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Local SEO services are the most current and most advantageous way of promoting your business online. Wondering why? It may help to understand the concept better first.  

There’s SEO; Then There’s Local SEO

SEO, search engine optimization, is both a science and an art. It is the science and art of building online visibility for your company, thus bringing unpaid, organic search traffic to a business. Local SEO services help to promote your business to current and future customers in your specific area. 

Why is this important to your business? Google suggests that 46% of searches have local intent. In other words, when someone is looking for a good burger restaurant, a heating, and cooling company, a medical provider, or any other business or service, they are looking for a company to provide that near where they are in the moment of that search.

Thus, if your business is close by and if your business comes up in their search, you stand a pretty good chance that they will become a customer. 

Why You Need Local SEO

There are many reasons for local SEO. Take a look at the top ten.

Competition

While you may not have jumped onto the local SEO train yet, other businesses in your area have. Your business may be better than theirs in many ways, but if people can’t find you, they’ll never know that. 

Want to see for yourself? Grab your phone and type in your goods or services and the area where you are. Where does your business fit into that picture? Chances are, your business is not on the first page. Most people click on companies that come up on the first page. 

Attract Visitors and New Residents

Regulars are great for your business, but if you rely on them to keep your business alive, you won’t thrive. Word of mouth is a fantastic way to advertise, but it only goes so far. Visitors and new residents have a slim chance of hearing from your regulars, as they typically don’t know anyone in the area. Instead, they tend to pull up Google and search for what they need and want. Remember, they are looking for something close to them. 

Thus, if you pull up on their first page of search results, they will likely come to check you out and may even become one of your regulars, thus growing your base of regular, local customers and even regular customers who come in for a visit a few times a year. 

Speaking of Local...

There was a time when many people looked only to big box stores. Recently, there's been a big move to bring business back to our local shops and businesses to stimulate our local economies. More and more people want to spend their money locally, so they’re continually on the lookout for companies like yours.

Phone Searches Equal Sales

Think about the last time you were debating where to eat. What did you use to help you decide? If you’re like most people, you pulled out your phone and did a quick search.  You were looking for restaurants near you, not in another state. You’re not alone. Millions of people across the globe and in your community are doing precisely that. What if they were searching for your business? That’s the kind of traffic a company like yours could use. 

Timely and Targeted

In the scenario above, we looked at a phone search. Think about that search again. You were looking for something specific. You had a target in mind. You were also looking for something that you needed right then, timely. That’s maybe the best part of local SEO. Statistics suggest customers performing a local search will visit that business within 24 hours!

Consumers Trust Reviews

How often do you consider the reviews a business has? Many people use them to help them decide which business to visit. The reviews on Google are trusted by the consumers searching. Thus, your business on the first page with good reviews attached will equate to a higher conversion rate, which means more customers walking through your door.

Local SEO Converts Online Searches to Offline Purchases

Think about this… 78% of consumers research products before going to the store and purchasing. 30% of consumers click on only businesses that pull up on the first page of search results. If you’re not on that first page, you could be missing out on many customers.

You Become an On-Demand Provider

Consumers doing an online search for a product or service are wanting that product or service pretty quickly. If a customer is looking for an HVAC company, the chances are good that they need that service very quickly because something has happened. The restaurant search we mentioned earlier is likely being performed because the customer is hungry and in a given area. Therefore, when your business pops up on that first page, you are an on-demand service. 

You Spend Less on Advertising

In the past, you might have to pay some steep upfront costs to advertise on the radio, television, or in the newspaper. Even with a Pay Per Click service, you are paying for every click made. However, the investment made into Local SEO services is relatively low and brings in high returns.

Free Tools are Available

One way that the cost for local SEO services stays low is by utilizing free services out there. One of the free tools is Google My Business, which helps significantly with local SEO, but is still not widely used yet, which is an advantage to you. 

So, now that you understand what local SEO is and know the reasons for local SEO let’s start optimizing your business for local SEO!