process of optimizing a business’s website and online profile for local search results. It’s a way of ranking your site for geo-specific search results so that users can find your site by searching for local businesses. For example, if you’re a Seattle wedding photographer and a user is searching for a “Seattle wedding photographer” on Google, you’ll want to rank for that keyword in the search results so that you can capture that user’s attention and hopefully turn them into a client.
However, ranking in local search results doesn’t always happen automatically. You’ll need to develop a local SEO strategy based on your target audience’s search intent, which keywords seem to be most relevant to your site, and your competitors’ strategies for outranking you. You can then use a range of SEO tactics that will help you stand out from the competition and bring new local customers to your site.
Benefit #1: Get a Higher Google Ranking, Increased Foot Traffic, & New Customers
When a user searches Google for a particular type of business in their area, the search engine’s algorithm returns a list of the top-ranked businesses that match their search criteria. This list is then displayed in Google’s organic search results, taking into account a wide range of factors. Many people may not even be aware that your business exists. Therefore, you need Google’s power on your side. When you implement local SEO for your business, you increase the chances of being found by potential customers. These potential customers can use your business’s physical address and Google Maps directions to visit your location. SEO allows you to rank higher than even your biggest, most well-established competitors and get new customers.
Benefit #2: Reach More Customers With Google My Business
Local SEO refers to the process of improving your website’s ranking in Google Maps in order to attract more customers to your business. If you don’t have a local presence on Google My Business, you won’t be able to find potential customers looking for businesses in your area. Google My Business is a free platform that lets you post your business address and contact information, as well as your website URL and photos, as well as reviews. This allows you to generate direct calls to your business, as well as leads and sales.
Benefit #3: Attract Potential Leads By Using Local Keywords in Your Content
Generic keywords like ‘digital marketing agency’ or ‘family lawyer’ may get a lot of traffic, but they’re also broad and very competitive. If you focus on those broad terms, you won’t be able to compete with thousands of other businesses, and you risk losing qualified leads. If you’re a business that serves a certain geographic area – or has a physical presence in that area – then you’ll want to attract people in that area. There’s no point in ranking for ‘digital marketing agencies’ on a national scale if you’re only serving the Boise area. Targeted traffic is traffic that’s more likely to convert into customers.
Benefit #4: Enhanced Website Authority With Building Citation
Citation building, also known as link building, is one of the most important parts of local SEO. It’s all about getting quality links from other sites to your site. These links are a vote of confidence that your site is legit and offers valuable information. Google loves this kind of thing, so getting links from other sites can definitely increase your online presence. To grow your local listings, submit your business info to good directories, review websites (like Yelp), and guest post on high-quality websites.
Benefit #5: Increased Brand Awareness With Online Reputation Management
Local SEO services can also be used to promote your business through good PR. This can be done by contacting websites for features, soliciting client reviews, posting guest posts, or improving your online presence. Since potential clients want to know that you’re worth doing business with and that you’ve earned great results for previous clients, this type of PR can help drive more customers in the long run.
Benefit #6: Gain Trust by Sharing Insightful & High-Quality Content
Stay ahead of the competition with fresh, SEO-friendly content for your business blog. Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) tools such as SEMrush.Com to search for relevant, geographic keywords to include in your blog posts. Subsequently, you can drive organic traffic to your blog posts or share your blog posts on social media platforms.
Benefit #7: Improve Conversions With Website Optimization
There are many elements of local SEO that work together to enhance user experience, improve your ranking, and increase sales for your company. These elements include: Optimizing your website for mobile search Designing a site that is easy to navigate Implementing a site structure that is user-friendly Improving website load time Optimizing the site for conversions It is not just about ranking and traffic. It’s about converting local traffic into paying clients and loyal fans of your local business. The more users find your site easy to navigate, the more likely they are to purchase your products, contact you, or find out more about your services.
Benefit #8: Showcase Your Expertise By Sharing Your Thoughts
If you want to stand out and be relevant in local SEO rankings, you’ll need to do content marketing, and link building. It’s no coincidence that the same activity can help you build a reputation as an authority and thought leader in your industry. When it comes to local content marketing, it’s natural to talk about your area or hometown and get your local community involved. Not only will this help you grow your reputation as an authoritative voice in your field, but it’ll also help your customers connect with your business, build stronger links, and build brand loyalty and engagement.
Benefit #9: Get a Competitive Edge With a Customized Local SEO Strategy
One of the most important steps in building and improving your SEO plan is benchmarking your competitors and seeing what they are doing that you aren’t. Once you identify these areas of improvement (and you’re able to apply the lessons they’ve learned without the trial and error they’ve gone through to get their strategy right), your business is much more competitive. For instance, by looking at their reviews, you can find out what customers like about their service, so you can implement a similar strategy in your own business.
To Wrap Up!
If you’re interested in learning how SEO can benefit your local business, now’s the time to get started. Follow these best practices to boost your local rankings, drive traffic, and land new customers. You’re probably a busy business owner and have a lot of work to do, so if you need help optimizing your site and need to invest in small business SEO services, email us at info@digitalguider.com
