Research shows that 80% of local searches lead to conversions. If you can get people to find your website when searching for local businesses like yours, you have a great chance of getting them to invest in your company’s product or service offerings.
But how do you get your website in front of potential local customers? It all starts with an effective local SEO strategy. In this blog, we’ll cover the following:
What Is Local SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about improving the visibility of your website on search engine results pages. Local SEO takes things a step further and focuses on improving your website’s visibility, specifically on search engine results pages for local searches.
Let’s say you run a commercial cleaning business in St. Louis. You wouldn’t want to reach companies in Milwaukee that need cleaning, right? So, you want to get your business in front of other St. Louis-based businesses.
This is where a good local SEO strategy comes in handy.
When you use the right keywords and other techniques to target people in St. Louis, it’s easier for them to learn about your business and your services. This increases the likelihood that they will click on your business’s website link and reach out to your company for commercial cleaning services.
Benefits of Local SEO
There are many reasons to make local SEO a priority, regardless of the size of your business or the types of products or services you sell. Here are some of the biggest benefits a good local SEO strategy can provide:
More Targeted Web Traffic
One of the first steps to growing your local business is driving more traffic to your website, particularly users in the same region you serve. If you want people to invest in your products or services, they need to be able to learn about what you offer and where you’re located.
Going back to the commercial cleaning example, a user interested in ongoing commercial cleaning services in Milwaukee provides no benefit to your St. Louis business. While it’s great that they found your site in the first place, it will never result in close business. Local SEO can help your business generate more targeted website traffic.
Higher Conversion Rates
Once you take the time to understand local SEO and create a strong strategy behind it, you set your business up to gain more attention from potential customers in the region you serve. This helps generate more conversions from buyers that meet your ideal customer profile.
As a local business owner, you are well-acquainted with the importance of having a consistent sales pipeline. Local SEO can help you generate more high-converting leads in your area that are ready to make a purchase.
Lower Advertising Costs
One of the greatest things about local SEO (and SEO in general) is that it’s a low-cost way to build your business and increase brand awareness. Many SEO and local SEO techniques don’t cost any money. However, they do require time and effort on your end to see results.
With a local SEO strategy in place, your business can lower advertising costs. If your business ranks in the top three of the MAP pack, your business is already identified as a trusted leader in the region you serve. This allows you to save money from practicing more traditional local advertising practices like billboards and local newspaper ads.
More Sustainable Growth
Local SEO techniques can result in more predictable and sustainable growth when implemented correctly. While raising your business’s ranking on search engine results pages can take time, the time spent on local SEO is worth the outcome.
Once you figure out a local SEO technique that works best for your brand and industry, you have the opportunity to continue advancing your techniques and growing your book of business. This is because more people actively looking for your product or service in your region are clicking on your website, engaging with your business, leaving reviews, and helping you build a strong reputation.
Better Reputation
If you’re a small business owner, you know how important word of mouth is to your success. In the digital age, word of mouth also includes online reviews. Local SEO is great for attracting potential customers because decision-makers can see the reviews left by previous or current clients in similar scenarios.
If people are speaking positively about your business online and leaving positive reviews, your reputation will improve; therefore, identifying yourself as a credible source. As a result, more people will be interested in checking out the products or services you have to offer.
Increased Competitiveness
Local SEO helps you obtain a higher search engine ranking and stand out from competitors. The closer you get to the number one spot on search engine results pages, the more likely people will click on your website and get in touch with your business instead of another.
Stronger Community Presence
Local SEO can help you build a stronger relationship with members of your community. Since many people today are interested in supporting local businesses and their communities, local SEO is crucial to establishing your business as a trusted product or service provider.
If people in your area know about your business and can quickly learn about what you have to offer, they’ll be more inclined to invest in your products or services themselves. They’ll also be more likely to recommend your products or services to others, which helps you continue to expand your reach and establish your company as a staple in the community.
Who Needs Local SEO?
All businesses could benefit from local SEO, but these practices are essential for small B2B companies, such as commercial cleaning service providers, HVAC businesses, and roofing companies.
If you want to attract local customers or clients to your business, you need any advantage you can get over larger companies with bigger budgets. Local SEO is a great way to outshine the competition and make people aware of what your company has to offer.
How To Do Local SEO Correctly
If you want to make sure people in your community know about your business and understand how awesome your services are, you have to improve your approach to local SEO.
Here are some tips that can help you start your local SEO journey on the right path:
Conduct a Local SEO Audit
If you’re ready to take local SEO more seriously, a good starting point is conducting a local SEO audit. This process helps you understand where your business stands compared to your competitors. It lets you see what’s working and what isn’t, enabling you to decide what issues to focus on first.
There are many free and low-cost options for local SEO audits, but it may be worth investing in a digital marketing agency for this step to ensure accuracy. Outsourced marketing professionals have access to the latest tools and technologies, which will help you get more detailed and helpful information. They’ll also be able to interpret the audit results and create a step-by-step plan for how you should grow your local SEO presence.
Create a Google Business Profile
When it comes to improving local listing SEO, one of the first places experts recommend starting is with your Google Business Profile.
Without this profile, you won’t be featured in Google Maps results, the local MAP pack, or the Local Finder (the extended list of businesses that results from local searches). This can severely impact your ability to expand your reach and grow your business.
To set up a Google Business Profile, go through these steps:
- Visit google.com/business
- Log in with your Google account
- Enter your business name and details
From here, you’ll need to verify your business’s listing. Then, you can start updating and optimizing your profile to enhance your local SEO presence.
Manage Your Google Business Profile
Managing your Google Business Profile is free and easy to set up. However, it’s crucial to remember that the journey doesn’t end there. You also have to maintain and manage your profile to see the best results for the long haul.
Some examples of maintaining your profile include:
- Keeping all business information up to date
- Adding new photos, videos, and Google posts regularly
- Answering frequently asked questions
- Responding to messages
The more consistent you are with regularly updating your profile, the more likely Google is to give you a higher search engine ranking.
Be Consistent
Make sure you’re consistent across all online listings for your business, too. This means sharing the same information across all platforms, such as Google, Yelp, Angi, etc.
The business details you should include on your Google Business profile are:
- Your business’s name
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- Operating hours
- And more
If you don’t keep this data up to date, you may end up with confused buyers and notice a drop in your search engine ranking.
Request and Respond to Reviews
We’ve already talked about the power of online reviews in building your local business’s reputation. Therefore, you must regularly request customer reviews so you can expand your reach and continue building your company.
Whenever someone leaves a review (positive or negative), be sure to respond promptly. This shows that you’re an engaged business owner who wants everyone to have a positive experience with your company.
Update and Optimize Your Website
A good local SEO strategy also includes regular updates and improvements to your website.
For example, you must optimize your content with keywords that are specific to your area, such as:
- Commercial cleaning in St. Louis
- St. Louis roofing services
- HVAC services in St. Louis
Regularly updating your website with new content, such as blog posts, videos, etc., can also help you improve your search engine ranking.
Lastly, it’s essential to consider the mobile-friendliness of your website. Research shows that 50% of consumers prefer to use a mobile internet browser to search for local businesses online. If your website is hard to access to navigate from a mobile browser, you may have a more challenging time attracting new visitors.
Key Takeaways
Local SEO is crucial to generating leads that meet your ideal customer profile. Without a local SEO strategy in place, you risk having a low conversion rate because you’re reaching potential buyers that aren’t located in your service region.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, our digital marketing specialists know all the latest local SEO best practices to make sure our clients are visible to potential buyers in their target market. If you need help maximizing your local SEO strategy, contact the lead generation experts at Abstrakt!
Want to Learn More?
