Local search has been around for a very long time now. It’s one of the most common ways for people to find businesses online.
In fact, according to Google, more than half of all searches are local.
A study by BrightLocal found that 91 percent of consumers use online searches to find local businesses, while only 58 percent use print directories like Yellow Pages.
And that trend isn’t going away anytime soon.
With the data alone, there’s no reason you should ignore local SEO if you’re in the business of getting customers through the internet.
Especially if your business is location-based, it makes sense to target customers looking for what you provide near them. You can look for an SEO company in little rock and ask experts about the best practices that would help your business today.
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What is Local SEO?
It is a subset of general SEO but with added emphasis on targeting specific locations, usually cities or towns, to rank well in local search results.
Businesses use this approach to rank better on Google Maps and other platforms such as Yelp and TripAdvisor.
For example, when looking for local restaurants in a specific area, people can search for “Chinese restaurants in San Francisco.”
Chinese restaurants that have optimized their local SEOs will rank higher in local search results.
The Importance of Local SEO
There are several reasons why local SEO is essential, but here are a few of the most compelling ones:
- People can easily find you.
- Your website can rise above the noise of the results page.
- You can increase your visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!
- You can improve your rankings on Google Maps, which has over 150 million searches per month in the U.S.
How to get started with Local SEO
The first thing to do is figure out the best keywords for your business.
You can use either Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to do this. You can also use an SEO tool like Moz’s Keyword Explorer, which will give you a good starting point based on what people are searching for in your area.
Once you know the keywords people are searching for, create a page on your website for each.
Then make sure that all your pages link back to each other, so users can easily navigate between them. This will help with user experience and search engine rankings.
Next, create some social media profiles and fill them out appropriately.
Again, please keep it simple and include pictures of your office, staff members, etc., and contact information such as phone numbers and addresses, if applicable.
Finally, upload as many high-quality images of yourself, staff, and facilities as possible to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter if available.
Final Thoughts
Local SEO is one of the most basic forms of online marketing because it provides local businesses with a direct line to potential customers in their area.
The good news is that local SEO is not as complicated as it used to be.
With the right tools and techniques, your business can still rank well on Google’s local search results, even if you’re a small company with limited resources.
