In this post, we’ll look at why local SEO is important for service businesses while also looking at the ways you can utilise it to compete for more leads for your business.
What is local SEO?
A good starting point for determining whether it will be a key feature of your future plans is to ask “What is local SEO and why is it important?”
In short, local SEO is a term that describes a variety of practices used to boost your company website’s visibility on Google and other search engines like Bing or DuckDuckGo when someone uses location-based search terms.
Things like “web design Swansea” or “Electrition in Bristol”
Local SEO involves a variety of techniques that are common practice across all SEO approaches, from optimising the company website to acquiring backlinks, gaining testimonials, and managing listings.
However, local SEO and general SEO aim to drive traffic in slightly contrasting ways.
The key difference is that;
- General SEO uses optimisation tactics to boost the visibility of a website based solely on its practice area, products, and services.
- Local SEO uses optimisation tactics to boost the visibility of a website with an added focus on the geographic location.
When people conduct location-based searches, an extra set of local search features appears in the search results. Google calls this the local “snack pack,” but it’s sometimes also referred to as the “Local 3 Pack.”
What is the Google snack pack?
The Google snack showcases the three most relevant businesses to the user search query. So as you can imagine for local professional services businesses, featuring in this listing is a huge positive.
Business details included in the snack pack listing include the following:
- Business name
- Business description
- Website
- Categories
- Number of reviews
- Short description
- Location
- Contact details
- Star rating average
- Business images
- Business hours
You can add this information to your Google My Business profile.
Why local SEO is important for your business
So, is local SEO is important for your business?
We think the answer to this question is yes.
There are several reasons why a professional service business should make local SEO a feature of their marketing activity.
Local SEO is designed to help your service business reach a highly targeted and motivated audience.
These people are searching for the services you offer in the locations you operate in. If you don’t show up when these searches happen, you’re missing out!
Let’s take a look at a few more reasons why local SEO is important for services businesses…
Local SEO boosts brand awareness
96% of consumers learn about local businesses online.
Oftentimes this will include searching for services in certain locations on search engines.
As we mentioned previously, if you’re not featured here, then you can’t compete.
While it doesn’t guarantee more leads and sales, a strong local SEO campaign will boost your company’s visibility, which could mean appearing on the SERPs or a local map of businesses.
The competition pool is smaller
Aside from having fewer competing businesses, keywords with local intent will not be targeted by companies from other places, meaning it should be easier to secure a high ranking.
This is good news for newer businesses and websites that might not have the authority and brand recognition of more established brands.
Once you have established a foothold in the local rankings for your services, you can start to expand the search terms you target and build pages that target a broader mix of search terms (keywords) related to your industry and services.
Local SEO generates store visit
72% of users who conduct local searches will visit a store within five miles.
In many cases, this happens within 24 hours of the search.
As such, this is one of the most valuable tools for generating offline sales, which is particularly rewarding for a professional service business working in a localised area.
Getting more people in your store can significantly increase conversions.
Even when you don’t get an immediate sale, the user now knows where to find your products and services. It will often lead to future visits without the need for additional web searches.
You’ll attract qualified leads
Another key statistic that shows why local SEO is important for your business comes from the fact that 28% of local searches result in a purchase.
This conversion rate is far higher than most, highlighting the fact that you will gain a lot of qualified leads.
People who find your business through search engines do so because they have entered a relevant search term. Therefore, any traffic gained from local SEO terms will have come from the right audience
How do you know if you need local SEO?
Acknowledging the benefits of local SEO is one thing but how do you know if you need local SEO?
If you manage a local service business across any industry and are competing in the local market, it’s almost inevitable that you will need this type of SEO.
There is a chance that your natural marketing strategy delivers the desired results, but here are a few signs that highlight your need for a dedicated strategy focused on a localised market;
- Your website does not rank on the first page of the SERPs or is currently outperformed by direct competitors for searches related to your service and location.
- Organic traffic to your website has recently dipped, highlighting that you have fallen down the pecking order.
- Your website experiences a high bounce rate, which indicates that potentially the wrong people are visiting your site.
How to boost your local SEO efforts
Understanding why local SEO is important for your business should incentivise you to invest in your strategy.
However, you must also learn how to capitalise on the opportunities.
While hiring a professional SEO company will give you the best chance of success with both local and organic SEO, the following steps can help you see significant results.
Improve your on-site performance
Search engines look to give their users the best possible experience and subsequently won’t direct to poor-performing websites, even if they are relevant to the person’s search.
Therefore, it’s important that you build a winning website.
Some of the key issues to consider are the layout, navigation, site speed, security, and uptime.
Choosing the right web host, template, and content will make a huge difference even before you’ve added content that targets local intent.
Use external sites to boost your local presence
As well as the on-site elements, you must ensure that your website is supported by visibility gained on other sites.
A Google My Business profile should be the first item on your agenda while adding local elements to descriptions will make a huge impact.
Local data aggregators and business directories are also great platforms to boost your local SEO.
You may even gain direct clicks from those external sources.
Of course, social media sites and Apps can further enhance your digital presence.
Target local keywords
Keywords are the heartbeat of any successful SEO strategy, which is why local terms must be used for local SEO. Adding the name of your city, town, country, or region to organic search terms will give search engines and users a far clearer insight into what you do.
Even people looking for products to be delivered often prefer local firms, which is why local SEO is important for business regardless of what you sell. While almost 95% of keywords get 10 or fewer monthly clicks, yours can gain far more with the right service pages and region-specific content.
Optimise for modern local customers
As with any aspect of business, you need to consider the consumer’s perspective.
This will help you build a website and marketing campaign that resonates with them.
For starters, local searches are often conducted on smartphones. So, your site should be mobile-optimised.
Focus only on the regions you serve
Crucially, you must ensure that local SEO practices target the right territories.
Otherwise, you will attract traffic that does not lead to sales conversions.
If you run a convenience store, for example, trying to grow visibility in the next city is more than a little redundant.
It is better to swim in a small pond than sink in an ocean.
Aside from reaching your niche audience, focusing exclusively on the right regions will give you focus and allow you to get better results for less investment.
In turn, you will be better positioned to stay ahead of the competition.
The final word on local SEO
When asking why local SEO is important for small business ventures, the truth is that it will impact everything from brand visibility to perceived trustworthiness.
Competing against businesses in your area rather than from around the globe will naturally give you a better chance of rising to the top – especially as a growing number of consumers now focus on companies with local intent.
To find out more about dominating the local scene through web design and SEO, contact Brandspace today.
I’m a marketer based in Wales, UK. I love working with ambitious small businesses and helping them unlock the full potential of proper marketing. I created Brandspace as the starting point for doing this, and while we focus on websites and search, I can provide full strategic marketing support for your business.