The Importance of Local SEO
Businesses that are seeking to increase organic traffic to their websites have to consider the importance of local SEO. It is pivotal for a small or growing business to utilize the local SEO process. Shifting your online presence or brick-and-mortar business to a locally searched service will drive traffic to your website. You have something people need, and they have to be able to find you on the web.
You may have found this blog through searching for SEO or local SEO. Do you want to discover what local SEO is and why it is important to you and your company? If so, you are in the right place.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the practice of optimizing your web pages to make them reach a high ranking in search engines. SEO drives organic traffic to your website without the use of ads. Here you will find three important reasons implementing SEO into your business is beneficial (click here) to take you to my SEO services page.
According to Disruptive Advertising, “Local SEO” refers to the optimization process that brings up your business when someone searches for similar companies in a specific area.”
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is an optimization process that brings your website up when searched for similar companies in a specific area. For example, if you own a fitness studio, you would like it to appear on the first page of results for searches such as “fitness studio in Uptown Charlotte” or “fitness near college street.” Effective optimization of local SEO makes this happen. Honing in on a keyword of practice, service, or sales in a nearby area is extremely important for your website. For example, have you ever searched, “phone repair store near me” or “pizza near me,” these are keywords paired with one of the most popular Google searched words? Below is an example of some local searches people may type in and get results matching local SEO websites and businesses.
Local SEO Example Chart
“Service – Trade – Offers” | “Location – Near By—Local” |
Fun Family Arcade | Concord, NC |
Pizza | South Park Area |
Phone Repair | Charlotte |
People in your local area are searching for your specific service, whether plumbing, food industries, beauty, law firms, or t-shirt companies just as much. The question is, is your company jumping up on the front page of your google search? I reference this as one of my SEO services. The key idea about local SEO is it is going to bring your true costumers from around the area, peek interests from surrounding areas, and do all this without buying a single ad. The statistics are mind-boggling when it comes to how using local SEO to maximize the success of your business is.
Top 6 Reasons Local SEO is Important
1. Increases Organic Traffic to Website:
From local users in that area to searches from surrounding areas, your website will get that extra “click” that you want. When a person searches the service you provide, it will be found on the first page of their search engine. Different platforms like Google, Bing, or an App off their phone, the internet will try and derive it based on where your location is. By perfecting your local SEO patterns and usage of keywords will bring your website out of hiding and become more visible.
2. Builds Online Visibility:
When looking at the results on a Google search engine, you will acquire the pages with the top SEO websites related to the keywords searched. Immediately your eyes seek out the relative link in which the keyword appears multiple times on that specific page. In the age of wanting answers fast, most people will not look past the first page on Google they will most likely provide a new keyword phrase. You want to be visible on that front page. “92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results.” (Source: SEO Expert)
There is also something called a “snack pack.” Highlighted on the google results page, you will see the top results in a bordered off-link (shown below). This is imperative when it comes to local SEO. It provides the top four websites that align with your searched keywords. So investing in the right SEO will allow you to rank highly in your area. It’s also linked to Google Maps.
3. Searches on Mobile Device Increased:
Most people are searching for services in the location (SIL) they are currently residing in. According to Chat Meter, “People are searching “near me” “Near me” or “close by” grew by more than 900% over two years. If your business is eCommerce or brick-and-mortar consumers are searching on their mobile devices. If you are seeking personal, volume in-store then Local SEO is important. One of the resources TMonroe Design and Photography does for Local SEO is to create a custom SEO Strategy. Including the next important element of Local SEO.
4. Ranking on Google:
Google my Business is important to Local SEO, because those rankings show up on the front page of people’s Google search. The “Snack Pack” is something that is linked to your online citation. Knowing your business hours, location, and phone number gives the consumer’s imperative information they need to know before coming to your business. “According to Google, businesses that verify their Google My Business information are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers,” (Bright Local link).
5. Link Building:
It is important in local SEO to build a strong reputation within the community. Inbound links to your page could come from larger reviewed websites like Yelp, Craigslist, Google my Business, or Trip Advisor. For small business owners, having those reviews linked back to your URL creates new traffic to your website. According to Bright Local, “85% now trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.” These reviews also increase your online visibility.
6. Save on Tools and Resources:
Once you have your website finished you want to have the optimal visibility within your local SEO demographics. Having a website developer clearly states, cater, and strategize with you on how to get your rankings up is an investment, but one that can save you a lot of money in the long run. The focused scope that TMonroe Designs and Photography can develop for your local SEO stats will profoundly help you increase organic traffic. Through this investment, you will save your time and money. You won’t have to do the work to receive the reports, keywords, or alternate tags, Travis Monroe will do that. You will get organic traffic without having to rebuild another website or pay for listings or ads.
SEO is the process of getting your business ranking on a search engine database. Local SEO is going to optimize the process, so when people with similar companies or in a specific area search your niche, your business will pop up. The importance to your small or up-and-coming business to have local SEO is imperative to how successfully you will be, found, on the world-wide-web. By investing your efforts into six elements of the process, you can be successful with this. Gaining organic traffic to your website, building online visibility, ranking on mobile search engines and apps, increase your rankings on Google, link building within other websites will ultimately save you money and resources. Having an SEO professional is responsible for keeping up with the updates and will help you implement the methods that are most important for improving your website visibility in searches, which in return increases your chances of reaching potential customers.
