Are you among the 56 percent of local businesses that haven’t claimed their Google My Business? If so, you’re missing out on a key opportunity to support your local SEO efforts.
Maybe you’re not convinced of the benefits local SEO has for your business. It could also be that, like many business owners, you just don’t have time. Creating an effective local SEO strategy takes effort.
Some business owners have used local SEO tactics on their own. If you didn’t see results, you might have abandoned these tactics.
In all these scenarios, consider hiring local SEO services for your business. They could be the key to unlocking the potential of local SEO for boosting your business profits.
How can working with an SEO agency increase your profits? The thought might leave you scratching your head. Hiring a provider means you need to pay for services, which increases your costs.
As these five reasons show, investing in effective services from a local SEO provider is a smart move. The services will more than pay for themselves, and they can help you put more into the bottom line.
At this stage, you might be wondering how local SEO works. Like other SEO tactics, it’s a way of optimizing your web presence for search engines. The difference is that it allows businesses to target local audiences.
This is a huge step forward for many small and mid-sized businesses. To rank for keywords at the national level, you might be competing with huge corporations. That can mean high bids on keywords or low visibility for your brand.
You don’t have the time, effort, or budget a national or international company has.
You may not even want to compete at this level. If you run a sandwich shop in LA, you’re not interested in getting your website in front of people in New York. Unless they’re traveling soon, these people likely won’t buy from you.
Local SEO solves this problem. It allows search engines to geotarget people based on where they’re searching from. This provides the user with more relevant search results, which improves their experience.
Think about it. Someone in New York City who wants to grab a quick bite for lunch isn’t looking for your LA shop. When Google delivers localized results, they find the information they’re looking for.
As people have switched to mobile devices, they’re conducting more “near me” searches. They’re searching for information on the go, and they want local results.
These searches often encourage people to take the next step too. Half of all people searching from a smartphone go on to visit the store within the next day. More than a third of people using a tablet did the same.
Local searches can also lead to more phone calls. A potential customer may call ahead to make sure you have something in stock. They might reach out to get a quote or an estimate.
In short, people are looking for your local business. Local SEO allows you to turn those searches into traffic to your website or store.
Like all SEO, of course, local has to be done right. If you’re trying to rank for “best sandwich shop LA,” you need the right SEO tactics. Otherwise, your competitors might beat you out and your customers will never see you.
You also need to be sure of the terms your customers are actually looking for. With the help of a local SEO agency, you can zero in on the local search terms people are using. You can weed out keywords they don't search for, as well as keywords your competitors dominate.
As noted, people are searching. By using effective local SEO, you can find more leads. More leads will turn into more sales.
It’s unlikely you have no competition for your business. You may compete for customers with another local business. You might compete with nearby businesses if your product or service isn’t tied to location.
Our LA sandwich shop proprietor isn’t the only sandwich-maker in LA. They may not be the only business owner trying to rank for local keywords either. Even national brands with a local office or store may try to rank for the same keywords you want.
A local agency can help you identify keywords your competitors rank for. They can also help you devise ways to outwit and outrank them. Whether they’re big or small, you can outplay them at the local SEO game.
If you’re new to SEO, you may not realize all the tactics you can use to outrank your competitors. By partnering with a local SEO provider, you can ensure you increase your share of traffic.
This helps you increase both your leads and your sales. People may choose you over a competitor, or they may decide to switch from your competitor. The right local SEO strategy can make it happen.
More traffic turns into more leads. More leads eventually convert to more sales. That’s why you want to make sure you’re increasing the number of leads in your sales pipeline.
There’s good news for local businesses. People conducting mobile searches are primed to convert to customers. Around 80 percent of mobile searches turn into a sale.
Think about how many people use mobile devices only to access the Internet. Consider how many searches people conduct in a day. Local searches are becoming more common too.
Local searches on laptops didn’t perform quite as well. They still turned into sales the majority of the time.
People often use their mobile devices to get information on the go. Most local searches inquire about business hours or open stores nearby. These search terms broadcast the searcher’s intent to visit or make a purchase.
