Table Of Contents
Importance Of Local Business SEO And Best Practices
Last Updated on: November 26th, 2024
Every small business owner is aware of the importance of driving local footfall and traffic to his store, showroom, or brand website. Think about it. When you require a plumber in NYC, you want to connect with someone close to your home or commercial establishment where the plumbing service is required. This is where you need local business SEO.
In this article, you will learn about local SEO for small business and how it works. More importantly, this article will also explain some helpful strategies that will boost your business reach in your local area. Hence, to learn more, read on to the end of the article.
Understanding The Basics Of SEO
SEO is the practice or process of improving the presence of your business in a specific region, location, or neighborhood. In fact, the idea behind the same is that customers or clients looking for the specific nature of the service or product in that location find your business, reach out, and hopefully buy something that sets the cash register ringing.
Generally, there are many sites that offer these great services, like GMB Gorilla. It is really beneficial whether you’re starting a new business or not. Hence, it’s definitely something you must look into.
Actually, there are tons of online resources that talk at length about how to set a Local SEO plan of action. However, most of them are confusing. In this resource article on Local SEO, we identify the best strategies that can help you get real results from your investments, efforts, and time.
Therefore, if you want to drive sales, customers, and revenues, this article is for you!
Local Business SEO: A General Overview
Firstly, you must understand the importance of Local SEO for your business. For instance, according to the great team at HubSpot, nearly 46% of all Google searches are “local” in nature. This means that the potential for local businesses to tap into this is huge.
On the other hand, another study points out that nearly 60% of all local businesses do not even have a Google My Business listing page. However, even if a business has one, it is unclaimed.
In fact, many business owners make the mistake of thinking that Local SEO is limited to Google. However, in reality, it is not. For example, an optimized local presence on search engines can help you on-
- Yelp Listings
- Apple Maps
- Safari
- Bing
- Google Maps
- Google Search Engine
Think of it this way. When your customers are searching for your business, they will use Maps to reach your location. They will also check you and research exceptionally great platforms like Yelp, which have become second nature to us.
According to experts at a leading Atlanta SEO company, Google’s search engines have something called a “Snack Pack.” This SEO tool shows relevant local results when sometimes typing a query like “coffee shops near me” or “confectionary near me.”
Hence, if you are not engaging or investing in Local SEO, you will never be able to feature your business locally. In fact, these are the places where customers are looking for similar or related products and services.
5 Strategies For Effective Local Business SEO
The following are some important local SEO strategies that you should start using right now to grow your business locally:
1. Create Your GMB Page and Claim Your Listing
GMB is like a social media profile for your business. It is free to set up and optimize and requires you to input all relevant details about your business.
Creating a GMB profile is not enough. Basically, you need to claim the page from Google. Make sure to update all relevant information about your business on the GMB page. Here, you must include your address, contact numbers, description, email ID, photos, and videos, including the opening and closing times.
This is the first and probably the most important step to Local SEO. This is sure to help you with real results.
2. Hire a Top Agency to Perform Local Keyword Research
If you want people to find you and reach out to your business, you need to be aware of the terms, words, and phrases they are typing into search engines to find products or services as offered by your business.
This means that you need to focus on location-specific keywords to drive traffic and queries. If you are a restaurant that serves Italian food in the Bronx, you need to aim for keywords like “the best pasta in the Bronx” or “spaghetti in the Bronx.”
This will help you rank for specific targeted keywords and attract customers who are looking for this Italian dish.
3. Use Keywords to Create Matching and Relevant Website Pages
The era of micro-niches has begun. Google’s algorithm wants to show customers defined search results. Taking the above example, make sure that you have specific landing pages on your website that talk about your pasta and spaghetti dishes.
The more specific and focused your local SEO efforts, the better the results you can expect from your online marketing performance.
You need to understand that Google is all about creating the perfect digital ecosystem. A great website needs to be complemented by a brilliant GMB profile.
4. Use Local Citations on Your Content
While this is an area that has sort of fallen by the wayside, it is still very relevant for local SEO performance.
The more local citations you have, the better will be your presence on Apple Maps, Facebook, Yelp, Bing, TomTom, and any other directing-finding apps that are out there. Make sure to cover and present your local business on as many citation platforms as possible.
Aggregator listing sites can also help with credible citation building. There are different industry-specific listing sites where you need to have a strong presence.
5. Encourage Your Customers to Review Your Business
Everything from GMB to your Yelp page has a section where users can help others out by putting in their reviews.
Please understand that this is what can help build word-of-mouth marketing for your business. Encourage customers to write online reviews and rate the business. The higher your positive reviews and ratings, the better your search position and performance on local search will be.
If you can set a new industry benchmark by getting thousands of reviews and ratings, you will see the kind of sales your business generates.
Implement Local Business SEO Now
Anyone who says local business SEO does not work probably does not have an elementary understanding of digital marketing. In fact, local SEO is tangible and quantifiable, and it is the value proposition for your investments.
By paying attention to the five points above, you can drive more footfall, website traffic, and sales queries. In turn, these factors will help you generate more revenue for your business.
Do you have more suggestions on how to implement local business SEO? Please share your ideas and opinions in the comments section below.
Read Also:
