If you’re running a business that serves local customers, you need to be all over local SEO.
Local SEO helps your business display in Google rankings for searches known as ‘Service in Location’, where a potential customer would search for something in their areas, such as; ‘Plastering in Sheffield’, ‘Gardeners Near Me’ or ‘Driving Instructors In Ecclesfield’.
Obviously, showing up in these searches is a major benefit, but what exactly are the benefits of Local SEO? Our latest blog takes a look at some of the benefits of mastering local search.
The Plug
Guess what? We’re pro’s at Local SEO. If you’d like to get your business ranking in Google’s Map Pack, find out more on our Local SEO page.
Increase Website Traffic
It makes sense that if your website shows up in local searches, you’ll generate more website traffic, as interested users click through.
If your current strategy doesn’t include local SEO, but focuses simply on more generic, none Geo-specific terms, then you may have a job on your hands. Competing for none-local search means your competing against the country, if not the world, with big budgets and big clout. Don’t get us wrong, ‘normal’ SEO has some major benefits too, such as massive volume, but local SEO is the perfect target for smaller businesses, giving you an opportunity to compete with the best.
Generate Solid Enquiries
Unlike other platforms, such as social media or even mis-matched, generic SEO, local SEO can help generate solid, easy to convert enquiries, simply because of the nature of how customers find you.
Using local SEO, you already know that your traffic is looking for: a) your services and b) in your area, aside from cost (which you can also target, if you really want to, with long tail prefixes like ‘low cost’) there’s not really much that can go wrong. In short, once a user is on your site, the chances of them converting are pretty high.
Reduce Your Costs
Focusing on local SEO and displaying in Google’s Map Pack helps reduce your advertising budget as there’s less reliance on PPC and Google Ads. In fact, most internet users actually prefer Google’s Local SEO listings more than paid ads.
When viewing Google results pages (SERP’s), Local listings usually take up three places before traditional listings, meaning they’re effectively an extension of paid ads, displacing organic results.
Build Customer Trust
Providing local services is a great way to build trust. Not only do people prefer shopping locally, especially when looking online for services, they also value local customer reviews.
Ensure you’re building up a steady stream of Google reviews which will help improve your Local SEO, as well as give local buyers the confidence to choose your business.
Compete With Your Rivals
The truth is, the companies that win online are the ones who master local SEO. There’s no getting around that.
Don’t worry though, it’s never too late to start working on your local SEO, as Google takes more factors into account with local listings than it does with any other SERP.
As we’ve said already, Local SEO offers more ‘clout’ for small businesses, so if you’re looking to build organic traffic, local is your best bet, meaning you can compete with any business.
The Wrap Up
Ultimately, ‘normal’ SEO will always rule the roost, but as internet users become more savvy, Local SEO takes on an ever more important role, which will inevitably provide smaller traffic, with greater conversions. Think of local as the next ‘long-tail search’, identifying these niche areas will help you chip away at competitor traffic and introduce a steady stream of enquiries to your site.
We’re big advocates of Local SEO, simply because any business can win, you just need the expertise and the time, not necessarily the budget. Speak to us if you want to get started with Local SEO.
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