SEO is that daunting acronym nobody really likes to confront, especially without help or as much knowledge as possible before leaping into its intricacies. To start, the term stands for search engine optimization. It is the term used to describe the processes involved in improving your online content to increase organic visibility on search engine results pages (wherever you go for that).
The better your SEO, or visibility, the most likely you’ll be found by your intended audience.
Good SEO = Business Success.
But we aren’t here to talk about general SEO — we have a whole insight where we outline the components and benefits of general SEO, so go read that — we are here to talk about taking advantage of your locality to raise awareness of your business.
Same cave, different beast. Whereas general SEO best practices will improve your visibility on main organic listings, strategic and specific emphasis on local SEO will help you appear more often in local search results. Local SEO techniques can bring in qualified traffic, reduce your reliance on spendy ads, and boost your reputation within the community.
If you’re thinking in terms of Google (as most businesses do and should), local SEO strategies will help your business listing in the Local Pack and Map Pack rank higher and more often. When Google algorithms detect that someone is looking for something around them, for example, ‘apartment complexes near me,’ Map Pack will give them results at the top of the search results that are local to them. Google has its magical ways of detecting immediate, local need to help it feed your business to potential customers.
Map Pack is helpful because businesses can appear on it without having a website. This is because Map Pack’s results are largely informed by Google Business Profiles, which we’ll get into in a bit. Essentially, things like reviews and star ratings, Google Posts, and other elements of your GBP are what make you show up in Google Maps.
Paying attention to your website content and ad content is just as important as your GBP. Make sure you include local keyword research in your strategies. Include the city/neighborhood/county name in search terms or any local slang (for example, RINO = River North Arts District). Knowing your community and how people talk about it is important. You can prove your community knowledge through adding blogs or resources to your website relevant to your local area. Through those blogs, include keywords that Google can pick up on.
It’s Google’s search algorithms, technical SEO for your website, on-page optimization of webpages, and keywords in local ad groups that will offer opportunities for your business to appear in local organic results.
Let’s let statistics about user behavior do the talking:
People value Google and the information it feeds them. Most users are using their phone, opening their Google app, and searching for things like ‘best dentist near me’ and will trust the information they are seeing there. They won’t see your business at the top of their search if you aren’t doing the due diligence to optimize your local SEO.
There are three main factors in Google ranking: relevance, distance, and prominence.
Your Google Business Profile will help with relevance. If the services you provide match what the user is searching for, you will bump up to the top of their search results. This only occurs if your GBP accurately matches what you offer, is clear, truthful, and reflects the best parts of your business. You can learn more about GBP in one of our guides where we talk more about what it is and how you can use it to your advantage.
Distance is what it is. You’re either close to where someone lives or not. However, by having an accurate address listed under your GBP, people are more likely to find you.
Prominence is based on how well-known Google considers your business.
You can influence each of these categories by considering these factors in your Local SEO efforts:
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We know, finally the good stuff — the benefits. The true ‘why’ when it comes to local SEO. No one benefit is better than the other, they all work together to make you a better business for yourselves and your customers.
We hope to have convinced you. Local SEO can be hugely impactful to your business. Consider everything we’ve shared, and if you don’t know where to start, give us a call. We’d be happy to help you.