As more people search online for products and services online, the internet has expanded to cater to everyone’s needs by listing every type of information they might require to make a purchasing decision.
Digital channels have further levelled the playing field for small businesses by allowing them to market their products and services to target customers and audiences near them. Having your business visible to local markets is a great way to leverage search opportunities. 97% of consumers look for local businesses online, making localised search marketing and optimisation crucial for any business. Here’s what you need to know about local SEO and how it works.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process of promoting your business in search engines like Google or Bing, specifically in your locality. This type of marketing optimises your business’s website and online presence on search engines to increase your visibility and attract traffic to your site from local-based searches.
Here are some numbers to show you how impactful local search marketing and optimisation is:
- Searches for local businesses make up almost half of all Google searches.
- 60% of adults search for local products and services using their mobile devices.
- Over 80% of mobile device users will finalise a purchase in-store using Google.
- Local searches lead to more actions taken in real life – such as booking appointments, making purchases or placing orders.
- Local smartphone searches end up in 78% of all purchases made online!
Now that you can see that local search marketing works on delivering results that can improve your business profit and ROI, you’ll want to optimise and improve your local SEO efforts. It’s a process that involves many factors. Factors that go into effective local SEO marketing include:
- Using location-specific keywords in your content creation.
- Claiming and updating your Google My Business and Bing Places for Business listings.
- Ensuring your Google Maps listing is accurate.
- Ensuring the correct contact details are on all your social media platforms and pages
- Encouraging happy customers to leave reviews on your Google My Business listing for a better overall rating.
- Ensuring your business is listed in relevant directories and yellow pages.
Big Rock Graphics is a local digital and creative design agency with the knowledge and expertise to help businesses achieve great success through local SEO and more. To get started on optimising your local SEO, give us a call for a free, no-obligation local SEO audit and quote today.
