SEO is an important tool for helping any business become a success, and if you aren’t utilizing it to your advantage (or aren’t using it at all), you could be missing out on vital visibility and trade. However, understanding SEO and implementing it in the right way, isn’t easy, and it often requires an expert touch for it to be truly effective.
Many smaller businesses who recognize the significance of SEO, and in particular, local SEO, hire a team of digital marketing professionals to help them optimize it and gain as many advantages from SEO as they can. Those who recognize its importance and try to master it alone, however, often adopt SEO strategies that fall far short of their potential; forsaking a whole host of opportunities to make money and boost their business.
So, should you be outsourcing your SEO requirements, and how exactly could it benefit your business?
Local SEO explained
Local Search Engine Optimization is a process designed to maximize a businesses website so that it pops up in a strategic position in online search results based on location; ideally, at the top of the first page. Whether the user searches with their location in the query, or the user’s IP address is used to determine where they are, there are 3 parts to a local search result: the map, the local pack (such as Google My Business), and the organic results (websites).
How can local SEO be optimized for your business?
The primary goal of local SEO is to have your business appear in local search results, and the first step towards achieving this is to set up, or claim your businesses Google My Business page.
What is Google My Business?
When a user conducts a local search, Google My Business is the local pack that appears below the map, and before the organic search results. Used by businesses to manage their presence on Google, such as in local searches and on Google Maps, it collates information related to your business, including the following:
- Your businesses name
- The category of the business
- Its address
- Hours of operation
- Contact details
- Short name
- Website
- Services menu
- Highlights and attributes
- Description
Designed to help your business promote its presence on Google, it is a vital element of local SEO.
The importance of creating localized content
Helping Google find your site and pick up on keywords for your targeted location, localized content is another equally vital aspect of local SEO.
On-page local SEO
Arguably the easiest and quickest way to give your local SEO a boost, is to alter the title tags and meta descriptions so that your location is everywhere. Ideally, the location of your business should be mentioned as many times as possible, giving Google the most opportunities to place you in local search results.
Why is local SEO so important for boosting businesses?
By tapping into the local market, your business can start to grow and develop long-term relationships with the community. Additionally, your Google rankings will soar and you can expect to experience more traffic being directed to your website.
It’s always worth taking the time to work on an effective local SEO strategy, and teaming up with a digital marketing company is one of the quickest ways to achieve the success that such a strategy can, and will, bring you.