Take out your mobile and search for ‘best hair specialists.’ What do you see?
The results you will see may not be the shops of renowned hair specialists. But these searches will appear to you as per your current location. That’s the magic of Local SEO. Today in this blog, I will delve deeper into Local SEO benefits and overcome some of local seo myths to keep you ahead of the competition.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a part of search engine optimization (SEO) that can rank your website in a local list to increase its visibility locally. The local SEO usually answers the queries of ‘near me’ intended questions. However, the distance or radius it covers to show the business in local listings varies from place to place.
For instance, in a densely populated city, the local SEO might display the shop present in your neighborhood or just a few kilometers away. In a rural area, competition is less, it may cover large geographic areas and can display results even 10 kilometers away from your location.
What are Local SEO benefits for service businesses?
Today you may find many Google queries showing local searches. Even if you perform a routine search, Google may show you the local business related to your query. In today’s era, many customers have started looking for services with the phrase ‘near me today’. In order to address these searches, Google has started demographic-oriented results as per the proximity, relevance and prominence.
For instance, if your services are near to someone searching for the same, and if you have optimized your local business listings, then your business is likely to be found by the buyers.
Below are some prominent benefits of local SEO for your business.
1. Enhanced visibility
With local SEO for service businesses you can reach the highly-targeted audience that is present in your area/city and looking for services similar to you. If your website has good ratings from the customers, and is ranking well in local listings, your audience will surely love to give your services a try, being close to their locality.
Local seo is good for small businesses, as they can target local audiences that are really interested in their services. Instead of targeting the one that will never avail of your services.
72% of customers who do local search, visit the stores 5 miles away from their location. This statistics shows the importance of local SEO and the companies must pay attention to optimize websites to grab attention of local customers.
2. Gain trust and credibility
Local SEO is contributing to ⅓ of organic traffic for location-based searches, as people love to look for local service providers to meet their needs immediately. Hence, being a business owner, you need to be on your toes always to maintain a good online credibility through excellent customer reviews that can help you win the trust.
Start sharing informative content, or helpful tips, to let the audience know your expertise in the field. This improves trust.
Here it is worth mentioning the example of ‘ wolverhampton self storage limited’. This company has a leading hand in providing applicant tracking system software that help companies to streamline their HR process. To enhance their ranking in local SEO, the company focused on many techniques like keyword research, technical SEO, reputation management etc.
To improve their ranking they also adopted local PR techniques. Through this they emphasized on media coverage and exposure in their local community. They came up with some newsworthy information about their brand and started publishing them in local publications and media outlets. To do this the company built relationships with local journalists, and they got results in their favor.
3. Competitive advantage
What if you have your competitor in vicinity, offering the same services as you. With an effective local seo strategy you can grab your customers’ attention on your business and give them a reason to trust your brand instead of the competitor present near to you. You must learn the in and outs of local SEO before your competitor to drive more traffic in your store.
For instance, I searched for ‘Italian restaurant near me’ and got the above image. This allows me to easily find the nearest Italian restaurant near my location along with their ratings and brief information. This makes me trust the brand more as compared to the other Italian restaurants present in the vicinity with no digital footprint.
That’s how it works for other customers too!
Whether you are running a restaurant, a boutique, a garage or any other business, gain popularity with local SEO to earn a decent revenue in your business.
4. Cost Effective
Local SEO is cheaper than that of traditional marketing. You can target only those audiences which are interested in your services. It is better to do targeted marketing as with that you can build a bond with your audience.
You must mention all your business information that contains your contact details, address, location, opening and closing time, and much more to optimize Google Business Profile Once your website gains ranking in local listing through proper website optimization, your customers can easily gather information about your business. Thus no need to inform anything about your business through traditional marketing like advertising in newspaper, TV or billboard that can take a toll on your pocket.
5. High-conversion rate
With Local SEO, it is easy to increase the conversion rate. Firstly, local SEO targets customers who are looking for services or products in your area. This implies that these customers have a higher chance of conversion. Secondly, with local SEO, you can let customers know about your address, contact details, opening and closing times, and other details right at first glance. This reduces the barrier for the customer to avail of your services or visit the store.
Now, let’s take a look at some case studies
Local SEO Case study#1 – The success of Cafe Oasis
This cozy coffee shop is located in Jumeirah, and it has successfully increased its reputation and conversion rate through local SEO strategies. The company optimized its Google My Listing by mentioning its accurate business information, engaging photos, and replying promptly to customers’ reviews. Also, the company continuously posted about its offers and discounts to maintain its vibrant presence online.
After trying all the local SEO strategies for just 3 months, the company experienced a 40% increase in traffic. Their website also reached the top of local SEO for tourists and guests looking for coffee in Jumeirah. The strategic location-based keywords and right audience targeting have made the company taste success online.
Sarah, the owner of Cafe Oasis, shared her thoughts about the success: ‘ We realized that our cafe is not receiving much traffic because our customers are unable to find us online’. Local SEO services gave a new direction to our business. Now our business is joined by new faces every day.
Case Study# 2 Evergreen Home Loans
This company provides mortgage lending services and is facing issues in offering loans to customers in a user-friendly and actionable manner. The brand was also looking for online brand promotion. To enhance its brand locally, the company optimized the description, operating hours, category, phone number, and address of Google My Business.
They also deployed schemas related to the mortgage industry, including loans, financial services, and credit. To enhance their online presence, they updated FAQs to solve customers’ queries about loan payments, home finance solutions, and mortgage rates.
The result:
After doing the above-mentioned modifications, the company achieved the following positive outcomes.
- Within 60 days the company started getting positive results.
- It experienced a 30% increase in business listings on Google.
- 48% increase in website traffic through Google My Business.
- 43% increase in organic traffic.
Conclusion
I hope the above information regarding local SEO helped you to try it for your business. Also, the case studies mentioned reveal that the implementation of the right strategies at the right time can take your business to the next level. So, take advantage of Local SEO services to grow your business locally, and that too at an affordable rate.
You can contact GyanDevign, a leading local seo company in Toronto to grow your business locally with efficient local SEO strategies.
