There are probably so many things that we daily search for on Google that we might not even remember. From the local grocery shops to the fine dining restaurants around us, not many people miss the previous times when finding a place wasn’t so easy.

It has become a matter of a few minutes, rather seconds, nowadays. We take out our phones, search the thing or place we are looking for, and go ahead with it.

More than 70% of us don’t even go past the first few searches on the first page of Google results. People take information from the top searches and end the search. Businesses appearing on that first page are the ones doing it right! They are the ones getting the main customer traffic, and gaining an advantage in their businesses. This is known as building an SEO strategy.

However, if your business or service is limited to a specific area only; for example, your restaurant serves in your block only, a local SEO strategy is your way to go. Local SEO is ideal for brick and mortar businesses looking for marketing and making themselves known to their targeted consumer base. Before delving into how important this is for your business, let us review once what local SEO actually is.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO implies working on the geographical element of your business, including enabling your location, contact number, and Google reviews for the people searching for you.

Developing local SEO is quintessential to increase your search rankings effectively. It is so because when people search for bakeries near me, they expect the nearby bakeries to pop up with complete results including their address, contact number, and reviews.

The main goal of local SEO for your business

Every business strategy that you implement for your company should have a certain overarching goal or target. The main goal with which you should pursue with designing a local SEO strategy is to appear on Google’s local 3-pack.

Google initially used to show the top 7 related searches to a query. It showed the addresses and contact of the business or service provider in the form of a snippet. However, it has now been reduced to show only 3 top relevant searches. So, if your local SEO plan does not secure you a position among those top 3, you probably need to re-evaluate it.

Why is it so important?

In today’s world where everything is accessible from the internet on the phone, businesses also need to make their presence known anywhere and everywhere for potential consumers. Less than 5% of the people who perform a search go beyond the 3-pack results.

Therefore, local SEO benefits you in the following ways:

1.      Gets you discovered

There is nothing heartier for a business than its potential consumers discovering it. If you have opened a small coffee shop in an area and need to get yourself discovered, develop and implement a local SEO strategy. When people in your vicinity enter a search, “coffee shops near me” or “best coffee in my area,” your address should pop up.

It brings more and more traffic to your business website as half of the people searching a business or a service on Google are actually searching for addresses.

2.      Displays your information worldwide

According to a Google survey regarding understanding the consumer behavior revealed that 18% of the consumers who search Google for a business or a service actually go and make the purchase within one day.

The same survey revealed that more than 70% of the people search to confirm the address and physical location of a business before going there. If your business information is delivered on such an extensively rich platform where consumers are targeted so easily, you’re in great luck.

1.      Attracts more customers

Because 78% of local searches ending up in offline purchases, local SEO is the most powerful tool your business can ever get. In this time and era, nobody is devoid of using a cell phone and utilizing the Google search. Whether it is a search for a plumber, or spa services, or local ice cream spots, local SEO strategy brings you more customers than anything else.

2.      Helps in networking, link building, and social sharing

A local SEO company helps your business create close-linked partnerships with other businesses related to yours. When you use these partnerships for link building, your targeted segment enhances, and you get free social media sharing.

Contact with local bloggers and other local businesses helps increase your reach many folds and thus shoots up your organic searches.

3.      Increased profits for brick and mortar businesses

If you’re a brick and mortar business, your website is the extension of your business. It is the crucial bridge between you and your potential consumers who you cannot reach physically. The virtual image of your business (your website) helps your consumers to know about you, have more information, and finally lead to actual purchases.

Think of local SEO strategy as an extension of the brick and mortar businesses. The ones who cannot reach the store or a restaurant physically and get to know about it, get all the information from Google. It significantly helps in the branding of your business. More and more consumers can get to know the business through local searches and then visit the store.

Final word

Local SEO is quintessential to your business success if you implement it widely. Your local SEO should lead potential consumers to a clear and detailed website, containing all the essential information about your business. You should put out the best and honest version of your business on Google, with proper address, phone number, and positive reviews.

Nothing can be more challenging than marketing your service or business to the targeted customers. However, inbound marketing has turned such unrealistic possibilities in certainly possible ones. Develop an effective local strategy with the right keywords and see your business boom!

Local SEO