If you’ve ever operated a SME, you’ve probably heard of local SEO and how it’s one of the most powerful tools of digital marketing for small businesses. However, before we nod our heads in agreement with the opinion of the masses, it’s important to understand what exactly local SEO is, why it’s relevant, and the impact of local SEO on a small local business.

The Importance of Local SEO and Basic Ways to Start

Over the course of this article, we’ll break down down all the important elements of local SEO to have a better understanding of why it’s such a dominant aspect of local online marketing. It will also clarify how it can help you grow and develop your new or existing enterprise.

So, What Is Local SEO?

To put it in a nutshell, the primary purpose of local SEO is to increase the visibility of your business on location-based search engine results pages (SERPs).

An example of a location-based search result is the Google 3-Pack, or maps listing, as illustrated below.

General SEO involves three things:

1. On-page SEO elements to include use of relevant keywords and optimization of page content such as the body, headers, meta descriptions, URL’s, internal links, external links, and images.
2. Technical SEO includes the behind-the-scenes elements such as hosting, caching, indexing, page speed, image and font handling, mobile responsiveness, schema, and analytics.
3. Off-page SEO involves anything about how the rest of the web sees your site. This involves building backlinks, social media marketing, and local citations/directories.

While it really is just an extension of regular SEO, local SEO is geared to increase your business’ online visibility in a specific locality.

This comprises searches that involve particular geographic qualifiers, such as state, city, zip code, and ‘near me’ searches in which the search engine uses the geographic location of the person to provide search results that are relevant to their area.

Why is Local SEO Important?

No matter where a business is located, there is likely to be plenty of local competition. Depending on the type of business, there might be lots of competition from afar as well. This can make it difficult for small companies to get the exposure they require in to attract a steady stream of customers. This is where local SEO comes in to play. It’s especially important if you run a brick and mortar store that only operates in a certain locality.

A study performed by Forbes revealed that 95 % of smartphone shoppers conduct “near me” searches, out of which 61% call the business and 59% end up visiting. Another study from Search Engine Watch discovered that 70% of smartphone searchers click to call a business directly from the contact information provided by Google.

It’s evident from these statistics that location-based web searches are an extremely lucrative avenue in terms of potential customers, and it’s only likely that these numbers will grow even more. As these are qualified leads from people who’re actually looking for the exact product or service your business provides, it can be safely assumed that these leads are highly likely to convert into sales.

Local SEO: The Basics

Now that you have a basic understanding of what local SEO is and its importance, let’s move on to the things you can do to improve the local SEO of your business.

First, since local SEO is geared towards location-based searches, your business needs to have a physical location or address that’ll show up on local SERPs.

The next important thing is to ensure that the Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) of your business is exactly the same across all the online directories and social media sites in which it’s listed.

Google is a machine that simply reads data. Slight variations in NAP can lead the machine to think that these might be for different companies. Such discrepancies can lead Google to dismiss those listings and then not show your business in its local 3-pack, and not show it on page one of the SERP’s.

Citations are another effective way to improve the online presence of your local enterprise. A citation is when your business gets listed as a reference point by any third-party website. Local directories each have their own format, but they all include NAP. Some citations might include a link to your website, which makes it even more valuable and helps to establish your site’s online authority in the eyes of the search engines.

A few examples of citations or online directories include the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Yelp, Angie’s List, Yellowpages, Mapquest, and so on. There are thousands of directories available.

The Impact of Local SEO Has on a Local Business

If you’re currently operating a small business, local SEO can be beneficial for you in a wide variety of ways. Here are just a few:

• Local SEO increases the online visibility of your business, making it more accessible to potential consumers in the relevant locality. However, a lot of local searches also come from non-locals. With the right local SEO techniques, you can tap into that audience as well.
  
• Local SEO provides a great platform to provide potential consumers with the exact information they want such as customer amenities. For instance, if your business is pet-friendly or offers free WiFi, this information can be displayed in your local SEO. Parking availability is another local SEO feature. This will help you attract consumers who’re looking for specific amenities or attributes.
  
• Regardless of whether you have a business website or not, local SEO ensures that your business ranks higher in local SERPs, which helps drive more highly qualified online and foot traffic.
  
• In addition to amenities, local SEO helps you provide potential consumers with more information about your business, and consumers are more likely to trust businesses that they know the most about. For example, in a Google Business Profile, you can list all your products and services. You can depict the areas you serve. You can showcase your staff and your facilities. You can demonstrate credibility with positive reviews. This provides you with a solid platform on which you can build long-lasting customer relationships.

Conclusion

No matter what kind of local business you run, a little basic SEO work can help you dominate local search and consistently grow your business. It makes it easy for people to find you as they search online for your specific products. It increases trust and credibility. And it puts you if front of the right customers at the moment they are ready to walk in your door.