Why Your Business Should Care About Local SEO
by Arina Smith Business Intelligence 14 October 2020
When you want to find an Italian restaurant or hairdresser in your neighborhood, what do you do? You Google it, of course! When your car breaks down, and you need the phone number of a mechanic, what’s your plan of action? You don’t turn to the Yellow Pages; you do a quick search online (probably on your mobile phone). It’s for these reasons and countless more that over 45% of Google searches are of a “local” nature. And this is also the reason businesses everywhere, both big and small, online and off, are investing in local search engine optimization (SEO). If you’re keen to learn more about local SEO, read on to discover the basics and how to get started.
What’s it all about
First and foremost, let’s clearly define what local SEO is all about. For many marketers, it’s the process of increasing a businesses’ search visibility online. The business in question can either be a brick-and-mortar company with a physical location or a service business that operates in a particular geographical area. At the end of the day, this kind of SEO only works if it’s providing relevant search results in the right location. This strategy uses various techniques to improve a business’s position on local search rankings. This is done via certain keywords, or keyword phrases, such as “ladies’ hairdresser Thonglor”. Any business that caters to women’s hair services in that area will want to be highly ranked (i.e., the first page in search) to increase their visibility and likelihood to attract new customers.
Why should I care?
In truth, if you’re already employing keyword tactics, you may well be involved in local SEO without even realizing it! The main reason you want to get on board is that a whopping 65% of shoppers use directories and search engines as their primary way to find a local business. That’s why this form of search engine optimization is considered to be the best way to improve online brand awareness and thereby bring about increased leads, sales, and in-store traffic.
If you’re still not convinced, check out these local search statistics:
- 8o% of mobile searches result in a local, offline purchase
- 70% of consumers report they look up, and confirm, the location of a business before going to it for the first time
- 50% of consumers who did a local search visited a store within 24 hours
- 30% of mobile searches are related to a location
Best Local SEO Tactics
To utilize a local SEO strategy for your business, start with these steps.
Firstly, you want to claim your Google My Business listing. Why? Because Google currently accounts for over 74% of the world’s search traffic. This is where you need to be if you want to get found. This free listing is what appears when a user searches for your company online, be it via your name, location, information, keywords, a map reference, and so forth. That’s why you must claim your listing and keep it up to date (hours of operation, photos, logo, products, etc.).
In conjunction with Google, you also want to complete listings on other vital websites and directories too, such as the following popular ones listed below. By claiming and completing profiles on these sites, you put your business on the right footing to find potential new customers.
- Bing
- Yelp
- Foursquare
- Whitepages
- LinedIn
- Yahoo
- Zomato
Now that you know what local SEO is all about, it’s time to jump on in! Begin with our strategy tips and continue to monitor, review, and update as you go along. Good luck!
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