As you probably already know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of improving the quantity and quality of your site traffic from Google and other search engines.
It targets unpaid traffic, which means the traffic is organic or natural instead of paid traffic. This traffic comes from various searches, from words to images and videos.
But what about local SEO, and how is it different from SEO in general?
That’s what we will find out in this article, as well as why local SEO is best for your local business growth.
Let’s begin.
First of All, What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a technique for optimizing your site for a particular area.
For instance, let’s say you own a local business in Austin. In this case, it would be best to hire an Austin SEO agency that will make your site pages rank higher for specific searches used by a local audience. Suppose someone searches for “best beer pub in Austin”. In that case, this evidently tells Google and other search engines that this person is looking for results applicable only to Austin and the surrounding area.
Therefore, local SEO is a technique to ensure that when a person in a location near yours searches for a service or product you sell, your business will pop up at the top of their search results.
How Does Local SEO Function?
Google and other search engines look at your company to determine your local ranking. When they do so, three primary factors are essential:
- Relevance
- Distance
- Importance
Regarding Google, relevance is about how great your business profile matches with what a person is searching for. Distance is about how far the search result is from the location term used in the search, and importance is about how important; therefore, well-known Google considers your company’s business to be.
Why Is Local SEO the Best Choice?
The primary reason why local SEO is the best choice regarding local business growth is that it will make your services and products easy to find.
Still, here are another three essential reasons why you should hire a local SEO agency:
It Helps with Mobile Searches
It’s an undeniable fact that people search for things most of the time on their mobile devices, especially smartphones. Of course, laptops or PCs are still used, but most of us search for anything on our mobile phones, including services and products.
Therefore, if your local SEO is done wisely, you will be one of the top choices on Google and other search engines when people search for something near them. That’s why mobile-friendliness is essential these days since otherwise, people may find your site but won’t use it if it’s not mobile-friendly. Therefore, local SEO and being mobile-friendly go hand to hand.
Nevertheless, having a site that looks excellent via mobile isn’t going to mean anything if people can’t find it. And to find it, you need excellent local SEO practices implemented, so your site pops up to users in front of your competitors.
It Attracts City-Visitors and Newcomers
The people that live in your city, especially those next to your business, will certainly know your services and products.
However, the ultimate goal is to attract more and more buyers, so you mustn’t forget about city visitors or tourists, especially newcomers in your town and the surrounding area.
When people come to your city, they don’t know more or less anything about businesses and companies nearby. As mentioned at the beginning, you may have the best beer brands in the city, but they don’t know that. Therefore, they will search on Google, so the goal is to rank high so that these potential customers see your business first and come to buy your products and services; instead of your competitors.
The same rule applies to people who are newcomers. When they begin exploring their new city, they first want to know where they can get the best products and services. With local SEO, they will discover your business first and possibly even become local customers extremely fast.
It Improves Your Competitiveness
Last but not least, local SEO will improve your competitiveness significantly.
In essence, it doesn’t matter whether you have the best service in town if it’s not visible to potential customers. The level of competition is enormous, even on a local scale, so if your local competitors rank at the top of Google all the time, they will destroy your company and take away your buyers.
Why?
Because people usually click on the first links that show up on search engines, especially when it comes to Google. Therefore, with local SEO, you can become much more competitive since your company will be the one potential buyers will click on since you will be at the top of the SERPs.
In short, people don’t like to bother at all when they want to buy something, so they almost always pick the first top option when they search for something on Google.
So, hire a local SEO agency as soon as possible and get the best out of these advantages to boost your local business!
