Do you want to get more traffic to your website? Wondering how to get the site visitors you need to grow your business?
A local SEO company might be just what you need.
If you’re wondering whether or not a local SEO company is right for you, we’re here to help. This guide to what local SEO can do for you will show you what local SEO is, why you need it, and what a local SEO company can do for you.
Read on to learn how to grow your business today!
What is Local SEO?
You’re probably already familiar with SEO. Search engine optimization is how you get your site ranked higher by sites like Google, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
Local SEO, however, specifically targets customers in your area. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, or at least have a brick-and-mortar component, you need local SEO. Online-only companies may be able to do without it, but for everyone else, it’s essential.
Local SEO uses strategies to connect with those local customers at the right time and place. When you use local SEO, the customers who find your business online will also be the ones who are close enough to walk in the door.
6 Ways a Local SEO Company Can Help You
As you can see, local SEO is essential to the success of any physical business. But can a company help you improve your local rankings, or should you do it on your own? Let’s take a look at a few of the reasons a local SEO company might be what you need.
1. Save Your Time
You might feel like you’ve got a solid grasp on SEO. However, local SEO requires another set of SEO knowledge, and there can be a learning curve to getting it right.
Of course, even if you’re an SEO expert, it still takes time to make it happen. When you’re running a business, do you really want to be spending time reading Google Analytics and writing locally relevant blog posts? Probably not.
A local SEO company takes care of these things for you, freeing up your time to focus on the kind of work that you can’t outsource.
2. Beat the Competition
One of the biggest reasons local SEO matters is that it can put you ahead of the competition.
Anyone who sells things online knows that competitors are everywhere. However, when you operate a physical store, you have both online competitors and brick-and-mortar ones.
Convenience can be a huge factor in what businesses people visit. How can you get people to drive the extra five miles to your store, or bypass another restaurant on the walk to yours? You’ll use local SEO.
Local SEO helps people find out where your business is and what your hours are easily. You can also make it so they’ll see positive reviews and other details of your business when they search for it online. This information can help them choose your business over someone else’s.
3. Make Google Your Friend
SEO is all about getting Google to recognize you. However, some of Google’s most recent algorithms actually prioritize small, local businesses over big online-only ones.
Google found that many consumers want to find businesses near them, not just the online pages of big-box stores, when they search online. People don’t just shop anymore — they consider things like brand stories and ethics. Local businesses often hit those marks better than international ones do.
This was also a way for Google to help empower small businesses to break into big industries. Google provides free tools like Analytics to help business owners with limited resources, so it makes sense that they would also care about promoting local brands.
4. Treat Searchers Like Individuals
Google users don’t want to feel like cogs in a wheel. They love individualized results that take into account things like where they are and what they like.
Local SEO gives them exactly what they want. With a local SEO company, you’ll be able to find and target the customized searches that people in your area are doing. This can be a time- and labor-intensive process, so it’s hard to do it on your own.
5. Stay on Top of Mobile Trends
As mobile technology changes, so does the way people use it to find things.
Today, almost everyone has a smartphone and uses it to do Google searches. It’s believed that up to 60 percent of searches are now done on mobile.
However, people also use voice recognition to search now more than ever before. Both improvements in voice recognition technology and new devices like the Apple Watch contributed to this trend.
A local SEO company makes staying on top of industry trends like these its job. As a single business, it can be hard to see the bigger picture of what’s happening with SEO and local searches. But an SEO company that works with many different businesses has a deeper knowledge of the trends.
6. Grow Your Customer Base
One of the great things about being a local business is that it’s easy to inspire loyalty.
Online businesses can only use online copy and web design to make their space inviting. However, when you have a physical location, you have another great opportunity to make customers love your store.
You also get the benefit of having memorable in-person interactions with your customers or clients that can make them feel right at home.
Any good business owner knows how to use customer service, interior design, and more to build a loyal clientele. However, the challenge is to get the customers through your door in the first place.
Although hiring an SEO company costs money, it will more than pay off in the long run by getting those customers through the door so you can impress them with what you do best.
Harness the Power of Local SEO
With local SEO on your side, there’s no telling what kind of growth your business could experience. No matter what, it’s sure to be positive.
Local SEO takes time, effort, and money, though. And when you’re also engrossed in day-to-day business operations, there’s no way you can give your SEO the attention it deserves.
That’s why it’s so important to call a local SEO company to help.
Want to learn more about how to best promote your business with local SEO and other techniques? We have the information you need — read more here today.