As a business owner, you are facing many decisions about how to spend your marketing budget. What is the ideal solution to connect with more customers who are seeking your services? Local SEO should be at the top of your priority list because of the visibility and traction you can gain in the search results.
Local SEO services for small businesses makes sense because it is effective and offers an excellent ROI for your online marketing efforts. This process optimizes your online presence to ensure that your company is showing up in local searches, which allows highly targeted customers to find your products and services.
The Benefits of Local SEO
Consider these five reasons why local SEO is an excellent investment for business owners:
- Local Visibility: When your target audience is looking for businesses in the area, they often turn to local search results for information. You want to be sure that your business is prominent in the search results, which is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play. The higher your site ranks in the search results, the easier it is for potential customers to find you. You want to be sure that your company is recognized as one of the leading providers in the local industry. The more people see you online, the more foot traffic you will have at your brick-and-mortar building.
- Relevant Traffic: Bringing a bunch of traffic to your website only pays off if the visitors are highly targeted for your products and services. You want to make sure that you are connecting with customers who are interested in what you have to offer. At the same time, location is a critical factor when product sales are often happening in your physical store.
- Brand Recognition: This visibility not only brings people through the door, but it also helps to boost your brand recognition. The more current and potential clients recognize your brand, the higher the likelihood they will contact you in the future. Even if the potential customer isn’t ready to buy now, this brand recognition plants the seed and increases the possibility of a future sale.
- Beat the Competition: Don’t let the competitors outrank you and take your customers. The more you dominate the search engines, the better you can own the industry and be sure that customers are coming to you instead of buying from the competition. Local SEO is an excellent way to stand out from the crowd and allows you to harness the power of organic search.
- Business Credibility: Because there are qualification factors that need to be met in order to have a Google My Business page, your local search results can help boost the credibility and trust users feel for your company. Customers perceive businesses that are high in the search results to be more reliable and trustworthy. The more credibility you have, the more customers will be interested in buying your products or services.
How To Improve Local SEO
Every business owner needs to understand and implement the best practices for local SEO. Too often, local business marketing falls to the backburner because you are already busy with many other responsibilities of running a business. Remember that you are leaving money on the table if you aren’t being proactive with local listings.
Here are a few best practices to use if you are wondering how to get more local customers and establish your online presence in the local search results:
- Set Up Your Business Page: The first step is obvious but important… make sure that you set up a Google My Business page. This local listing will show up on Google Maps and also in the organic search results if your page and website are optimized. Add as much information as possible about your business, including your address, phone number, hours of operation, photos, and more. Make sure to update regularly as needed.
- Create Local Content: The goal is to show Google how your website and online presence are relevant to the target keywords that customers are searching for. Do a bit of keyword research, then establish a content marketing plan using this data. Look for keywords that align with your service area and what your business sells. For example, you might have a keyword phrase such as “[product name] in [city name].”
- Get Online Reviews: One way to build credibility and trust is through online reviews. Ask your current, satisfied customers to leave a review. The more reviews you have, the easier it is to achieve strong rankings for your local SEO campaign. Make sure that you are proactive about responding to both positive and negative reviews. These responses show that your business is proactive about taking care of customers.
- Ensure a Mobile-Friendly Experience: When someone is searching for a local business, there is a high likelihood they are using a mobile device while doing their research. Make sure that all of your online information is mobile-friendly. Also, consider that mobile SEO is a little different compared to general SEO because people are often doing voice searches for information. Adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Invest in Social Media Marketing: Don’t forget to also establish a presence for yourself on the major social media marketing platforms. Sometimes customers will look on sites like Facebook to find information about local businesses.
- Track Your Results: Learning how to track local SEO results is another important step to ensure that your efforts are paying off. This data helps you see what is working, then you can adjust your marketing strategy to maximize ROI going forward.
Expert Help for Your Local SEO
Whether you want to improve your local SEO rankings or you are starting from scratch, ARYU Advertising is here to help. We offer full-service solutions for online marketing, including search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media, and more. We invite you to contact us to schedule a consultation. We’ll share customized information about how you can build your business online.
