No matter what type of business you’re in, customers are vital to your overall success.
The internet has made the process of finding businesses that exist in their area a breeze.
Everyone has a smartphone in their pocket, and whenever they’re looking to buy something in their area, they usually head to search engines like Google to locate the best places to go.
If your business’s name is not showing up on the search results, customers will most likely not even know that you exist.
The experience is a little bit different than it used to be; if you want people to buy from you, then you have to cater to what it is they need and meet them halfway.
People need to be able to find you quickly at a moment’s notice.
If you own a restaurant and want people to eat at your establishment, you need to be front and center on Google my business or other food directories.
Your website needs to be optimized and readily accessible to anybody who wants to learn more about your menu or see any specials you may be having.
Today will be breaking down and talking about the benefits of local SEO, which will hopefully convince you that it’s time you optimize your business to be found online.
First things first, let’s start with what local SEO is and why you should care.
Table Of Contents
What Is Local SEO, And What Is The Point?
2. More Trust From Online And In Person Customers
3. Stay Current Among Other Local Businesses
4. Appeal To Customers Exactly When They’re Looking To Buy
6. Get In Front Of More People
7. Repeat Business Potential Goes Up
8. More Customers Means More Profit
9. People In The Local Area Will Notice You More
What Is Local SEO, And What Is The Point?
Local SEO is the best way for local businesses to be found online.
Essentially businesses partner with search engines like Google to be presented within search results whenever someone searches “____ in my area” or “____ around me.”
For example, if you own a painting company and someone goes to google searching for “painting companies near them,” your business would show up.
The searcher will then be able to see everything that could be considered beneficial when deciding whether they should do business with you.
This is important because if your local business and you can’t be found online nowadays, most likely people will skip over you for the companies they can find online.
No one walks around town in search of a great place to eat anymore.
They pull out their phones or laptops and see what the best places are around them within the food category they’re looking for.
The whole point of optimizing your business for local SEO is that it positions you to be found by people looking for you.
How Does Local SEO Work?
Search engines like Google have one job and one job only: to provide relevant results to queries.
All this means is that they want to match people with the best answers possible to their questions.
When someone types in “what are the best waterproof backpacks,” Google will give them results displaying all the different companies and resources to find the best waterproof backpacks.
Google also can give results based on location and localized searches.
This means that if you happen to be in Seattle, Washington, and you look up “barbers near me,” Google will show you all the barbers listed online within that area and the businesses that have optimized for local SEO.
Searchers will pick and choose through the results after looking at all of the information provided and make the best decision accordingly.
The magic with local SEO is that you don’t have to compete with all businesses worldwide but just the ones in the specific area you operate in.
If you’re running a barbershop in Detroit, Michigan, then all you have to do is optimize your business’s website to get in front of the specific people in your area who will be searching for you.
This can be replicated no matter where you are and give you a competitive advantage over the businesses that don’t know this information and aren’t practicing local SEO.
Benefits Of Local SEO
The cool thing about local SEO is that it takes the pressures of competition between other businesses that aren’t in your area out of the equation.
To clear up why you should be actively participating in local SEO practices, you should be aware of 10 benefits of Local SEO:
1. Increased Website Traffic
If you made a website because you thought that it would automatically present you with more attention and traffic for your business, I’m sure you found out by now it doesn’t work like that.
There is a little bit more work that has to go into the equation before then.
By optimizing your website for local SEO, you’re making it easier for search engines like Google to place you within search results where people are looking for a pro in your area today.
Getting placed in local search results will start your traction of getting more customers and increasing your website visitors exponentially over time.
Think of it as a ripple effect.
As soon as you start getting more traffic from local searches, Google will see your website as more relevant and place you in more results for more people.
In the eyes of Google, your website ranking(the value you bring to the table) will go up.
Over time more and more people will come to your website because you’re doing a good job staying relevant to the area you do best.
2. More Trust From Online And In Person Customers
Everyone these days searches up businesses online before ever deciding on whom they’re going to do business with.
53% of shoppers say they always do research before they buy to ensure they are making the best possible choice.
This trend will not stop anytime soon; as a matter of fact, it will probably increase.
People trust what search engines on google have to say, so if you want to be recommended by big companies like this, it’s essential to embrace local SEO.
The more places people see your business’s name, the more likely they will trust and believe that your business can take care of them for the situation and problem they’re trying to solve.
This makes sense for online businesses, but especially to localized firms, people search Google to see what the best “whatever you do” is within their specific area.
Even if you have a physical location, people don’t necessarily believe that you’re a trustworthy source.
Everyone is a skeptic these days.
Without any proof to back up your claims from either a past customer experience in the form of social proof like testimonials or case studies, it makes the challenge of people buying from you greater.
Being found online is a bare minimum these days.
3. Stay Current Among Other Local Businesses
Many businesses are jumping on the train and getting up-to-date with their local SEO, but it’s not perfect yet, and every business isn’t on the train.
This is great for you because it gives you a competitive advantage over the people out there that are procrastinating and waiting too long.
You can stay ahead of those people by getting a jump on it now and staking your claim, so people know who you are, and it’ll show that you’ve been around longer as time continues to pass.
Eventually, all businesses will be found online and practicing local SEO, so you might as well take your spot now while there still a chance.
