Why Local SEO is Important and How it Affects Your Business

You've probably heard a lot about local SEO being one of the most important facets of digital marketing.

However, we believe it is only fair to have a clear idea of ​​what exactly local SEO is, how relevant it is in today's world, and how it affects businesses before we nod our heads and think agree with the population.

This article breaks down this information for you so you have a clear idea of ​​why local SEO is so dominant in online marketing and how it can help you grow your business. Let's check out this website.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is designed to enhance your company's visibility in location-based searches. It's just a variation of your usual search engine optimization to make sure your business is found online by people looking for it in that location.

These include search queries with specific geographic features such as city, state, zip code, and so on, as well as search queries near me where Google identifies the person's geographic location and provides search results from that area.

Why is it important?

Local SEO is extremely important, especially if you have a brick-and-mortar store or a company that offers a service in a specific location.

According to research conducted by Forbes, 95% of smartphone users used their device to conduct local searches, of which 61% called the company and 59% visited the company.

And SearchEngineWatch found that 70% of mobile phone users use their phones to call a business directly from Google's search results.

These numbers show that leads from location-based searches are an important opportunity for potential customers, and these numbers will only increase. Since these leads come from people who are specifically looking for products or services that your company offers, you can assume that they are qualified leads, which in any case also have a higher conversion rate.

Get your business on Google's Local 3-Pack

In addition, local SEO can help your business appear in Google's local 3-pack. This is one of the most sought after points when it comes to search engine results. What is this local 3 pack, you ask? Well, here it is.
At first, Google's SERP responded to local search queries by displaying the snippet of the seven most popular companies involved in your search. This was called a local 7-pack and contained the addresses, phone numbers, and directional links to each of these companies.

As the browsing trends evolved to be dominated by smartphones, Google reduced the 7-pack to just three results for better user experience. As you may have guessed, it is now referred to as a local pack of 3, and for that reason, a place is so sought after here.

According to this Moz study, 44% of people doing a local search clicked on a local 3 pack list, while only 8% decided to load "more local results". This shows that most people looking for local entries find what they are looking for, within the local 3-pack options.

The basics of local SEO

Now that we have looked at what local SEO is and why it matters, we want to find out what you can do to improve your company's local SEO.

The first thing to understand here is that this is SEO for location-based searches. This means that a physical address or physical location is a prerequisite for displaying a business in local search results. If your company's address is not updated in Google My Business and other online directories, it will not appear when a customer searches for "Near me" or "In * Place name *".

Next, make sure your company's NAP (name, address, and phone number) is consistent across all the online directories you've registered. If any inconsistencies arise, Google will most likely avoid listing your business in the local 3 pack. You can even opt for a tool like Synup that manages all of your online records so you do not have to manually update each directory.

How does local SEO affect your business?

If you own a small business, optimizing your company's local SEO can be extremely rewarding. Let's take a look at some benefits of local search engine optimization:

• Local SEO helps potential customers discover your business. Many local searches come from non-locals looking for a business like yours, and if local search engine optimization is done correctly, your business can track that audience.
• Local SEO offers potential customers the information they want when they want it. For example, if your restaurant has free Wi-Fi or is pet-friendly, displaying this information will attract customers looking for it as part of your local search engine optimization.
• Even if your business does not have a website, local SEO helps your business differentiate itself from local search queries and drive traffic through online leads.
• As mentioned earlier, 61% of people who did a local search called the company. Optimizing local search offers potential customers the opportunity to take these actions, and this gives your business a qualified head start that you can convert.
• Local SEO helps people make decisions in favor of your business. The more data you have about your business, the more trustworthy you are in your eyes. This is a strong foundation on which to build a mutually beneficial customer relationship.

Now that you know how local SEO can help your business, you can better manage its online presence and build your customer base. Adding an SEO company to your marketing team not only enhances your local SEO but also increases your placement on organic search engines for your website and your competitors. Arrange a free consultation that fits your calendar and see how our experts can help your business grow through search engine optimization.