What is local SEO and how can it help your company?

Did you know that 46% of all Google searches are local? Local SEO involves marketing your business online and promoting products, services or information to local customers.

With searches now being carried out more and more on mobile devices, it is important that local SEO strategies are implemented to keep your business ahead of the curve in terms of customers being able to find what you are, where you are, what you offer and how well what you offer is rated.

With more than 50% of mobile “on the go” searches having local intent, it can’t be underestimated how local SEO impacts your business. Of course, ensuring your website either has a mobile version or a mobile-responsive site is first priority.

Local SEO implementation

There are various strategies for local SEO implementation, including:

Creating search engine accounts and listings on business directories.

Google My Business and Bing Places for Business are free and simple tools that allows business owners to manage their online presence, using Google Search, Google Maps and Bing Maps. Recently, Google has placed increased visibility around these listings on mobile, meaning that they are essential for local SEO.

Without Google My Business, your business won’t appear on any local map listings in the results page for the vast majority of local queries. This is also true for creating your listing on business directories such as Yelp, Thompson Local, Foursquare and Yellowbook.

Keyword research to determine what users are searching for locally in regards to your business.

For many businesses and marketers, KWR takes a backseat when it comes to local SEO, but this shouldn’t be the case. In fact, adding a few decent local keywords to your copy can be the difference between a top page search result and ending up on page five.

In conjunction with keyword research, it’s a good idea to create some localised content on your website. For example, local store or branch pages with information on how to find the store and the contact details.

Top Tip: If you only have one store / branch location, avoid creating separate pages for lots of locations that don’t exist. Instead, your location pages should contain information on how to reach the store from that area.

Encourage your customers to leave online reviews

Having more online reviews will increase the trust levels of potential customers that you’re targeting. The way that Google and search engines see it – the more good reviews you get, the more people who trust you and your business increasing your local rankings.

How does it help your business?

Implementing local SEO strategies mean that searches become highly targeted for your business. Local searches are searching for a particular business or location, meaning that if implemented correctly, your business could be in a better position to promote the products or service that your business is offering.

Local SEO is cheap compared with traditional advertising methods. The cost of placing an advertisement in a local paper or radio station can cost hundreds, even thousands. Many local SEO techniques are free to use and implement, leaving you more money to spend on other SEO strategies, should you wish.

Local searches are generally looking for information on local businesses, so having information readily available (i.e. your name, address and contact details) on your website and through specified, trusted directories will help your business strategy and promote sales.

If you’re interested in how local SEO can help your business, contact a member of our friendly team today. We’re a group of SEO and content experts, and we love nothing more than chatting with people about how we can share our knowledge and help small businesses move forward into the digital age. Get in touch today.

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