Local SEO is not a new term in digital marketing, it is one of the most important facets when it comes to implementing your campaign effectively. However, before we go ahead and consider SEO services, it is important to have a concise idea of what SEO actually is. A better understanding will enable you to know why local SEO holds such significance in today’s world and how they will positively impact your business.
First things first, let us understand the meaning of local SEO and what is it all about?
What is local SEO?
In basic terms, local SEO promotes the online visibility of your business with the help of location-based keywords and searches. It is mainly aimed to attract people and make them land to your website page. This method is highly effective for people browsing locally.
These type of searches include certain specific searches such as geo qualifiers, zip code, city, state, town etc. It is also based on ‘near me’ searches in which Google picks up the geo-location of the person browsing and displays results accordingly.
Why is local SEO crucial?
When you have a business which only provides services locally- this is when local SEO becomes extremely important. This makes sure that you reach the right people in the area who can reach you easily. According to a survey by Forbes magazine, 95% of the smartphone users indulge in local browsing. Take an example of yourself, you must have searched for ‘plumber near me’, ‘accident attorney near me’ or ‘salon near me’ a lot of times.
This will also generate quality leads as the people who are indulging in local browsing are more likely to be qualified as genuine conversions. Another perk of considering local SEO is that it can help your business to appear on Google’s local three pack. In simple words, your business will appear on the top 3 search results shown on your location basis.
Along with that your address, contact information, and directions will be mentioned as well. According to MOZ study, 44% people search for ‘local’ keywords, out of which only 8% clicked on ‘ show more results’ this makes it clear why the local three pack positions are so sought after. A local SEO will help your business to bag a spot in the three pack listing which will eventually result in driving a high amount of traffic to your website.
Getting to know the basics of local SEO
As the name suggests local SEO is for local searches. This means that when search results are shown, it will mention your address and other contact details as well. Thus, a business should make sure that their address and other information is well updated in the online directories.
The next thing to be taken care of is that the all of your information and contact details should be the same in every online directory. If there are any discrepancies in the same, Google will not show your business search results in the local three pack. To ensure this, one can use a tool called Synup which manages all your online listings for you. This reduces the need for manually updating everything on your own thereby saving a lot of time.
A citation is yet another effective tool to improve your local SEO ranking. A citation is when a third party website lists your business as a point of reference. This reference could contain your contact details, address, brand name or location. For example, a fashion website mentioning your boutique or shop in one of their blogs. The citation does not require a backlink to your business’s website.
How does local SEO impact your business?
If you own a business that only serves locally, then optimizing its local SEO can be very rewarding. Local SEO helps the potential customers to discover your business and also helps in attracting the non-locals to come across your business when they are searching for something like your business.
Local SEO also provides the necessary information to the customers as and when they want it. For example, it helps the customer to know whether the restaurant they want to visit is pet-friendly? Does it have free WiFi? Or does it have an option of outdoor dining? When all of this information is displayed, it gives the customers a better insight and attracts the customers who are looking for these specific features.
Even if your business does not have a website, local SEO helps your business to appear in the local searches and drives more traffic through online leads. As it gets easier for customers to find a local business, it also develops more trust in their eyes as the customer is able to either visit or personally connect with the business.
Now that it is very clear how you can manage your local business with the help of SEO, it will get easier for your business to attract a significant relevant traffic for your business. Considering to go for local SEO will also increase your business’s organic search engine ranking.