Local search is an integral part of any SEO strategy aimed at customers in a specific region, city, or neighborhood. One of the biggest benefits of using local SEO includes increasing traffic to your website and specific web pages. Local website traffic can optimize the visibility of your website, directly increase your sales, and make your brand more recognizable to local audiences. This is especially useful for small local businesses looking to promote their business within a small geographical area.
Google adapts search engine results pages based on the location of the search engine. Therefore, a Google search based on exactly the same query made from two different locations will generate different results: the greater the distance between the search locations, the greater the difference between the SERPs. Implementing local SEO strategies means that searches become highly segmented for your business. Local searches look for a particular company or location, which means that, if implemented correctly, your company could be in a better position to promote the products or services it offers.
Any business that has a physical location or that provides services to a geographical area can benefit from local SEO. If you search Google for important keywords related to your company and a map with 3 ads (also known as a map package) appears below it, local SEO can help you grow your business. Some businesses may not realize that they could be attracting more people from outside their local area using local SEO. Now that you have a better understanding of the basics of SEO and how Google ranks local search results, you can begin to focus on the signals that will optimize your site's digital footprint in the locally-oriented search ecosystem.
Content marketing and creating links are necessary to establish prominence and relevance, two of the fundamental pillars of local SEO rankings. Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that helps your business to be more visible in local search results on Google. In a way, local SEO is a form of local advertising that connects consumers to your website at no cost. Optimizing your business for local SEO allows you to promote your products and services to an audience of interested buyers, people close to your company and who are actively looking for a product or service to sell.
That's why a lot of people search locally to find businesses like yours that are close to them, but the true value of local SEO goes beyond that. Given the rise of mobile search for local services, this can be especially economical for local businesses. In fact, only 44% of companies have published their listing on Google My Business, which is one of the first steps in any local SEO optimization list. The truth is that local searches come from people who are very likely to generate more sales for your company.
In addition to getting better visibility on Google's search engine results pages (SERPS), investing in local SEO has other advantages for small businesses. This can be attributed to the fact that local SEO puts you in front of the customer at the exact moment they are looking for a product or service, making them much more likely to buy or, at least, request more information. That's why Google's local search algorithm includes a proximity factor, which is an elegant way of saying that Google takes your location into account when you search for a local keyword (a query with local intent). The more rivals you have in your area, the more precision you'll need to optimize based on local intent to ensure you're competitive in local searches.
