A large portion of Google’s searches are people looking for local goods and services. Despite believe that Google is the home for searching for information, people are using it more and more to help them with their everyday lives. This includes finding places to eat, hotels to stay at, and dozens of other everyday services.
Companies can take advantage of this by implementing local SEO for small business into their websites. This will rank them higher on Google’s search results, and it helps individuals find the exact service they require.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the act of improving your online local presence in an attempt to bring new customers through the doors of your brick-and-mortar location. The great thing about this kind of advertising is the rate of success. A recent survey showed that 76% of people who searched for a local business on Google visited soon after. An incredible 28% end up making a purchase. This easily beats out almost every other form of advertising.
Improving Local SEO
Improving your local SEO isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Even if you put the right keywords in your landing page, you might struggle to get your website to chart very high for local searches. The good news is, there are a few things you can do to improve local listings yourself.
First, always include company name, address, and company phone number on each of your platforms. This includes social media, YouTube, and your Google listing. Google doesn’t like to show businesses that don’t have an address and phone number listed, so it’s important to keep all social media and Google listings up to date.
Around 70% of users call a company using the link provided directly in the search results. If your company doesn’t have a clickable link listed for phone number, the potential customer will likely click on a competitor because it’s faster and more convenient than navigating your website to find the number.
In addition to the above listed information, it’s a good idea to provide business hours and additional directions to your location somewhere in your website.
You can Claim Free Business Listings
You don’t have to pay money for basic local SEO, but there are some paid services that will help you out if you wish. The first free thing you should do is list your business on Google’s online directories. This will make it so your business has the possibility of appearing at the top of the search results above other companies and competitors.
Requesting Reviews from Customers
A large portion of potential customers pay attention to the reviews posted on Google, even if they only look at the number of stars listed. That’s why it’s important to amass yourself some positive reviews. The best way to do this is to ask your loyal customers for online reviews, encouraging them to share their true opinion on the business.
You might occasionally get yourself a bad review, but you can take advantage of these situations too. On Google, you’re able to respond to reviews and help customers directly from the comment section. You might even be able to resolve their issue and show other customers that you have great support.
