Explaining Local SEO: What It Is and How to Get Started

So, how critical do you think local search engine optimization really is? Did you know that each second, 40,000 or more people search for a variety of things online? While a good majority shop for products and services, others look for popular places to eat or drink with their buddies or co-workers. And did you also know that half the people that search for products/services via smartphone end up becoming the customers of the businesses they discovered online?

There isn’t a shred of doubt that your website needs to climb search engine rankings to survive, remain relevant and reach to a wider target audience. This is especially true for small businesses that also have walk-in customers.

The Essence of Local SEO

As the name suggests, local SEO is a focused digital marketing campaigning for local businesses. It enables small, local organizations to enhance their services and promote their offerings at precisely the same time when their target audience is looking for those products or services.

This type of digital marketing utilizes big search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Plus, it also uses local business directories like TouchLocal or Qype. These are just a couple of services local users and customers visit to search for reputable local businesses.

Understand that local SEO eliminates the guesswork involved in marketing your business locally. It is far better and different than traditionally marketing like posting an ad in the newspaper or dropping promotional letters in mailboxes.

Compelling Reasons Why You Should Immediately Implement Local SEO

• Local Customers Now Prefer Looking for Local Businesses Online

Did you know that 64% of local shoppers resort to using internet search engines as well as online business directories as their primary source to locate local businesses? It is also true that 28% of all shoppers still use paper directories, magazines, etc. to search for businesses.

• Local Search for Businesses Online has Increased to 58%

According to a report, 2008-09 were the years when the amount of local searches (which are searches that have locations in them) increased by 58%. The growth was twice that of traditional search volumes – and it meant that more people were interested in looking for local businesses using big search engines like Google or Yahoo.

• Local SEO is Highly Focused, Precise and Doesn’t Waste Time

Utilizing search engines like Google and combining it with business directories online effectively markets your business to all local customers at precisely the time when the search for your product or products similar to your own. There is really not efficient and stronger way of connecting with your target audience than at the time when they need you the most.

How to Get Started?

Launch a Google My Business Page

This is the first thing you must to do embark on a successful journey to establishing a prominent local SEO campaign. The Google My Business profile is the most important step in the process. This is where you comprehensively define the parameters of your contact information and it should precisely appear encompassing the entirety of Web and social media.

Moreover, this profile page enables your organization to be viewed on Google Maps. This factor alone can help attract scores of new local customers. The Google My Business page is linked other factors such as how your customers review your products and services and how you place online citations.

Analyze your Citations

Citations are the next best and most important component of your local SEO campaign. A citation refers to every listing of your organization’s name, its contact information and physical address placed on your web pages and other social media sites.  We refer to this as NAP (name, address and phone), it is super important that it is the same on your website and across all directories.

The rule of thumb here is the higher the density of your citations, the higher your local search engine ranking. The algorithms designed by Google value citations that are placed on popular local business directories.

Launch your Blog

It is also important to connect with your customers on a personal level. And the best way to do that is to start a good blog or have a professional web designer help you. Post blogs pertaining to different issues you see and feel in your society, in your neighborhood and city. While you write, don’t forget to include citation on every blog post. Next, share that post on your Twitter and Facebook. This is perhaps the best way to widen your target audience demographic.  Blogs are also a good way to feed Google content and push keywords your are trying to rank for.