If you’re a local business looking to reach customers in your local area, those who are searching for your type of business, local SEO can make a big difference to your bottom line. There are a range of ways that optimising your online presence for local searches can help to grow your business, including improved visibility online, increased foot traffic to your premises, and a higher degree of trust in your brand. Read on to learn more about how local SEO can give your business a competitive edge.
Benefits of Local SEO: Quick Facts
- Optimising for local searches can boost the visibility of your business online, helping you reach more web users in your area who are actively seeking your products or services.
- A simple and effective way to boost your search rankings and increase foot traffic is to make sure your Google Business Profile is well-optimised.
- The enhanced visibility, increased traffic, improved conversion rates and long-term benefits make local SEO a cost-effective investment of marketing resources.
Increased Online Visibility
To reach customers online, you need to be able to stand out from the crowd. An effective way to help your target audience find your business is to increase your visibility using local SEO. One reason this strategy increases both traffic and sales is that it helps you reach more online users in your local area, who are looking for what you offer.
Local search is increasingly popular, and search engines are prioritising local results to meet this demand. This is why optimising your online presence for local SEO can improve your site’s rankings and generate more organic traffic to your business.
Local Pack
One of the best places to rank in the local search results is the Local Pack. This is the area that shows the top three local listings. Ranking in the Local Pack greatly enhances visibility in the organic search results, leading to more click-throughs.
To increase your chances of being included in these listings, make sure your Google Business Profile is optimised for local search. It’s also important to include relevant long-tail keywords and local search terms. Being featured in the Local Pack helps online users see key info about your business more prominently than other listings, leading to more connections with potential customers.
Google Business Profile
The core of local SEO is a well-optimised Google Business Profile.
Claiming your business website and making sure it’s updated with accurate business info can provide a strong foundation for ranking in local searches.
The most basic info to include is your Business Name and Address, your Phone Number and Email.
Providing accurate, up-to-date information in your Google Business Profile is a simple way to improve your rankings, increase visibility, and attract local leads to your site.
Local Citations
A growing collection of local citations can also boost your visibility in search listings, as well as establish a good reputation for your business. Citations are when other sites mention your business and its info, eg name, phone number, address etc.
When these citations are consistent and accurate, your business can benefit from both credibility and improved rankings in local searches. This type of local SEO also helps to establish your business within your community and your industry, leading to more trust and traffic.
Increased Foot Traffic
For local businesses looking to increase foot traffic to brick-and-mortar premises, such as shops, pubs, restaurants etc local SEO can be highly effective. When your business is featured in Google Maps, it’s likely to connect with more people looking for a particular local service, resulting in more users getting in touch or visiting directly.
While your Google Business Profile can help with both traffic and credibility, it’s important to keep up with changes to local SEO, in order to stay ahead in the search results and keep driving local foot traffic to your business.
Targeting Local Audiences
The reason local SEO drives more traffic is that it targets the people who are searching online for particular local services. People like to shop locally and search engines like to deliver relevant results in the local area. This is why local SEO can be more effective in targeting local audiences than other types of advertising.
Local SEO is also great for small businesses, helping them to target local customers more strategically than other types of marketing. The combination of online users choosing local keywords and search engines delivering local results makes local SEO an efficient way to increase click-throughs, enquiries, and visits.
Using Local Keywords
The cornerstone of local SEO success is good keyword research. By choosing specific local phrases to target online, your company can enjoy increased visibility in search results and the resulting business growth.
In particular, long-tail keywords that include local search terms are the most effective at connecting with the right search traffic. By using the appropriate keywords for your business that also match local search intent, you can dramatically boost your SEO results.
Increasing Credibility & Trust
In the online space, trust is valuable and local SEO is a great way to create this kind of trustworthy online presence. When your Google Business Profile is well-optimised, it helps to build credibility with search users, who are then more likely to connect with your company.
When your search listings also include other aspects, such as citations and positive reviews from other customers. online users feel a greater sense of connection and engagement with your business, compared to other listings that aren’t taking advantage of local SEO. These strategies establish trust and credibility that can directly impact your bottom line.
Online Reviews
Another way to build that all-important trust is to encourage and manage online reviews. These can help to establish a positive reputation for your brand, especially if the customer includes images in their review that will appeal to your target audience. You can also look at your competitors’ reviews for ideas to improve your customer experience and strategies.
It’s important to respond to any online reviews, whether they’re positive or negative. This demonstrates that your business appreciates feedback and is open to customer viewpoints. By showing appreciation for positive reviews, you encourage other customers to share their experiences. And responding to any negative feedback can also show your business in a more positive light.
Consistent Business Info
An important step in building customer trust and online visibility is to make sure your business info details are up-to-date and consistent across all aspects of your online presence. When your company details, i.e. name, address, and phone number (NAP), are accurate and consistent, it establishes credibility for your brand.
Other information, such as contact details, opening hours, and relevant news items, can also be included in your Google Business Profile to help build trust online. Images are also a good way to showcase your company and increase engagement with search users and potential customers.
Your Competitive Advantage
Whatever the size of your business, by optimising for local SEO, you can achieve a competitive advantage over much larger enterprises. The use of local keywords allows you to target customers in your area, so you don’t need to compete with bigger brands using broader search terms.
