Local SEO is an essential tool for businesses of all sizes, from small local businesses to large multinational corporations. It helps your business stand out and drive more traffic to your premises through online leads, which are likely to provide you with a high conversion rate. With local SEO, you can increase traffic to your website and specific web pages, directly boost your sales, and make your brand more recognisable to local audiences. Keyword research for local SEO is slightly different than regular SEO, as it focuses more on the audience that is close to your business.
Local mentions are also important, as they are instances where your business name, address and phone number are mentioned online. Local SEO involves optimising your website to rank higher on Google Maps and to attract more customers through your Google My Business profile. Improving ranking in the local pack is increasingly important for local businesses, especially those that find themselves unable to compete with their larger rivals in the main search results. The focus shifts to making sure that all potential local signals in Google's local search landscape are consistent and correct.
Local SEO can help you attract nearby customers who are ready to buy, even if you don't have a website. It also allows you to get a greater return on investment and better penetrate your local market. If you go to the trouble of creating resources of local interest, you are more likely to get links to your website from other local businesses. Local SEO puts you in front of the customer at the exact moment they are looking for a product or service, making them much more likely to buy or at least ask for more information.
It is a series of actions and strategies designed to improve your visibility on Google and other search engines when people near your physical location perform a search. Whether you're a national organisation with numerous shops and offices or a car dealership with locations across the country, local SEO can help you reach out to potential customers who are ready to buy. As a small business owner it is essential to always be aware of local SEO so that local consumers searching for your services online can find you.
