Competition among local brick and mortar businesses is relentless and unforgiving. As such, local businesses should use anything at their disposal to get an edge over their competitors. One way of doing so is by improving their local SEO.
You probably already have your usual SEO on lock, but what is local SEO exactly? As the name suggests, local SEO centers on your local customers, who make up about 46% of Google searches. It encompasses optimizing your website for local results on search engine results pages.
In this post, we’ll be looking at everything you need to know about local SEO and why it’s so important for your local business.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a collective term for strategies and tactics that optimize your website and webpage for local search results. It is useful for local brick and mortar businesses looking to drive up their leads and attract a larger local audience.
For Google searches, local SEO increases your chances of your website appearing on Google’s “snack pack results.” Not to say that it won’t appear in ordinary results; it’s just that your local customer base is more likely to find you in the “snack pack results” area.
Strategies for Local SEO
As mentioned earlier local SEO comprises tactics and strategies to drive up your site’s ranking for local search results. Here are a couple of local SEO strategies you should consider.
Creating a Google my Business Account: Any formidable SEO strategy starts with a Google My Business account. It’s from this account that you can optimize your Google listings so your website can rank much higher on local search results.
“Localize” your website: Create content that focuses on the local and surrounding areas. That way, you can speak directly to the locals and grow your local customer base.
Use local keywords: Local keywords are at the core of local SEO, and they’re effortless to create. For example, you can use a “dentist near me” for your SEO for orthodontic marketing.
Why Is Local SEO So Important?
Here are a couple of reasons why local SEO is super important for local businesses.
Greater local visibility: The most obvious advantage of local SEO is greater visibility to your local audience. This can help you grow your local customer base and drive up your profits.
Builds trust among customers: The more visible you become on local searches, the more customers begin to trust your business. This can be a great boost to your business’s reputation, and you should also expect a couple of referrals.
Improve relevance: You can improve the relevance of your business through link building and content marketing.
There are just a few benefits of local SEO for your business. There are plenty of other ways your business stands to gain from local SEO.
Improve Your Local SEO for a Thriving Business
Hopefully, “what is local SEO?” is a question you can comfortably answer after reading this post. Improving your local SEO is straightforward but still requires a lot of commitment. You can always seek professional help for your local SEO if it’s giving you a hard time.
Having your local SEO nailed down is just one way you improve your business’s visibility to the local audience. For more informative reads on how you can improve your business, check out the other posts on our site.