Companies wishing to improve their online presence need to start small – that means operating locally first. There’s a saying – “think globally, act locally,” and it’s right for a reason. A good strategy should come first, and if you learn why is local SEO important, you’ll learn where to get the best services for your business.
What Is Local Search Engine Optimization and How Is It Different?
What does SEO stand for? This well-known moniker stands for “search engine optimization,” and it’s a practice of perfecting a company’s online presence. When your content is optimized for Google or any other engine, it can easily reach the top ranks, which is objectively what every business wants out of their online profile and traffic.
If you rank high, or better said, on Google’s first page, you’ll see much more traffic come through your website. To achieve this, you must know all about optimization; it doesn’t just come to you. If it’s something you can’t understand well, hiring an SEO marketing agency is the right way to go.
What is local search engine optimization? This type of optimization does the same things as classic widespread optimizing, but it increases your chances of ranking higher with nearby users and potential customers in the area.
This can be improved further if you have a Google Business (GB) profile, which is the company information card that appears on the first page when someone looks up your company.
Why Are Local SEO Services Important?
Here’s an example of why local SEO is important to your business. Say you own a bakery. When you first start, you won’t reach out to just anyone across the country or globe. You’ll want the people who live nearby to visit you and try your awesome pastry because they’re the likelier clients.
While it’d be great for your baking skills to go global, this can be achieved through an excellent online presence campaign. However, most of all, your products and service will be the selling point, so work on perfecting that and let a social media marketing agency help you reach new heights.
Why Is Local SEO Important for Your Business?
As mentioned, localized optimization makes the most sense for companies that sell services and products attractive to locals. The following statistics might help you understand its importance even more:
- 45% of all searches are for nearby businesses,
- 95% of potential customers use mobile devices for searching locally,
- 61% of those very customers call in,
- 59% actually visit,
- 88% of mobile-based localized searches call or visit within 24 hours.
How Does Local SEO Help Business?
When you hand your trust over to a social media and advertising agency with optimization expertise, you’ll notice things like dead blog posts coming back to life (achieved by removing keyword cannibalization,) updated information on your work, and a much smoother web browsing experience.
This is the power of search engine optimization. Local advertising even helps attract people from a wider area and varied backgrounds; this is especially true for hospitality or catering businesses. If you open a restaurant and the locals give it great reviews, your optimization was successful – but it doesn’t just stop.
Any new visitor that’s not from the area will notice your GB profile and ratings, look for your location on the map and decide to visit. This is how resident reviews support businesses to grow and become better known.
When you hire an agency to boost your traffic, they will, among other things, assist you in updating the following aspects of your website:
- Your business’s NAP – name, address, and phone number,
- Image geotagging,
- Link-building,
- Engagements through your GB profile.
Who Benefits From Local SEO & Why?
If you’re interested in which types of businesses reap the most benefits of search engine optimization, here are some examples, in addition to why.
Salons
Nails, hair, and other cosmetic salons with a well-crafted profile can outbid their competitors very quickly; sure, locals may trust their next-door neighbor Sharon to cut their hair, but Sharon can’t rely on charging friendly prices her whole life. She needs a strong online campaign to support her in paying bills and becoming visible next to competitors.
Auto Repair And Service Shops
Similarly to salons, auto repair shops also require a locally-based boost to attract clients. This will help them improve their standing within the community and allow them to adjust prices according to changes in the global market. Not only that, but they’ll be the first result when someone searches for “auto repair shops near me” on their mobile device.
Restaurants
These are everywhere; fast food, high-end, or casual dining, you can find a restaurant almost anywhere in town. If you offer special recipes and great food, you must stand out from every other restaurant nearby, and we bet you can achieve that with great reviews and localized traffic.
Retail Stores
Unless you’re in a shopping mall, how will your store get noticed? This is a great example of creating and updating your GB profile, where it could get people to notice you before opting for fast fashion solutions.
Home Repair Businesses
Similarly to auto repair shops, having a home repair or renovation shop nearby is always good. Home and car maintenance are high on most people’s lists, and improving your online traffic as one of these companies could make you gain relevance in the long run.
