5 ways local SEO can help you grow your business	1.3/5.0 (3 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
James Cummings January 17, 2018

Local SEO is an effective way to get customers to your business. It helps you promote your business to local customers when they need it. Millions of customers use local search to locate businesses, products and services in their area every day. Implementing a local SEO strategy for your business can help increase your chances of getting found by the customers looking for what you offer.

What exactly is local SEO?

Local SEO is the process involved in optimizing and positioning your website to rank locally in search engine results page. Local SEO is meant for businesses interested in local target as customers. These are businesses that have a physical address in an area such as a restaurant, a café or a local bakery. The rise in the use of mobile phones for accessing the internet has brought about a complementary increase in the number of searches by users looking for businesses that offer specific products and services in their area. This trend makes local SEO more necessary for businesses than ever before.

A recent study showed that about 50% of users will call on some of the businesses that show up on their search results within 24 hours. This goes to show how important local SEO is for business.

To better increase your chances of getting found by potential local customers, you can consider working with a reputable local SEO company.

The following 5 points will help you understand how local SEO can benefit your business.

1. More local customers are turning to the internet to find local businesses

Gone are the days when people refer to printed directories and newspapers to locate businesses in their area. These days, people go to the internet to search for information about the products and services they need. They also use the internet to get contact details about the businesses that offer these products and services as well as their business hours.

More than 50% of mobile phone users search for business information online via their phones with more than 70% of them making a purchase decision.

The fact remains that online searches for local businesses are increasing and will likely increase more. If your business cannot be found on local searches, then you will very likely miss out on some potential customers.

2. Local search is highly targeted

The major reason users carry out a local search is to look for a specific business, product or service. Many of these users know what they want but don’t have any specific business name in mind when they begin their search. When you adopt a local SEO strategy, you optimize your business to take advantage of such local searches and position your business in such a way that it promotes what you have to offer to customers searching for your type of business, products or services.

Local SEO helps you connect with potential customers exactly when they need what you have to offer.

3. Highest conversion rate

Local directories have a higher conversion rate than any other advertising strategy, nearly as much as 50% in certain cases. This means that you have the potential to convert every second lead into an actual customer.

Local directories almost always carry a business’ name, address and phone number (NAP), and sometimes other information such as office hours and any other special details. This means that potential customers searching for any business that offers a specific service or product will get the accurate information that will enable them locate the businesses that offer what they are looking for. And as earlier pointed out, more than 50% of these customers will eventually reach out to some of these businesses that same day or the next. This gives these businesses a higher chance of converting potential customers into actual customers.

4. Mobile marketing is on the increase

Customers now make use of their mobile devices to search out favorable deals. This doesn’t mean that people no longer use desktop PCs, but the number of potential customers searching for information on their mobile phones is steadily and surely rising. Mobile phones allow people to get information quickly and on the go without being restricted to one location. According to a study by Hootsuite, the use of mobile devices for accessing the internet in the US is higher at 51% compared to desktop PC use at 42%.

In 2015, it was discovered that mobile phones accounted for more of the consumption of internet content with more users making use of their mobile phones and voice search to carry out local searches. More than 70% of these searches end up resulting in a successful sale.

Local SEO covers for both desktop and mobile meaning that you will not have a reason to miss out on a potential customer.

5. Most of the opportunities are still free

It is still free to list your business in some of the popular online local directories such as Yelp, Bing and TripAdvisor. Taking advantage of this opportunity will help you reduce expenditure on marketing.

Google business is also a free listing that can help place your business high in local search results on Google. It is the perfect resource to boost your business’ credibility and help you attract local customers to your business. Not only are these opportunities free and easy to access, they also help your business gather social proofs, in form of reviews, likes and mentions. These will also help boost your reputation and improve your chances of ranking well in local searches.

Conclusion

No matter the business you do, you need to attract customers, especially local customers that need the products and services your business offers.

Local searches are currently the trend and they will definitely get stronger and more popular. This is significant to the success of local business. It is important that you take advantage of local SEO in order to boost your business and improve your chances of appearing in local results for searches relevant to the products and services your business offers.

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