The benefits of local SEO – and how it could boost your business
Put simply, local search engine optimisation (SEO) is a strategy giving your business greater visibility in the local search results with the big players such as Google, the dominant search engine for local browsing. It’s highly targeted, with a particular focus on businesses near you.
Essentially, if you serve a particular geographical area, or have a physical location, you can benefit from this concept. Local SEO increases local traffic to your website, plus brand awareness and, ultimately, revenue.
As well as Google’s regular ranking factors, Google uses relevance, distance and prominence as three key factors to help web users find the right match.
Most consumers who want to find services in their area begin searching online, and local searches are on the rise. One figure has it that 78% of us go online to learn about businesses nearby. So standing out from the competition has never been more important.
All kinds of businesses, from shops, cafes, restaurants and bars to service-based organisations such as electricians, hairdressers and plumbers, can feel the benefit.
Where do local search results show up?
Local search results show up in a greater variety of places than you may have realised, including:
- Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) – These include the likes of Google, Yahoo and Bing. You’ll also often see a map, business listing and relevant contact details.
- Google Maps
- Local directories
- Social media platforms
- ‘Local Pack’ – This shows three top businesses that are relevant to someone’s search query, alongside opening times, ratings and a map.
- Google My Business profile – Your Google My Business profile may display, again along with relevant business information.
What are the benefits of good local SEO?
Again, there are a number of these. For example:
- It’s cost effective: It’s a low-cost strategy approach when compared with other forms of advertising, so you get a better return on your investment.
- A better user experience: Customers near you enjoy mobile-friendly, seamless browsing so they’re more likely to spend money with you.
- Invaluable insights: By analysing local SEO performance data, you can pinpoint trends, opportunities and ways you can do better, so that it’s easy to continuously fine-tune your strategy.
- Engaging the community: You can build your brand and lasting relationships by connecting with your nearest customers via community events and social media.
- Better local citations: Consistently spot-on, accurate business information across review sites and directories will mean you build up credibility and trust.
- Higher footfall: If you run a physical premises, you can get more people to and through your door.
How you can improve local SEO
The good news is that there are a number of things you can do. Here are some ideas:
- Monitor your competitors’ Google My Business Profile Q&As
Your Google My Business Profile has an ‘Ask a question’ button. Use it to see what your prospective customers are asking others in your industry.
- Adjust a Google Product listing for greater exposure
Via your Google My Business Profile, you can tweak to give greater visibility to products, for example if they are seasonal or you have surplus stock.
- Don’t neglect other search engines
Google might be the major player, but don’t ignore the likes of Bing, DuckDuckGo and others.
- Join local marketplaces and forums
Understand your target market by spending time where they are. Register for local marketplaces and forums to hear what potential customers are talking about.
- Monitor your reputation
As well as review sites and your Google My Business listing, and monitoring and responding to local reviews, make sure you are looking at all the places in the SERPs which could be giving prospective clients an outside view of your business.
- Google My Business Profile
The Google My Business Profile is a user-friendly tool for organisations to manage their online presence across Google. The search giant will look to this for ranking information about any local business – so ensure your profile is in order. Google is always updating the features offered through this profile – so use these as they become available.
You’ll also need to check for technical errors which could affect indexing, create outstanding content, incorporate local link-building into your SEO strategy, and ensure the accuracy of local listings.
Talk to us
At Front Page Advantage, we’re local SEO experts and could increase the number of people near you who visit your site and go on to buy your products or services. Get in touch today to learn more about how we could boost your brand’s visibility locally.