Local SEO proves to be a very powerful tool for a small business. It makes you more visible to the customers around you. Suppose you’re a nail salon based in Visakhapatnam and if a person is searching for just that and your local SEO strategies have worked well, you’ll be in the top results and may be able to bag a customer! It not only attracts customers; it helps in promoting your business to the audience around you.
Now, this may not seem that convincing to you but hold your horses, we have more reasons why local search engine optimization has managed to hold on to its importance.
· Makes you more competitive– When you invest in local SEO (which we’ll call L-SEO in this article), your ranking on the search result increases and help you compete with the other players in your area.
· Visitors & Newcomers– Suppose that people are visiting your area, or some new people have just moved in, it’s very likely that they’ll search on the internet for any and every shop/service they require; and if your business comes up on the first page, you’re welcoming new people in!
· Inexpensive– We know that this is a reason that you weren’t expecting but it is also something you were definitely thinking about. The cost you incur when you invest in a good L-SEO plan is actually quite inexpensive when you take into account the fact that it is a long-term investment.
Now, we understand that it might seem like a teensy bit complicated to understand it this way so let’s look at some examples, shall we?
i. Claim your Google My Business listing.
ii. Optimize for relevant keywords on your website.
iii. Make sure your page is mobile-friendly.
iv. Your local listings should be consistent.
v. Earn reviews and do not forget to respond to them.
We hope that this concept is now clear to you and we’d like to move forward and talk about SEO audits and how to undergo one.
An SEO audit is done to see how well your web page is responding to the strategies you have implemented. Doing so allows you to see where you’ve gone wrong and where your assumptions have proven to be correct.
Here we have some pointers that you should keep in mind while doing an SEO audit.
a. Layout keyword search- One of the best free tools to start with is the Google Keyword Planner. It can tell you the volume of a select keyword and its difficulty for ranking.
b. Research on competitors- Look at your competitor’s GMB profile, local listings, review count, and social media presence. You should have a fair and clear idea of what your business is up against.
c. Audit your GMB account- Make sure you have relevant high-quality images, correct category and sub-category, proper description and keywords, and any other relevant information.
d. Check your links and citations- The more links you have coming from high-authority, relevant domains, the better it’s going to be for your business. While checking citations keep in mind that it lists the correct NAP, is uniform across all citations, and is placed on high authority websites & platforms.
e. Review your reviews- Customers trust their community. Responding to the reviews you get is also very important. It is a way to show Google that you are an active business that continues to participate and pay attention to your customers.
A businessperson should always pay attention to the facts and figures so we’ve got you some SEO statistics that you should definitely keep an eye on.
– 46% of all searches on Google include local intent.
– 97% of users have searched online to find local businesses.
– Searchers visit 1.5 billion locations related to their Google searches, every month.
– A purchase follows 28% of all local searches.
– 78% of the local searches on mobile phones result in offline buying.
– 70% of searchers visit the physical shop if the information is not found online.
– “Near me” searches have grown incredibly and have resulted in offline visits.
– 62% of the customers disregard a business if they can’t find them online.
We sincerely hope that we have been helpful and you will go local (SEO’ing!)