In fact, many people admit that they go online when they want to buy something. Mobile lets them impulse shop no matter where they are.
The sum of the situation is local search drives sales. If your web presence isn’t optimized for local search, you could be missing out on sales.
Even if you do use some form of local SEO, there’s still a question of whether you’re getting the most out of it. You may realize some conversions, but if you’re not ranking #1 on Google, there’s still room for improvement.
The expertise of a local SEO provider could help you make those improvements. In turn, you could increase your sales by leaps and bounds.
Increased sales are a surefire way to increase your business profits.
Not every lead you encounter is ready to convert immediately. That’s something the best local SEO providers recognize.
It’s why they’re going to do much more than drive traffic or increase leads. You want to ensure there are more people in the pipeline. At the same time, you should give the agency some less tangible goals.
One of those could be improving brand visibility. Local SEO can help get your business in front of your audience.
People who are visiting or have moved to town may not know businesses in the area. Even people who have lived locally may not know about your business.
Getting your brand out there is what any marketing effort is about. You want people to see your logo and know your name. You want to tell them about the products and services you have.
As local search statistics prove, there is an audience out there for this information. People are searching for it. They want to know about your brand.
Local SEO thus makes it possible to connect with people even before they’re ready to buy.
Local SEO tactics like Google My Business and building citations let you reach these people. Someone planning a trip to LA in six months may decide to put some restaurants or tours on their itinerary. Someone looking for a roofer may be planning a renovation project in the next year.
These people haven’t converted yet, but they’re likely to. They might also mention your brand to friends and family. These referrals increase people’s awareness of the business and your leads even more.
Local SEO also makes use of reviews and referrals. Working with an agency can help you tap into networks where people are already talking about you. The service provider can also help you find referrals for your own website and networks.
Reviews and referrals are important because they act as social proof. Search engines like social proof, because people trust reviews.
Potential customers want to know about experiences others have had in your shop or with your team. Those reviews help prove to them your company is trustworthy.
It can be difficult to get people to leave a review. With the right services, you can find more people who will be happy to share their thoughts.
The previous four reasons might read like a list of general benefits of local SEO. In some ways, they are. Local SEO boosts your profits with more traffic, better brand visibility, and more sales.
It also allows you to compete more effectively with other businesses.
There is a key difference, though, between local SEO and effective local SEO. That’s the biggest reason why hiring local SEO services will boost your bottom line.
Most SMB owners don’t have the SEO expertise they need to make local SEO work for them. If you’ve never used SEO before, you may not be aware of best practices or the most effective tactics.
SEO tactics are always evolving, so the local SEO tips you read today may not be the best choices six months from now.
When you get local SEO services from a provider, you can rely on their expertise. Not only do they have experience with local SEO, but they’re also always learning. If best practices change, you can bet your provider will be tweaking your strategy in turn.
Working with a local SEO agency also means someone else will put time and effort into your SEO strategy. As a local business owner, you have too much to do already. SEO takes time to learn, plan, and execute.
With the right local digital marketing agency in your corner, you can take your time back. When both you and the SEO provider can focus on your areas of expertise, productivity will also improve.
Getting the right SEO strategy is what lets you find more leads and make more sales. In turn, your profits will increase.
Saving time and improving productivity won’t necessarily increase your sales. It will improve your bottom line. If you want a more profitable business, working with a local SEO provider is the right way to go.
Partnering with an agency for local SEO services can help you grow profits in several ways. A better bottom line isn’t the only benefit effective local SEO has for your business either.
Your competitors are already using local SEO to their advantage. You can get one step ahead of the game by partnering with the experts and developing a better local SEO strategy.
If you’ve put off local SEO or you’ve been struggling with it, don’t be afraid to ask for a helping hand. Finding the right local agency partner can make all the difference.
Reviews are an integral part of your local SEO strategy. If you want more reviews, get started with the right app. We can help you get more reviews and start using local SEO to your advantage now
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