The internet has broken down borders and allowed businesses to reach customers anywhere in the world.
This development has changed the face of business and opened up an audience far greater than ever before.
But does it mean you’re missing out on the customers right under your nose?
By taking advantage of local SEO services, your website and content can reach the people who could enjoy your business the most. A KPMG report shows that 55% of people check online reviews before buying. So when your business appears in local searches, you’ll be able to grab their attention.
There are a lot of marketing and business terms swimming around, so if you’re not 100% sure what local SEO is or why it’s so crucial for your business, we’ve got you covered.
The powerful branch of marketing can put your business on the map and drive more traffic and leads to your site. Read on to learn why local SEO services should play a part in your marketing strategy.
What Does Local SEO Mean?
Did you know that 80% of people search online for local information like businesses and events?
Even if the product or service they’re searching for could be international, they might want to hear about local businesses first.
You’re probably already aware of SEO in general, but let’s have a quick recap.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a part of marketing that helps search engines understand what your website is about. This enables them to better display it in results.
By reading relevant keywords on your site, if Google can see that you’re a garden center selling tropical plants, they can display your business when someone searches for ‘tropical plant garden center.’
In this case, ‘tropical plant garden center’ is an SEO keyword. But many buyers won’t want a garden center hundreds of miles away. They’d like to know if there are any near them.
Local SEO is the use of keywords and other location markers that pinpoint where your business is.
‘Tropical plant garden center Tampa’ will be much more relevant to buyers in the Tampa area and they can instantly see your business is local to them.
The Benefits of Targeting a Local Audience
As the KPMG report reveals, 26% of buyers visited a physical store before buying the product they found online.
While many people prefer online shopping, the benefit of being able to personally visit a business can be huge.
By targeting a local audience, you’ll be more than just a random website, you’ll be a local business. This shows that site visitors can find your business offline in its physical location, have meetings or try on products, and know where to find you if they have a problem.
Search Engine Rank
One of the biggest benefits of local SEO is the boost your business will get to its search ranking.
The vast majority of click-throughs go to websites appearing on the first page of Google with only a small percentage going to those on page two.
As overwhelming as it may seem, it’s vital that your business appears on the first page for select, relevant keywords. This is where local SEO services can work their magic.
There will be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tropical plant garden centers across the U.S. Ranking on the first page of search results would be difficult.
But what if you saw a huge increase in local customers? After all, they’re the buyers who can actually reach your business easily.
By using targeted local SEO, you’ll have less competition for the first page of results. This makes it easier to appear high on the page and quicker for customers to find you.
Clear Message
It can be frustrating for a website reader to struggle to find a business’s location.
Even if being local isn’t necessary, with different time zones, state regulations, and many other factors, knowing a business’s location is important.
Because of the often opaque nature of online businesses, even if your business doesn’t accept physical visitors, readers may find comfort in knowing you’re local. A part of their community.
Using local SEO, you’re sending a clear message to website visitors. They can see where you’re based, the areas you serve (even if this is nationally or internationally), and understand more about your business.
If they are looking to visit or to meet face-to-face, local SEO helps to show right from the search result that you’re in their area.
The Benefits of Using Local SEO Services
SEO practices often change to stay in line with the algorithms of the major search engines.
As an evolving marketing form with many layers, understanding how to nail SEO is a complex task.
By using local SEO services, you’ll be handing over all that hard work to dedicated experts. Getting to grips with the finer points of local SEO, and SEO in general, is time-consuming and often inefficient.
By letting SEO experts take over the task of making your business more visible, you’ll benefit from all-encompassing services.
Content Marketing for a Local Audience
Local SEO isn’t just adding your town into your website header and calling it a day.
SEO that makes it clear where you’re based should be used throughout your website and your content.
Content is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic. Instead of constantly selling your products or services, content marketing allows you to provide useful, informative, and even entertaining content to your readers.
Going back to our plant center example, there are plenty of practical pieces of content that could engage a local audience. A post titled, ‘How to Look After Tropical Plants in Tampa’ will be useful to those unsure if the local weather or conditions are suitable for their plants.
Content marketing doesn’t just interest readers already on your site either. With these targeted pieces of content, your posts will show up in local searches. This gives you many more opportunities to rank in search engines for your local keywords.
The best local SEO services provide ongoing content marketing support, creating posts and ensuring they’re optimized for your area.
Optimized Website
From web copy and meta-descriptions to alt-tags and taglines, there are many ways to optimize a website for local SEO.
No matter how many redesigns or platform changes your website goes through, the SEO needs to be optimized to take advantage of its power.
Signing up for local SEO services ensures that every part of your website will be optimized for your region, making it as easy as possible for your audience to find you.
Ongoing Local SEO Support
It would be great if SEO was a one-time thing. A marketing strategy that could be done once and left.
But as search engines evolve and change the way they rank, SEO practices need to change, too.
SEO keyword-rich content needs to be constantly uploaded to keep your business current. As trends change, keywords may need updating to suit what your audience is searching for.
By using high-quality local SEO services, you’ll receive ongoing SEO support that will keep your marketing relevant.
Attracting More Leads
When SEO efforts are streamlined and consistent, the benefits can be seen in the short-term and the long-term.
As your search engine page ranking increases, you’ll see more visitors coming to your website.
High-quality content doesn’t just draw readers to your site either, it also keeps them there. When your business produces useful content, visitors will come back for more and turn into a loyal audience.
Time to Focus on Your Business
Running a business is hard enough without having to spend huge chunks of your time learning about how to maximize local SEO.
From keeping up with SEO trends to understanding the finer points of attracting local customers, keeping on top of your site’s visibility can turn into a full-time job.
By outsourcing local SEO services, you’ll be saving yourself time and energy. Local SEO specialists will already know the best long-term strategies for optimizing your site and content so it sees a boost in traffic that carries on into the future.
Local SEO marketing agencies will also know your region as well as you do. You can trust them to understand how your audience is different from an audience thousands of miles away and adjust your SEO to suit.
Put Your Business on the Map with Local SEO Services
The internet might have made the world our collective oyster but many of us still prefer to shop locally.
When you focus your marketing efforts on a national or international audience only, you could be missing out on a huge slice of business right on your doorstep.
By using local SEO services, you’ll be taking your business to the next level. By gaining increased visibility in your local area, you’ll be generating more leads from a lucrative customer base you might’ve overlooked.
If you want expert help getting your business firmly on the map, get in touch with us to find out how we can get you there.