If people can’t find your business online, they won’t know that you even exist to shop with you.
Make it easy for customers to choose you to want to comes to the decision-making process.
4. Appeal To Customers Exactly When They’re Looking To Buy
It’s crucial that you get in front of people when they’re ready to buy.
The odds are that they will end up going with your business if they see you then and there when they are in the buying mindset.
72% of local searches resulted in an in-person visit within 5 miles of the user.
There isn’t a better opportunity out there as a local business for you to jump on.
Google wants to keep people happy and give them exactly what they need at the moment they need it, so why not be in a position to be referred to at that moment in time?
5. Reduce Ad Costs
Ads cost money; it’s very simple.
The more ads you run, the more you’re going to have to pay.
However, the big thing with ads is that once you stop them, the flow of leads also comes to a halt.
People will not see your ads anymore, and new potential customers will not even know you exist due to not seeing your business ads.
It’s a vicious cycle that is pretty hard to beat and get ahead of unless you were doing something else to build up your business for the long term online, such as search engine optimization.
Once you put the effort in for SEO, like creating helpful blog content and optimizing your website, the work is done, and you can expect to benefit from your efforts well after the content is made.
You don’t have to pay anything past the point of what you had to for the original piece of content or the optimization, making it more cost-effective than running ads.
This isn’t to say that they can’t be done in unison.
Still, suppose you were to supplement more effort into SEO initially until you are found on google and then slowly wean off ads and ad spending; in that case, you’d be able to reallocate the funds into a different stream of advertising or marketing efforts.
6. Get In Front Of More People
Every day people are looking for businesses just like yours to help them solve a problem.
If you aren’t visible, guess what, they’re going to go to someone else.
Optimizing for local SEO helps to get your business in front of more people effectively when needed the most.
Google wants to show your business as long as it is set up correctly and is seen as a relevant resource for its users.
Google is serious about providing good value sources to everyone that uses it.
They want to show the most relevant businesses out there, and you can benefit from this the more relevant you do your business.
7. Repeat Business Potential Goes Up
Once people interact with businesses that provide excellent customer service, their chances of returning are incredibly high.
Everyone wants a great experience when they spend their money and time dealing with businesses like yours.
This should be your priority every time someone walks through your door.
Continually reinforce that you are there for them by following up through email or any other preferred messaging format.
Keep the relationship going so that you come top of mind when they are ready to buy what you have to offer again.
8. More Customers Means More Profit
This is an obvious one, but it’s worth pointing out because it holds the most value.
If you’re like most people, you got in a business to make money.
You’re trying to create something of meaning and value, and profit is validation for your efforts.
Yes, it’s nice to make a little more money because more money means more options.
More options mean more peace of mind and focus on what you enjoy doing.
Plus, there is an unexpected benefit from achieving peace of mind.
People naturally want to do business with you because your tone will be coming off as more of an expert than someone needy and just after the sale.
Psychology plays a role in this, but the main thing to note here is that more profit means more peace of mind, and naturally, more overall sales.
9. People In The Local Area Will Notice You More
As people drive by your physical location, they probably see it without really realizing what it is.
Once that same customer sees you online, it’ll solidify the fact that you are there and ready to help them with whatever problem you solve.
The more times someone sees your brand and interacts with it, they will most likely keep you upfront and center in their minds.
Have you ever wondered why there so many Starbucks is out there?
it’s no accident.
Starbucks aims to have one on every corner of every street because it keeps its name in the back of your mind and continually builds the impression that they are the only coffee shops you should be going to.
The more of them you see, the more validation in the back of your head that they are the best option for coffee or tea.
Nearly everyone recognizes their white and green siren logo by now; It’s a worldwide phenomenon.
Take after what Starbucks is doing and get in front of your customers online and other places that they may be hanging out on a day-to-day basis.
The internet has made it very easily accessible to get in front of the people who want to do business with you.
10. Keep Your Business Running 24/7 Even When Not There
The internet doesn’t shut off, and that’s the magical part.
Your business can be running all the time whenever you’re sleeping or on vacation.
Yes, you will have to have someone there to manage the storefront, but in all reality, your marketing efforts will still be acting in the background if people were to ever search for the products and services you offer.
Your local community can search up your business or phrases that might lead to your business any time of the day.
Whether it’s 1 AM or 10 PM, your web local search presence will still be there.
People can send messages all night long, and you can get them in the morning, or if you have someone who is there for that, they can take care of the responsibility.
Local SEO goes past just your local community and also lets people find you everywhere and anywhere in the world.
Eventually making it possible for you to do business outside of your geographical location.
Conclusion
Local SEO benefits are pretty substantial and shouldn’t be overlooked as something that doesn’t matter.
In today’s modern age, everyone is online doing their research on the businesses that they bring into their lives.
Focusing on your local community can lower competition rates and make you look like more of an authority to the people who want to do business with your company.
Just remember that moving forward, you want to be there for your customer every step of the journey, especially when they’re looking to buy.
This is your opportune time to get ahead of your competition and focus on your current local SEO practices; that way, when your competition finally catches on, you’ll be so far ahead of them that it’s almost impossible to catch up.
Thank you for hanging out with us today; as always, we appreciate you!
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