Looking for ways to get the word out about your small business with a solid local SEO strategy? Contact Results Digital today!
Your small business might turn a profit, but do you understand the ins and outs of search engine optimization? You might focus solely on keywords at the expense of having a high-quality, user-friendly website that drives organic traffic. Small businesses that get the most out of their SEO are the ones that optimize their websites for local traffic.
Results Digital, the premier provider of SEO services in The Woodlands, TX, understands why local SEO is important, and we’ll pass that knowledge on to you.
What Is Local Search Engine Optimization?
Search engines use complex algorithms to determine what content they show to searchers, beginning with analyzing the user’s chosen search terms. One of the other major factors that search engines consider is a user’s location. For instance, a searcher in Lincoln, Nebraska, will get vastly different search results for “Lincoln dealerships” than someone performing the same search in Arkansas.
If someone knows they want a product or service and are looking for a place that provides it nearby, it pays to rank highly in search engines.
Small businesses that take advantage of local SEO tend to see more visitors than businesses that ignore it. Even adding the phrases “near me” or “near you” to your keywords can result in improved web traffic and a higher conversion rate.
Google estimates that 46% of the search traffic it processes each day is “with local intent.” Ignoring local SEO means losing out on this huge market share.
Why Hire a Local SEO Service?
Search engine optimization is a complex industry that changes as often as the search engine’s algorithms do. Owning a website in the 2020s is far from a “one-and-done” setup. However, most small businesses can’t devote all their time and resources to improving their search rankings.
A digital marketing agency that offers local SEO services can keep track of changes to search engine algorithms and use their local and industry knowledge to your advantage. This allows your small business to focus on its day-to-day operations without needing to hire a full-time team of experts.
The Benefits of Local SEO
Implementing local SEO strategies can have a lot of benefits for your small business. Not only does it result in an improvement in organic search volume that leads to your site, but it increases the chance that those clicks will lead to a purchase. One well-optimized landing page can do more to help your small business than a hundred poorly-optimized product listings.
Local SEO is also a more cost-efficient marketing strategy than you may expect. Even setting up a Facebook page and an optimized Google My Business profile can have a dramatic impact on the traffic your small business sees. With local SEO, you can target potential customers in your city or region who are already searching for services like yours.
On a national scale, there’s no way you can outrank the biggest players. However, outranking the giants matters far less in local SEO. All you have to do is outrank your local competitors, a much more attainable goal for your business.
As the Internet grows increasingly reliant on mobile phones, localizing your content can have other benefits as well. In particular, searchers on mobile devices are far more likely to want to make purchases immediately. Utilizing local SEO places your business in front of these people and makes it easy for them to navigate to your brick-and-mortar location.
How to Improve Your Local SEO
Using hyperlocal tags such as “orthodontist in San Luis Obispo” in your content is only the beginning of a good local SEO strategy. You can fine-tune your local search engine optimization with several methods, and you have to know some of these to understand why local SEO is important.
Engage with Online Reviews
Do not discount the importance of online reviews and testimonials for your small business. Whether these reviews are positive or negative, they represent a massive learning opportunity. Even negative reviews give your business the opportunity to turn a person’s bad experience into a good one that they’ll tell their whole network about.
Responding promptly to reviews shows good corporate citizenship and enhances your local search engine optimization. It’s also an excellent way to improve organic mentions of your business.
Optimize for Mobile Searches
Mobile traffic represents a huge percentage of traffic on the Internet. Most website builders can automatically help you optimize your content for mobile users, but truly effective local SEO goes beyond the basic steps.
Test your website on both iOS and Android devices. How long does it take to load? Do you have to scroll through the entire page just to find your store’s address? Does it look good in both landscape and portrait modes? A good local SEO company can help you optimize your website for both desktop and mobile users.
Localize Your Content
Part of optimizing your local SEO is maintaining your local business listings. Making sure that your information on Google My Business is up to date can mean the difference between a sale and a lost customer. Ensure that your address, contact information, and operating hours are consistent and accurate across all your social media platforms.
Join Online Business Directories
Building links across networks is one of the best SEO strategies, especially for local SEO. Adding your business to Yelp, Google My Business, Facebook, and other online business directories is a great way to expand your reach without taking a huge amount of your time and marketing budget.
Results Digital: Your Digital Marketing Agency in The Woodlands for Local SEO
Now that you understand the basics of why local SEO is important, you may be wondering what your next steps are.
If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency that can handle your link building, Facebook ads, email marketing, and more, contact us at Results Digital today. We’re glad to help your small business with all of its marketing needs so you can get back to doing what makes your business great.
