What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO refers to optimizing your website for search results in a specific geographical area. It involves filling out your Google business profile, submitting to local directories and creating a landing page on your website specifically targeting that region.
Implementing a local SEO strategy offers numerous advantages, with key ones including:
Increased Traffic
Local SEO strategies use the same algorithmic principles as regular search engine optimization (SEO), with additional consideration given to geographical elements. This helps search engines rank businesses based on various criteria including relevance, prominence and proximity from users searching their search results.
Prominence refers to how well-known and trusted your business is within its community. Building it online through social media channels and review websites is an invaluable way to build credibility while driving more visitors to your website.
Keyword-rich content such as blog posts, landing pages and product descriptions can also help increase your prominence. With the 2022 Sprout Social Index as your guide, you can identify keywords popular with local audiences and include them in your digital marketing strategy to drive more organic search traffic towards your brand and convert more visitors into customers – increasing customer leads is also a huge perk of optimizing local SEO!
Increased Conversions
Local SEO increases conversions by driving more of the appropriate type of visitors to your website or profile, who are more likely to purchase or book services and products compared with paid advertisements, which makes local SEO even more cost-effective for your business.
Appearing in local search results fosters trust and credibility with potential customers, encouraging them to take action. Furthermore, adding rich snippets can increase prominence on search engine results pages.
Be consistent across all online platforms when listing information is updated for customers to easily reach you, increasing omnichannel sales and making customer experiences better overall. Monitoring calls made through your Google Business Profile or website as another indicator that local SEO efforts are being successful is another great way to track ROI as well as monitor competitor activity.
Increased Revenue
Local SEO is an invaluable way to increase the visibility and credibility of your business, which will ultimately attract more customers and lead to higher conversion rates. By listing multiple online platforms that list your name and address, potential customers can have greater trust that you are legitimate company and become more confident that sales are coming their way.
Local search engines such as Google use different algorithms than organic searches when ranking businesses locally. Their ranking algorithms take into account factors like where someone is searching, local keywords, directory listings, reviews/comments made about your business and other important factors.
Notably, having many positive reviews can also increase your rank and visibility in local search results, as search engines take reviews into consideration when ranking businesses. Therefore, it is vital that you solicit feedback from current customers and encourage them to leave reviews about your services or products.
Increased Customer Satisfaction
Local SEO allows businesses to capture traffic that’s ready to purchase in their specific region, which is much more qualified than national traffic. Furthermore, this type of traffic enables you to convert visitors more rapidly into customers as they’ve already started shopping around!
Local searchers are more likely to purchase from businesses that appear when they search for products or services in their locality, creating increased sales and marketing leads.
An effective local seo campaign also helps businesses form relationships with loyal customers and local followers in their community. Building these bonds of support helps build trust with customers who know your brand better than competitors vying for national or global audiences who may be warier and skeptical. Plus, networking within your local area could result in partnerships or cross-promotions to further expand your business!