When you combine local SEO with strategies like link-building and content marketing, you can expect even better ranking results that translate to increased organic traffic to your website and more customers in your business. This powerful combination is a great long-term strategy for online marketing success.
Competitors
A smart strategy for local SEO is to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. Analysing their ranking keywords, along with their strengths and weaknesses, can provide valuable insights for your approach.
To gain a competitive advantage, you can take note of their online activities and get an overview of the landscape in your industry. This information can be helpful when planning or refining your local SEO strategy, potentially helping you save costs and boost conversions.
Local Content
By including locally relevant content in your online presence, you can increase your chances of connecting with the local audience and community. This type of local content is an effective way to establish your business as part of the local area, as well as cultivate engagement and loyalty for your brand.
Creating content that mentions local news, areas, or events makes your business more relevant to your local audience. Evergreen content may also benefit from backlinks from other local community sites that can boost your search listings.
Mobile Search
The use of smartphones is becoming the most popular way of accessing the internet. This means that optimising for mobile users is essential. Search engines are increasingly prioritising mobile results, meaning that businesses optimised for mobile enjoy more traffic and visibility.
A key aspect of mobile-friendly design is a responsive website, i.e. one that looks good and is easy to navigate using a smartphone. Along with mobile search, optimising for voice search is also becoming more important in effective SEO.
Mobile-Friendly Design
When your site is responsive, ie optimised for mobile devices, you’re likely to benefit from increased engagement which results in a reduced bounce rate and improved search rankings.
This is why mobile-friendly design is a key part of local SEO. Some ways to optimise for mobile include;
- Clear and readable text fonts and sizes
- Content designed for easy scrolling
- User experience with touchscreen functionality in mind
Other key aspects that affect mobile search experiences are the size and loading speed of content such as images or videos. To maintain successful local search rankings, make sure your site and content are continually checked for mobile use and a good customer experience.
Voice Search
Optimising your site for voice search is another way to benefit from local SEO success, especially from smartphone users. Some ways to improve your voice search rankings are;
- Use verbal keywords that include local search terms
- Use more conversational text, natural language, and colloquial words and phrases
- Create content that answers questions
- Bear in mind search intent and create content to match NLP algorithms
- Include relevant local keywords and long-tail search terms that users might use in voice search devices
Local SEO: Long-term benefits
There are many long-term benefits to optimising your business for local SEO. Aspects such as local citations and online reviews can establish your company within the local community and the online space – benefits that can last for many years.
Accurate business information and engaging local references build trust and credibility for your company, with long-lasting effects for your brand. Local SEO also boosts your rankings and visibility in the short term which can drive organic traffic, enquiries and customers to your business in a sustainable way.
Affordable Marketing
Local SEO is typically more cost-effective than other types of marketing, such as print or broadcast advertising. It’s an affordable way to reach highly targeted local search users who are actively seeking certain products or services in your area.
Over time, you can analyse rankings and traffic to see which aspects of your local SEO efforts are yielding the best results for your business. Then you can refine your strategy to make it even more cost-effective, especially if you improve your mobile user experience that both customers and search engines love.
Ongoing Activities
While local SEO can be simple and cost-effective, the best results come from ongoing attention over time. As the online world changes so rapidly, and search engines are continuously updating their algorithms, it’s essential to pay attention to what’s working and keep everything up to date.
Ongoing activities to pay attention to include;
- Keeping your Google Business Profile updated and accurate
- Analysing keywords and look for opportunities for improvements
- Adapting to mobile devices and smartphone users
- Reviewing analytics such as Google Search Console
- Consistently creating evergreen content that can benefit from backlinks from other local websites
By keeping on top of your ongoing local SEO activities, your business can stay competitive and be more relevant to local search users.
Local SEO: Summary
There are many benefits to including local search engine optimization in your marketing strategy, including increased visibility, improved credibility and more foot traffic to your business.
Paying regular and ongoing attention to aspects such as your Google Business Profile, relevant local search terms, accurate citations, and online reviews can establish your company as a trustworthy presence in both local and online communities.
Done well, local SEO gives you a competitive edge and improves the user experience of your business online. Keeping up to date with innovations such as mobile-friendly design and voice search can also help you enjoy short-term results and sustainable, longer-term benefits to your bottom line.
These benefits make local SEO important for reaching your target audience and growing your business in the local community.
FAQs
What is local SEO and why?
Local search terms are increasingly popular online, and search engines prioritise local businesses that match these searches. This is why optimising your business for local SEO can help you boost your online visibility and connect with more potential customers.
What are the benefits of the Local Pack?
The benefits of being listed in the Local Pack include more eye-catching listings that engage your target audience and entice them to pick your business over other listings and competitors.
Why optimise Google Business Profile?
When you optimise your Google Business Profile, your company can enjoy improved rankings in search results, along with enhanced listings that get noticed, build trust, and lead to more click-throughs and foot traffic.
What are local citations and why?
Local citations are when your business and info (name, address, phone etc) are mentioned online by other sites and platforms. These can boost credibility and visibility, making them a key ingredient in local SEO.
Is local SEO cost-effective?
Optimising for local SEO is a great way to boost your rankings and enjoy more organic (free) traffic. This can translate to an ongoing stream of steady customers and enquiries for your company, making it a highly cost-effective way to grow your business.