What is LOCAL SEO and why is it important for your business
What kind of business are you running? What customers and markets are you targeting and where are they located? If you have found yourself in a situation where you have to answer these questions, then you need to local SEO. With internet marketing and the ability to run a virtual business, you can reach the world. However, even though this is a resourceful strategy, sometimes you need to focus your marketing campaign on a given region because that market needs your services more. More demand would mean increased sales, which is the desire of every business.
So, what is local SEO and why is it important for almost any business?
Local SEO is a marketing strategy that targets a given geographical region. In most cases, local SEO targets the market in the locality where the business stores are located, or where the shipping costs are manageable. In a more specific way, any business that sources its customers and clients locally like a restaurant, a dentist, a doctor…etc needs local SEO. These businesses have one similar, they are all service businesses. This does not mean that commodity-based businesses cannot use local SEO. Commodity businesses dealing under the click and brick system can also use local SEO.
The first importance of local SEO is financial. Businesses using local SEO to market their products end up saving huge amounts that would have been spent on traditional marketing strategies. The traditional alternatives for local business marketing include a sales team, that has to be paid yet does not cover local SEO.
Second, local SEO targets the local market, which is surely searching for the service, or commodity the business is providing. For local customers, they use specific keywords that the international market does not use. For example, a customer searching for a cafeteria in Austin Texas is likely to type “Cafeteria in Austin Texas” on their browser. The businesses owner is able to target such customers through Local SEO.
The globe has become a village and people traverse far and wide in search of leisure, for business or employment. Local SEO comes in handy as you plan your journey because you are able to narrow down and search for local accommodation that fits your preferences. For a visitor in a given town, through local SEO they are able to navigate the market. Therefore, for the business owner, local SEO helps to bring in customers that advertising and marketing personnel could not have. This way, local SEO is beneficial for both the business owner and the customer.
Local SEO cannot be overlooked in the current day and age. Apart from the already motioned benefits, it helps to rank your business high in local SERPs. This improves your site’s online prominences, which is beneficial to beating local competitions. So, have you adopted local SEO for your business? If not yet, you have an opportunity to do so today and start competing with your competitors on more level ground.