Every Business Can Use Local SEO to Grow: Here’s Why

Did you know that over 50% of all Google searches are made by customers looking for local products, services, and businesses? Local SEO is a cost-effective marketing solution that helps your customers find you.

With consumer habits changing rapidly, search engines have become the new yellow pages, and one of the most effective ways to increase visibility is by leveraging the power of Local SEO.

What is Local SEO?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing your website and all of its content to work with the algorithms used by search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

While general SEO only concentrates on ranking highly in niche-specific queries, local SEO factors in geographic location.

Even though many of the same rules still hold true, there will be a change in how keywords are used and how backlinks are built to target local audiences and make the most of the limited number of competitors.

How Does Local SEO Work?

The goal of every search engine is to provide users with the best results possible.

Search engines do this by using artificial intelligence to crawl, index, and rank all online content and then filter out the best results. Your position on the results page depends on your website having the elements that search engines need while omitting the elements that will harm your ranking.

By focusing on a more narrow audience, local SEO attempts to gain preference from these platforms. You'll be aiming to stand out in your neighborhood rather than battling it out with the market's top players.

You can increase your presence in a more pertinent area by using strategies like including location-specific keywords in keywords and backlinking to local events pages. By doing this, you will improve your ranking when local searchers look for your goods or services.

How Can Every Business Use Local SEO?

Around 83% of local consumers use Google search to find information on local businesses, and approximately 90% make a purchase within a week! Local SEO helps customers find businesses based on location, making it easier for the company to attract new customers in. If you depend on both online and offline sales for your business, local SEO can help grow your customer base and increase revenue. 

Here are the top reasons why every business can use local SEO:

Reduced Competition

Every business faces competition and must strive to stand out. Unlike general SEO, which is designed to attract customers from anywhere, local SEO intends to attract customers from your geographical area. Instead of competing against every business in the world, you're streamlining your strategy and competing against local competitors. 

Better Position on Google Maps

Because Google uses local search data to rank businesses on Maps, they know that if someone searches for an "accounting firm near me," they want an answer relevant to their location. When potential customers search for something like this on Google Maps, they'll see the firm physically closest to them. If you are within proximity, then you want one of the Google spots! Local SEO can help you get prime real estate on Google Maps, bringing more traffic and leads to your business.

Builds Reputation

Potential customers evaluate the dependability and quality of a service or product by reading online reviews and inspecting the products before making a purchase. One of the major tactics of a Local SEO program is building up online reviews. The more reviews you have, the higher you rank in local searches. This increased visibility, coupled with the content of the reviews, builds trust and credibility with potential customers, leading to more sales and better customer retention over time.

Helps Take Advantage of Micro-Moments

With smartphones occupying every aspect of human lives, the way people consume media has changed drastically. Instead of fixed sessions online, there are multiple fragments of interactions. These instantaneous interactions are called moments. These moments occur when consumers reflexively turn to a device (read: smartphone) and try to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something.

These micro-moments are high-intent moments, shaping preferences and influencing decisions. Brands capturing attention during these moments will attract more sales because they are more likely to be top of mind when customers decide to buy.

Increased Marketing ROI

Since SEO employs pertinent keywords to market your business, it increases the likelihood of reaching your target market more effectively by referencing your local area's landmarks and culture. Combined together, this can make you stand out against your national or regional competitors.

Builds a Loyal Customer Base

Local search frequently ignores customer loyalty. The assumption is that people are looking for new places to shop or things they don’t know about already if they’re using search. They wouldn't need to use search if they were a devoted or consistent customer.

But that's not entirely accurate. The "Google effect" or "digital amnesia" has changed the way modern consumers process information. Due to the overwhelming amount of information available today, we've adapted to using search engines like Google rather than remembering the actual content in order to find information.

Local SEO helps put your business back in the minds of your local customers by helping you show up in their search results. By enhancing your online visibility using local SEO strategies such as taking control of your local search listings and the content services in results, you can reinforce your brand relationship with your regular customers to become great ambassadors for your business.

Investing in local SEO is a great option for your marketing efforts because it will boost visibility in your own community.

Radically Distinct can help you incorporate local SEO strategies into your marketing mix Contact us today to learn more.