Local SEO is extremely important for all businesses when more people are relying on their own personal computers to search for businesses and products alike. This goes a long way in making sure that businesses get their fair share of the market which is already shrinking due to online competition. Moreover, it also has a lot of other advantages that would put businesses ahead of their competitors in terms of brand value, visibility, and exposure. Here are some of the most compelling benefits of local SEO worth knowing.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is simply SEO focused on a local geographical area. There are a variety of methods for Local SEO, such as content marketing, social media, pay-per-click search advertising, directory listings, blogs, and many more. Content marketing is one method that is very effective in increasing your site's traffic and overall ranking. Content marketing involves writing articles or blog posts, creating videos or audio files related to your products or services Become: creating explainer videos or audio files related to your products or services. Within this, you would focus on keywords related to your physical location or service area. For example, "criminal defense law firm in Topeka" is an example of a local keyword that you could use in your digital marketing and SEO efforts to reach a localized audience.
Local Directories
Local business directories are simply online versions of a telephone directory only they're tailor-made for user searches on the internet. These are directories where businesses post their addresses and contact details. These local business directories actually cater to several different industries, such as law firms. Getting listed in local business directors can make a difference in your off-page SEO and is a significant part of local SEO. Any time that there is a local directory of the best restaurants in your area, for instance, it is worth spending the time to input your information and include links to your website. Yelp, YellowPages.com, and Google Maps all have features to list your business, too.
Advantages of Local SEO
One of the most important advantages of local SEO is the possibility of ranking higher in search engine results for specific keywords about your geographic location and industry. Local search engine optimization aims to rank highly for highly searched terms, which is something that no local business can do without. If you only do business locally, there is no need to spend money targeting national keywords. In this way, local search engine optimization can be more cost-effective.
Local SEO is a great way to ensure exposure to potential customers in your area. Since customers already use local terms in their queries, local search engine optimization means that your content will incorporate those queries to be found. For example, customers looking for Chinese takeout in Santa Monica will not have to sift through dozens of Chinese takeout restaurants in other parts of the country because they indicated the location. By featuring this query on your site as a keyword, you have a better chance of them finding you. There are also fewer companies trying to use these keywords, as it is restricted to companies targeting or located in your target area, so it could be easier to rank.
Disadvantages of Local SEO
Even though it may seem like there are no disadvantages of local SEO for businesses, it is important to understand that there are disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of local SEO for businesses is that they may have trouble competing with larger businesses that have a bigger budget and stronger reach. Larger companies can afford to pay a lot of money in order to get more exposure on the internet. If Google Ads and social media ads are a part of your local search engine optimization strategy, these other companies might have more of an ad budget to compete with.
Another disadvantage of local SEO is that search engines may ignore your website if it is not properly optimized. This is something that a lot of business owners are not necessarily aware of. Simply using keywords on website pages isn't enough. You need to utilize search engine optimization best practices throughout your site, too, for local search engine optimization to be successful. This includes meta descriptions, alt tags for images, and backlinks.
Working with a company that specialized in local search engine optimization means that you can work on the other important parts of your business while knowing that progress will be made on your digital marketing goals. KitelyTech is a full-service SEO agency, website developer, and mobile app developer capable of helping you craft an effective local SEO plan that we can measure in terms of results and ROI. Call our team at (800) 274 2908 today to learn more about our SEO services and how we can help your business grow online.
