There are currently more than 5 billion active internet users globally.
The internet is almost always the first place people will go when looking for any kind of information, including details about local businesses. If you want your company to succeed, an online presence is key. For a local business, this means understanding local SEO strategies.
So what is local SEO, and what can it do for your business? Keep reading to find out.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO (search engine optimization) is a way of optimizing a website so that it shows up higher in local search engine results. This is generally for when people are looking for products, services, or other relevant businesses in their area.
Many businesses offer products that can easily be shipped or services that are possible from a remote location, so local SEO isn’t as necessary. It’s more crucial for businesses that people need to visit in person, such as a mechanic or a salon. Alternatively, it can be for services that would need to travel to a person’s home, such as plumbers or electricians.
This is the main difference when looking at local vs international SEO. While SEO is important for any business, an international company generally doesn’t need to cater to a specific area and will be optimized for a global audience.
If you need some assistance with optimizing your site, you should contact a professional SEO service. Note that for local SEO, you will often get better results from a local SOE agency.
Why Local SEO Is Important
When people are looking for a local business, they almost always begin with an internet search. They’ll most often click on the top results they see, so ranking higher will massively increase the traffic to your site. If your site ranks lower, fewer people will find out about your company, and you’ll get less business.
Having a good local SEO strategy will let you reach a wider audience, helping your business to grow. This is especially important for smaller, newer businesses. When competing against more established brands, you’ll need to do more to stand out, and local SEO is vital for this.
Key Components of Local SEO Strategies
One of the first things you want to do is claim your GMB (Google My Business) listing. Optimizing your GMB is key to showing up higher in Google search results. You want to include any necessary details, such as:
- Your business name
- Physical business address
- Map location
- Business category
- Website
- Contact number
- Business hours
- Additional relevant business categories
- Photos
You also want to make sure you use other local SEO citations and keep them consistent. This means using other platforms like Bing Maps, Facebook, and Yelp to share information about your business.
Collecting customer reviews is very important. When looking for products or services, many customers take reviews into account. Having a good amount of positive reviews will let people know they can trust your business.
More people are using mobile devices for web browsing these days. Make sure your website is optimized for mobile use so that people can easily use it on their smartphones or other devices.
Implementing Local SEO
Developing and implementing local SEO strategies can be difficult, especially for new businesses. By hiring professional local SEO services, you’ll have a much better chance of improving your search engine ranking.
For more business articles, check out some of our other blog posts.
