We’ve talked about local SEO for businesses before, and if you need to you can brush up your knowledge about it here. What we haven’t really discussed though is the why of it. After all, if your business sells items online, you’ll want to serve everyone in the world, right? That may be the dream, but considering there are giants such as Amazon out there now, the competition has become steep in terms of retail.
This is only one reason why local SEO should be provided for your website. Check out these other good reasons.
First, let’s answer the burning question: what is local SEO?
Local search engine optimization (SEO) is the most effective means of marketing your business online on a local scale (i.e. your business’s neighbourhood and the city or cities that it serves). It can help you promote your products and services to nearby customers at the exact time they’re looking online. This is what we sometimes refer to as searching with ‘local intent’.
Local intent is different from an international search in that the query possesses a much greater intention to purchase or pursue one’s services. These types of search queries typically include a location or ‘near me’ keywords (which aren’t necessary if you use a map program such as Google Maps). Search engines will understand that the person using these search queries is suggestions based on location, so that’s exactly what they offer on the first page of local search engine results pages (SERPs).
Sounds great, how do I get this?
You can achieve better local results by applying white hat SEO tactics such as adding your business contact details to directories, claiming your business listing in citations such as Yelp and Google My Business, and having a great, optimized website. Targeting both local and long-tail keywords that include “near me” and your business’s location such as ‘Calgary’, ‘Vancouver’, and ‘Edmonton’ to name a few can help too.
With that out of the way, now’s a good time to answer why local SEO is so worth your time.
1: To be accessible to local customers.
It’s a fact that more and more customers are using the Internet to access the information they need, and to pay for services and products, and so on. More often than not, they’d rather look in their neighbourhood as opposed to the next town over—less hassle that way. This is why we suggested targeting ‘near me’ keywords as well as city locations—it’ll both earn you more sales from people who are willing to follow through with their purchase as opposed to a few interested people who end up clicking away from your website.
2: To stand out from competitors.
To further evaluate why this matters so much, you have to look at what kind of business you run. If it’s an ecommerce store that you’re running, then we repeat: there is no chance you are going to be able to compete against the likes of giants such as Amazon. So, why not go up against local competitors instead? Odds are high that there’s only the one other competitor online who sells a similar product, but they’re not exactly the same as yours, nor do they exist in your neighbourhood. Use that sense of scale to your advantage and apply local SEO to your website.
The same rule of thumb can apply to other B2B businesses. Obviously you are not going to stand out online compared to competitors in a country across the globe, but you can have better rankings in the search engine page results within the city your physical office is located.
3: To be visible on many levels.
Google is actually only one search engine that people use to find what they’re looking for online. Bing and Yahoo are still used to this day, with more and more search engines becoming increasingly popular all the while. If you want your website to be visible across all search engines and not just the one, optimizing your site for local SEO is the way to go.
4: It won’t cost you too much.
Unless you list your business incorrectly, but that is another blog post for another time. Really, it doesn’t cost you anything to add your business to Google My Business, Yahoo, or Bing at all. So long as you follow their directions exactly, you can grow your visibility online and it won’t cost you anything to get it done. Registering your business via search engines can also cost you less than it would to print an ad in the newspaper as well.
5: It’s great for mobile traffic!
It’s a fact that mobile is here to stay, and the good news is it’s here to help your business. According to recent research, a whopping 78% of people use mobile phones and devices to contact local businesses for the sake of making a purchase! That’s a lot of customers who are willing to reach out to you and your business. Why not help them out with a great and optimized website?
Now that you know a little more about local SEO’s value, it’s time to really look at your website. If you think it needs re-optimization for this particular SEO ASAP, then give us a call at V3 Media. Local SEO falls under the same umbrella as white hat SEO, so we’re more than happy to help you! If you’d rather discuss local SEO in greater detail, then why not reach out to us for a one-on-one consultation? You make the call, and we’ll meet you the rest of the way—regardless of your location.