The Importance of Local SEO for Small Businesses

As a local business owner, you want the best for your company. That means getting your name out there. Chances are you probably already have a business website, but is it performing as well as it could be? If you own a company that provides local products or services, are you taking advantage of the SEO tips and tricks related to local search marketing? When creating website content and social media profiles, many business owners forget to use local SEO. Keywords alone aren’t enough when you’re trying to reach the local community. This is why understanding the importance of Local SEO, and how to use it to your advantage, is essential to your company’s success online

Why Local SEO Is Important

Local search engine optimization is a key to success for brick and mortar companies of all sizes and from all areas. It involves using SEO to improve your search rankings when someone searches for a product or service specific to where your company does business. Google processes more than 9 billion searches per day, and more than half of them are by people who are looking for local companies. In fact, in 2019, nearly 90% of searches ended in a phone call or visit to the business. The evidence is there. With local SEO, your company is more likely to thrive.

How Google Determines Local SEO Rankings

Google uses three primary factors to determine whether your website is at the top of local search engine results pages:

• Relevance: Relevance is how well your website matches what the user is searching for. Having a completed website is essential for ensuring Google knows what your business is about.
• Distance: Distance refers to how far your company is from the person who is searching for your products or services. If the user doesn’t specify a location, Google uses a distance calculation based on what it does know.
• Prominence: Prominence is how well-known your business is. The more successful your company is within your community, the higher it will show on local SERPs. Google also determines prominence based on links, articles, directors, reviews, and other online information outside of your website.

When considering the importance of local SEO, you should remember that all three factor into where your company shows up on results pages. For example, if a business is further from a user but is most likely to have what the user is looking for, it still may show up in the local SEO results.

Benefits of Local City SEO

There are more than a dozen answers to the question “Why is local SEO important?” Understanding some of the benefits of local SEO will help you determine what you need to do to take your website’s SEO to the next level.

Increase Online Visibility

Good local SEO increases online visibility. Anytime someone local searches for the products and services you offer in the area, they’ll be able to find your company. That traffic is convertible, too, which means people are more likely to call or visit your business if they find you at the top of local search results.

Gain Trust

Consumers tend to feel that higher-ranked businesses are more trustworthy than those that fall lower in rankings, and this is just one reason why local SEO is important. In addition to your website, it’s important to fill out your Google Business page/profile and spend time on your company’s social media profiles.

Compete With Other Local Businesses

Despite the importance of local SEO, many companies don’t focus on it when creating their websites. Doing so will already put you ahead of some of the companies in your area. This is especially true for businesses that cater to a local audience and make it easy to schedule services or purchase products online in their area. The faster you can show someone that you provide services or products in their area, the more likely you are to rise above the competition.

Reduce the Cost of Advertising

When you use organic local city SEO to boost your search engine results ranking, you’ll likely spend less money on the cost of advertising in other places. Placing sponsored posts on social media or ad platforms gets expensive, but you won’t need to do so as often if you have good SEO. Organic local SEO works for you all the time, not just when you’re spending money on an ad campaign.

Capture More Reviews

Did you know that nearly 90% of people read online reviews before purchasing products or services from local companies? When you provide good products and services, people will leave honest positive reviews that help you climb local rankings. Of course, it’s also helpful to respond to reviews, including the bad ones. Doing so shows that you’re willing to take constructive criticism and fix any problems that your customers have. Responding to reviews is an important local SEO tactic to provide more context to Google about where your products and services are happening as well as giving potential customers a taste of what your company is like.

How To Improve Your Local Search Rankings

Understanding the importance of local SEO is the first step; now you need to implement it. Create your website or edit your current one with local SEO in mind. First, make sure your site is mobile-friendly. More than half of Google searches occur via mobile devices. If your website isn’t aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate on a smartphone, it will be harder to bring in traffic.

Next, focus on local keywords when creating your content. Whether you’re filling in website pages, writing product descriptions, or creating blog content, using the right keywords is vital. Do keyword research (or work with a local SEO professional) to determine what phrases people use when searching for your products and services. If you own a salon, for example, you’ll want to use keywords such as “hair salon in [city, state].”

It’s not enough to simply add the keywords, though. Over time, old content and outdated keywords stop performing. To ensure your website remains relevant, it’s important to update keywords periodically and provide SEO blog posts or freshen up product descriptions regularly. This can take a lot of work, especially when you’re trying to run other aspects of your business. Luckily, you can use blog and SEO writing services to keep you at the top of your game.

Lastly, make sure you frequently update your Google Business Profile, listing directories and social media accounts that include local company information. Make sure you designate the local areas you service, your hours of operation, and list specific marketing initiatives in the places where local consumers will be able to find that information.

Let Us Show You Why Local SEO Is Important

Now that understand the importance of local SEO, you must create your local search ecosystem. Trying to keep up with SEO content on your own often feels overwhelming, but we’re ready to help you. BKA Content provides a wide variety of content writing for local businesses and other types of local SEO services. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you increase your traffic leads and sales!