Pet Service Shops
Services like pet grooming, pet food stores, veterinarians, and pharmaceuticals are frequently searched online. People want their furry friends to be healthy and safe, and they’ll often look for the closest pet service to avoid going far and wide for quality.
Medical Services
Just as people don’t want to cross miles to find assistance or medicine for their pets, they don’t want to do that for their or their loved one’s health, either. Nearby hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies are often literal life-savers, but if you are one, that can be worth nothing in case of low rankings. A person in crisis will probably look up “clinics near me,” where you want to be at the top.
Real Estate Agencies
If you can aid families and new residents coming to a specific area and settling, you should advertise it. There’s no point in being modest about your work if competition gets all the work. Their localized optimization is likely better than yours; to garner more clients, this kind of advertising is the way to go.
Law Offices
Finally, the service you provide as a lawyer can quickly go unnoticed if not advertised. Word of mouth is essential for every business, but how will anyone know which lawyer their friends are discussing if you don’t have an online presence? This worked before, but in the world occupied by Google – it doesn’t. The first thing anyone does when they hear about a company is to look them up online.
How Localized Search Engine Optimization Appears on Google
How will you know your localized optimization is working? Every agency targets three areas when improving online traffic for a client company.
The first is your GB profile. For example, let’s say the name of your store is “Cupcake Factory.” There are likely many stores with a similar name which, on top of that, yield better query results. Your GB profile will ensure that the best “Cupcake Factory” in your area is you; you’ll be highly visible on Google Maps, and there will be images and an updated NAP section.
The second is what we all see on Google’s first page when looking for something – the first three results in a snippet window. This is called the Local 3-Pack, making up 33% of localized browsing clicks.
Finally, with the previous two aspects working well, people will mostly rely on organic searches. If they’re looking for your website specifically, it’s best if you’re on the first page. If they’re not looking for you, but your website is there, that could be due to excellent optimization work.
Does Your Company Need This Type of Service?
If looking at the list above made you recognize your company, you need localized optimization services to improve rankings. Whoever tries to rely on organic query results for ranking improvement requires a strong brand backed by a (un)likely campaigner.
This means you’d need a famous person to boost rankings and sales, a marketing campaign often worth at least several hundred thousand dollars. For someone without the revenue for getting Lebron James to eat their vegan cupcakes, query optimization is essential.
You’ll see that, beyond the glamor of seeing a basketball player eating cake, there are actual, real-life results generating website visits, views, and customers just next door. This is who you should sell your products to. The hot shots can come later.
How to Recognize Digital Marketing Trends in 2023
If you want to understand what SEO marketing services entail when hiring an agency, it’s good to be acquainted with digital marketing trends for 2023. This year, agencies and businesses should focus on:
- Being customer-oriented and rewarding loyal customers,
- Having exceptional customer service,
- Using featured snippets to rank on Google,
- Developing a video marketing strategy,
- Adding a personal touch to their advertising,
- Having honest and direct communication with customers,
- Developing better and more personal push notifications.
The Reasons You Need a Professional SEO Agency
Don’t just contact an agency to learn how to research for a blog post or boost sales. You need it to reach a desired audience and heights. An agency like Made Online can assist with content writing, local, YouTube, and general search engine optimization, social media, web development, PPC, and web design.
This means a great agency like ours has every tool necessary to improve your rankings and get your website to where it should be. It doesn’t just cover one aspect or rely on it to influence the rest – agencies like Made Online meticulously plan and outline content marketing strategies that can help reach the top and stay there.
The Best Reason – You’ll Rank Bigger and Better on Google
And who doesn’t want to rank more and better, especially on the search engine that gave optimization relevance? People who still firmly believe organic reach beats any other need only a taste of professional agency work to understand that their results don’t have to be achieved by word of mouth alone.
Contact a Content Marketing Agency to Improve Your Chances
Now that you know why local SEO is important for your business, you understand that it can’t be achieved by piling content. It’s always quality over quantity (a part of essential digital marketing trends for 2023,) and admitting you don’t understand it doesn’t make you a failure.
The modernization of company ownership has brought a new dimension, and not everyone is skilled enough to understand it. That’s completely OK. There are literal agencies with dozens of employees maintaining one company’s reputation, let alone one managing several clients. People who understand how it all works can and will help you grow.