SEO

Why Local SEO is as Important as Regular SEO

SEO

Local SEO might not sound like a big deal compared to global top rankings. It’s far much easier and cheaper, and far less competitive. However, it could hold the key to unlocking immense possibilities for your overall SEO campaign.

Local SEO is all about attracting and capturing leads within a given locality. Location-based search has grown astronomically over the past few years and is now critical to the success of any SEO campaign, whether for small businesses or multinationals. With local SEO, you can build up traction in your local space, and this helps boost your overall SEO. Besides that, local SEO connects you to more motivated, highly targeted leads, and that can bring a huge boost to your conversion and sales.

We’ll take a closer look at some of the key reasons why local SEO is growing increasingly important for business. We’ve also got the latest proven tips and tricks an excellent local SEO service will often use to secure a nice chunk of local search traffic for you. 

What is local SEO and how does it work?

Chances are you always search first for local businesses in your area when shopping online. Oftentimes, you go along with one of the top four results, and now and then you scroll down the list. 

Spoiler alert: you’re not the only one who does that. Searching for businesses nearby is fast becoming a predominant search trend and businesses vested in SEO are now taking local SEO more seriously than ever before. 61% of customers say they search for local businesses every day, and 81% rely on them regularly for their online purchases.

Simply put, local SEO is the process of fine-tuning your SEO activities targeting an audience in a specific region (neighborhood, city, state, etc.). In more specific terms, it means optimizing your website in a bid to secure a spot on the Local Pack results of your relevant keywords.

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People who search for nearby businesses are more predisposed to buy from the business. Plus, the closeness of the business makes it easier and more convenient to check out the business. 76% of people who carry out ‘near me’ searches on their mobile devices end up knocking on the doors of a business within a day.

When your potential customers search for your related keywords on search engines, you’d want them to see your business name along with your contact details on their top four Local Pack results.

Success with local SEO depends on several ranking factors. But according to official statements, Google says there are three major factors:

Relevance: 

Your business has to be a close match with what the searcher is looking for. To ensure you don’t miss out on potential customers, make your business page as detailed as possible, complete with all the relevant keywords and contact details. 

Distance: 

This simply refers to the physical distance between the searcher and your business. Unfortunately, there’s nothing much you can do about this factor and Google will only show your business to those within a few miles of you. But there are lots of other important factors that you can work on.

Prominence: 

Lastly, Google takes pride in nothing less than the best businesses and will rank businesses based on their reputation. Businesses with stellar ratings will always have a greater chance of securing a spot on Local Pack results.

Other important factors to keep in mind when working with a local SEO company include:

  • Google Business Page categories
  • Google My Business profile page
  • Keywords in your business title
  • Keywords used in the company’s Google reviews
  • Star ratings on authoritative rating site
  • Backlink profile

Why is local SEO important for every business?

Wondering if local SEO is really worth the effort? These 5 key reasons should convince you.

A high volume of local searchers

A staggering 82% of mobile users often shop for businesses using ‘near me’ search terms. You can imagine the traffic potentials you’re missing out on if you’re not yet ranking for relevant local search terms. The best local SEO company could offer you the easiest and quickest way of getting your business in front of hungry buyers.

Local search is rising astronomically

Over the last two years alone, local searches have ballooned up by a whopping 900% percent. They now make up 46% of all searches. And in most of the other searches, local searches are always somehow brought into the mix. People intend to find a local business 97% of the time when searching for something online.

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Increased sales potentials

Local SEO strategies offer not just high traffic potentials, but also potential for highly qualified leads with high conversion rates. 88% of local searchers reach out or visit a local business within 24 hours of their search. 78% of local searches on smartphones lead to an offline purchase. What’s more, by rubbing off on your overall SEO and presenting you at the top page of relevant local search results, local SEO significantly increases your credibility and trustworthiness, making customers more willing to do business with you. 

Increased customer loyalty

Customers that come from local searches have a greater potential to stick around for much longer. With an effective local SEO strategy, chances are you won’t have that much competition in your area, and when you give local customers an incredible experience, they’ll most likely keep buying from you and recommending your business at every opportunity.

How can you quickly leverage these benefits of local SEO?

Here are a few things a local SEO service can quickly do to help you secure your fair share of local search traffic:

Create a complete Google My Business profile: 

Make sure to provide your complete details – name, address and phone number (NAP), services, locations, etc. Make sure all the details are consistent with every other place your company is mentioned on the web.

Get local backlinks and NAP citations:

Get your business links placed and business details listed on authority third-party local sites like local directories and local blogs.

Explore localized content

Create blog posts around localized keywords and topics. Ranking better for those topics and keywords can significantly boost your local SEO as well as your chances of making it to the top 4 Local Pack.

Solicit for online reviews

As earlier mentioned, your reputation can significantly impact your local SEO. 

Strive to give your customers an excellent experience and then encourage them to rate your business on popular review platforms. Also, manage your reviews proactively, acting on them on time to encourage more positive reviews.

Get your fair share of local search traffic today

Local SEO strategies can be the key to unleashing your site’s SEO potential. It can help you rack up not only your traffic but the traffic quality and conversion rates. Plus, customers from local search traffic are more likely to remain loyal to your brand.There are more than enough reasons to take local SEO seriously.Time to stick your flag on the ground of those local search results!