Search Engine Optimization or SEO gives all businesses the much-needed visibility on search engines like Google. Be it small local companies or multi-national organizations, all businesses depend on online marketing to a certain extent.
SEO strives to level the playing field for all these organizations and gives smaller businesses a weapon to compete with bigger and richer companies. With local SEO, smaller businesses can attract relevant traffic and gain more revenue. It is a ticket to the local market, with better rankings and conversions.
You can opt for a local SEO company that would optimize your website for local traffic and enable you to stand at par with big names in the industry.
Before diving into the details of how local SEO services maximize the return on investment (ROI) of businesses, let us discuss what local SEO is and how it can help in your digital marketing efforts.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a digital marketing aspect that makes your website search-friendly for the local audience. With this, your business becomes accessible to people near you. It also builds credibility, recognition, and reliability in your products or services,
For instance, if you run a costume jewelry store in Los Angeles, you must optimize your page and website in a way that lets Google target you for searches that are relevant to LA. This way, people who are geographically located near you get to know about your business when they search for relevant options.
Businesses that have worked towards local SEO have seen a massive difference in traffic, customer response, and conversions. Google, nowadays, knows to display your listing to people looking specifically for something that you offer. And if you play the SEO game right, you will feature higher in SERPs and increase your rate of ROI.
How Local SEO Helps Businesses
There are several benefits to optimizing your website for local traffic. For small and mid-scale businesses, this may become the biggest source of revenue. Overall, local SEO helps to:
- Improve online visibility
- Reach the target audience
- Create brand name and reputation
- Attract relevant traffic
- Build a loyal customer base
- Tap search engine potential without major investments
- Increase conversions and maximize ROI
Many businesses would agree that rather than going global, they find more profits in going local. Concentrating efforts on targeting the local audience actually ensures that the customer flow is maintained.
Although local SEO pretty much works like a normal Google search, it considers some other aspects while deciding the ranking. Google uses a different set of ranking signals for local searches, including:
- The user’s location
- NAP citations
- Keywords used in the Google My Business Profile and its reviews
- The tone and approval in online reviews
- The number of check-ins and feedbacks
- The number of social media shares
- Google Maps star ratings
If all these aspects are covered, your business is all set to reap maximum benefits of local SEO.
5 Reasons Why Local SEO services maximize local business ROI
The ROI of any business is directly proportional to its search rankings, number of conversions, customers, and so on. That is why local SEO services can work wonders in maximizing your ROI.
Builds brand recognition and trust
SEO helps you to achieve higher Google rankings and show up at the top of search results. In case of local SEO, you rank higher for local keywords, which in turn attracts users who are looking for services in a specific location.
By narrowing down the options, Google tells the searcher that your business is one of the few they can trust. And if you appear at the top of the results, the user would know that you are a reliable solution to their query.
This way, a trust factor is built and the name of your business becomes more familiar to the user. For locals, this trust factor is crucial as it leads to a loyal customer base that prefers to return to your business. It also results in higher purchase orders, upselling and cross-selling opportunities, and revenue flow.
Increases CTR and search ranks
The aim of any SEO strategy is to make your website rank higher on SERPs. The more prominently you feature in search results, the more people are likely to click on your link. From there, they might check out your products and services, and also decide to make a purchase.
Even if they do not find anything suitable, they might end up contacting you with queries or requests. This occurrence is very common in local businesses, which leads to a connection with potential customers. Whether this interaction happens online or offline, it will increase the engagement of your business and result in the possibility of sale.
In this context, an increase in your click-through ratio (CTR) also indicates that your business is being viewed by more and more people. This would also lead to more conversions and higher ROI.
Creates better engagement opportunities
A local business depends greatly on engagement. This is why it is crucial to provide contact details along with your listing, including phone number, address, email ID, website links, and so on. A person looking for a specific local service is very likely to call up the business and get their query answered.
A FAQ section on your website is also very helpful in this scenario. Your transparency and willingness to provide all relevant information publicly will instill trust in your potential customer and they might decide to make a purchase from you.
Helps to understand customer needs and preferences
Customer tracking helps out significantly in increasing ROI. Confused? Let me explain. When you track customer behavior, both online and offline, you tend to spot patterns that will help you to make your service better. And good customer experience goes a long way in maximizing ROI.
Identify the problem areas or mistakes you might be unknowingly committing. Track the information of your visitors, like age. Are more youngsters interested in your offerings or senior citizens?
For instance, if you are a florist and most of your customers are over 60 years old, you might consider introducing some bouquet design options that would appeal to young adults. Another good idea would be to introduce variations in pricing to check what sells better.
This way, you can reach customers who have visited your business but could not find any suitable buying options earlier.
Increases popularity and conversion rates
Local SEO works best for businesses that can run operations both online and offline. A cafe that allows online table bookings, orders, and scheduled pick-ups will find it easier to attract more customers and build a brand value.
This would lead to more conversions and steadily better rankings. Here, your goal would be to rank for local keywords so people get what they need from your business. Featuring regularly in SERPs increases your popularity and affects conversion rates significantly. Naturally, your revenue flow and ROI will shoot up.
Conclusion
Local SEO is and will be a powerful tool for small businesses in the long run. It is a budget-friendly way to expand your business and make sure you appear in the search results of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
