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How can you tell if your local SEO strategy is needed? This is where the key word matters: “local.” Are you able to attract customers as far away as 15 miles? Customers searching for your products or services would drive up to ten miles to reach your business. These questions can be answered if you answer “yes” to the following questions.
What is local SEO? Why is it important?
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is optimizing your online presence in order to draw business through local searches on Google or other search engines. Hubspot‘s statistics on local SEO show that 46% of all Google searches are for information in the local area. 72% of those who used local SEO near me to search for local products or services visited a local store within five miles.
This is a viable option, if you were one of these businesses, it sure worked. Do you want to know where to begin? We’ve compiled a list of five reasons local SEO is essential to your business‘ success.
Five Reasons Why Local SEO is Essential to Your Business’ Success
Reason #1:
Your business details are visible to consumers searching for your products and services:
Do you remember the days when you could search the yellow pages for businesses that offered the services or products you were looking for? You can simply type in the product or service that you are looking for on your computer, laptop or mobile device. You will see the businesses offering those services or products. It will also show you all the businesses that are close enough to your current location to be able to drive there if you enter “near me”.
It’s very simple. These local SEO “near me” searches can save you time. You just need to choose the item you want, then pull up the map with directions. You’ll notice that these results are populated with online business directories much like the yellow pages from years past.
Both local SEO and organic SEO are important. A content marketing strategy should help your pages rank higher in search engine results for certain keywords and key phrases. This is the goal of organic SEO strategies. Local SEO agency is crucial for businesses serving a local community. For global businesses that attract customers from all parts of the world, it is less important.
Reason #2:
Online Directory Citations that are consistent and accurate will boost your Organic and Local Pack Rankings.
Your business name, address and phone number must be listed accurately and consistent across all top-ranked local directories and citations. This information is called your NAP Data (name and address plus phone number). If the search engine bot is confident that your information matches its expectations, it will be more likely to include your business on search engine result pages (SERPs).
This seems reasonable. You might feel frustrated if Google sends you to a business you don’t know or gives you a number that is no longer in use. These basic details about your business are important for search engines to locate.
If they find the same information in multiple places, and it is all consistent and correct, they trust it. Google and Bing may see inconsistent or confusing data. They consider the information less reliable. Search engines will be more inclined to ignore you and instead favor businesses with consistent NAP Data.
Reason #3:
Your business site gets more links back to it from trusted, authoritative sites:
SEO plays an important role in backlinks. These are links that point to your website from authoritative, trusted websites. These links validate the existence of your website and prove that it is viable in the vast internet world. Some directory citation websites add URL fields to their listings, and show these URLs as “dofollow” links. This adds valuable link equity to your website. Backlinks are used by search engines to determine domain authority. This boosts your SEO.
You may also want vendors and product providers to link to your site (with a dofollow URL).
Reason #4:
Your business will be closer to landing on the first page of search engine results:
Search engine results pages (SERPs) take up a lot of space on the web directory sites. Local businesses that are listed in these directories receive top billing for local search queries. You don’t need to be on these lists.
It is important to learn how to get your company listed in local directories. Otherwise, you could lose valuable business. What you don’t know online could be detrimental to your business.
You may have the best pizza in town but if the guy searching for “pizza near my” doesn’t find your place, he will go to the nearest competitor. This brings us to Reason 5.
Reason #5
Third-Party Reviews are a great opportunity for your business:
These are the three core pillars to rank well in the Google Local Map Pack.
- Relevance
What are the keywords and topics that potential customers search for on your site?
- Prominence
What makes your business stand out online and how well do you manage to do it?
- Proximity
Is your business located near the customer looking for your products and services?
We have already touched on proximity and relevance. We’ve already discussed relevance and proximity. Now let’s talk about prominence. The positive reputation and comments that your business receives on the internet. How can search engines locate this information? Many directories and citations allow customers to leave reviews and rate their experience with local businesses.
