When trying to engage customers in a specific geographic area, local SEO can benefit small business in a big way. Luckily, the basic principles of local SEO are very similar to the principles of general SEO. So, if you have already been optimizing your site in search, just tweak a few features and you will see higher rankings in local queries.
Small businesses have a lot to gain from local SEO. They can dominate a specific market and be locally relevant to users. It is important to remember that visibility is the key here. It is far more valuable to be on the first page of search results for many different localized searches, than on the second page for one popular, but very general keyword term. Because the search volume is much smaller for these regional terms, so is the competition for rankings. This allows small businesses to compete in local search when they don’t have the budget to rank highly for general search terms.
What is the Value of Local SEO?
When deciding to prioritize local SEO for your business, you need to fully understand its value in search. There are a few things to keep in mind. First, search engines reward specific content, automatically reading it as more relevant and useful to the unique area. So, when you optimize your content to be region specific, search engines will recognize and reward. This is just one way local SEO is particularly helpful to small businesses.
Local SEO is also valuable because of the high pay-offs. Conversion rates for local SEO are much higher because your customer is closer to the bottom of the sales funnel. They know the specific region in which they need a product or service. For example, local directory marketing or advertising channels see conversion rates of around 50 percent. This means that using local SEO strategies can help your business convert 1 in every 2 leads to a potential customer. Check out these 10 other reasons why local SEO will help attract new customers to your business.
Speak the Language
Creating great local SEO content is essential to building trust with your audience. This is important for the user experience and can increase conversion rates if done correctly. The first thing to remember is that if you want to engage your target audience, you have to speak their language. For example, if you’re trying to sell Chicago style deep dish pizza to the natives, you better be able to speak about the city’s distinct culture. Readers are incredibly sensitive to local slang and dialect. You don’t want to be viewed as the Internet equivalent of a clueless tourist. So just do a little keyword research to understand the best way to phrase your content. This can also be beneficial when trying to optimize your local SEO because the content is unique to the area and therefore more relevant to the search engine.
Implementing local SEO techniques has become essential for small businesses to compete in search. Now you know the value of localized content in search. But there are many easy steps that you can use to instantly improve your local SEO. For example, learn the importance Google+ and Google Local account. When used properly and connected to each other, these online channels can engage new customers. According to a Hubspot study, roughly 50 percent of small businesses engaging with local SEO list Google+ as an essential part of their digital marketing strategy.
Local SEO is invaluable to small businesses simply because search engines are vital in today’s world. Because geo-modified content is favored by search engines as being more helpful to users, small businesses can create location-based content and level the playing field with larger brands.