If you run a small or medium-sized business that has already invested in digital marketing, you will know the benefits of SEO very well. However, it has also become an extremely competitive area as more .and more companies invest time and money in online marketing.

Local SEO for small businesses is something that has even greater potential to generate more sales for your stores. For businesses, increasing the awareness, customers, and revenue they can achieve in their local area can be competitively critical.

If you’re not convinced and think you can just stick with what you’re doing now, read on to learn the 7 benefits of local SEO.

 

Importance of SEO for Small Businesses

 

First, it’s good to remember why SEO is important for small businesses. Traditional marketing can be very expensive and offers a diminishing return on your investment. That’s because the application of digital marketing has exploded.

SEO allows you to generate a tremendous amount of attention online as people search for words and topics related to your business. With this awareness, you can get them to visit your website and become a customer. And all this for a very small financial investment required.

This can allow a small business to remain competitive among larger rivals, especially in their local area. Here are some Local SEO stats that show how important it is to optimize your business for local search:

• 97% of all online searches come from people trying to find a local business
• 88% of people looking for a local business call or visit the business within 24 hours
• 58% of the population has used voice search to find a local business

SEO is constantly changing, for small, local businesses towards marketing specifically in a local area. People who are in your area and are actively looking for your type of business represent a highly desirable group of potential customers.

 

Benefits of Local SEO for Small Businesses

 

With that in mind, let’s look at the specific benefits that a small business can reap from investing in local SEO.

1. Reach more potential customers for less money.
   

   Local SEO services sydney has so much potential for your business, largely because of the audience it attracts — people who are adjacent to your business and who are actively searching for your type of business. This group of people is highly likely to become a customer of your company. Optimizing your website for local SEO, just like regular SEO, can be time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. When you do well and rank high in relevant local search results, you position your business right in front of local audiences who are ready to buy.
   This means that a concerted local SEO campaign can result in a huge return on investment. So think about all the costs and work that goes into planning and launching a newspaper, direct mail, or radio campaign, and ask yourself if it’s the best use of your time and resources.

2. Improve your online visibility
   

   Converting customers is the main goal, but raising awareness of the existence of your business among the people in your area is also important. Think of how often you search for a restaurant, hardware store, or dental office near you. Now multiply that by the population in your area. Anytime someone searches for your type of business in the area, put your company name and information in front of their eyes – if you’re at the top. Even if he doesn’t choose your business at this point, he will take notice of you and may choose you in the future.
   If done right, you can even put your small business ahead of the competition belonging to large corporations. This is the power of local SEO for small businesses.

3. Reach Customers on Other Platforms
   

   One of the great things about local SEO is that there are many avenues that you can access beyond just Google. Sites or apps like Yelp, Yellowpages, Waze, TripAdvisor, and Apple Maps are all becoming more sophisticated platforms for local marketing by businesses. If there’s a large retail chain in your area that’s a competitor and dominating the Google rankings you can still turn to all these other platforms. They might not be as big as Google individually, but overall there are a lot of people using them to search for local businesses.
   You can also use Yelp, Waze, and others to create ads and expanded lists to drive even more customers and exposure. They can message you directly, or you can set up links that will take them to an appointment booking form, a menu, or your online store.

4. Generate More Leads and Sales
   

   By putting all of the above together, you can begin to see the potential for attracting customers to your small business. Because the audience you can reach is highly engaged and because you can stand in front of so many customers, the potential you have to generate more business is tremendous. A study by HubSpot found that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. You can check your own website’s performance in Google Analytics to know how many visits you’re getting from organic and local search sources. You can also calculate the conversion rate.
   You can also find out how much a conversion is worth to your business on average. The amount depends on what product or service you are selling. From this, you can predict how much more traffic, conversions, and sales you will get once you rank higher in local search.

5. Gaining a Competitive Edge
   

   While SEO and digital marketing have become much more competitive than they were a few years ago, local SEO has not. If despite your best efforts, your SEO efforts are faltering, you can turn to local search to close the gap. One of the reasons for the low competition has to do with the new and emerging technology that is driving local SEO. Things like Google Maps, Waze, Yelp, online reviews, and voice search are all relatively new and not used as much by small businesses.
   However, that has changed and is rapidly changing. Google Maps not only serves as a guide but also offers you a lot of information. and the possibility to send a message to a company directly or to get in touch with them. The same goes for Yelp, Waze, and all the other platforms we mentioned above.
   Voice search in particular is becoming more popular thanks to the rise in popularity of things like the Amazon Echo or Google Home. People use them and voice search on their smartphones to ask about the nearest store that’s still open to going out for dinner.
   Many of your competitors have probably not yet recognized the potential of this new technology. Getting into Local SEO before them will give you a huge competitive advantage.

6. Increase Your Trust and Authority
   

   One of the main strategies in a local SEO campaign is to create quality and locally relevant content. It helps attract a larger local audience, and lets search engines know where your geographic focus is, which allows you to show up in more searches in your area. Local content also helps establish your business as trustworthy and authoritative for the people to establish in your area. As more people find your website and content for information, many of them will see you as a worthy resource in that niche.
   Another core strategy for Local SEO is creating online reviews. A good number of reviews and a good average review score is one of the most important local ranking factors. This is because 97% of consumers surveyed said reviews influence their purchases.
   People are more likely to choose your small business over a competitor if you have better reviews. A good score and lots of reviews are another way to earn the trust of potential new customers who find you through local searches.

7. Build a local following
   

   Social media is another part of local SEO. And it’s not just for keeping you up to date with local events, news, and trends. They also help you connect with a local audience. If you do it well, you can build a large and loyal following. This also applies to other local SEO platforms. You can search for a type of business on Google Maps or Yelp, view their menu or services, send them a message within the platform, and even make a purchase or book an appointment.
   You can ask questions about the company, answer questions or comments left by another customer, and write a review. This engagement can be self-building until you have established your own local online community which can be invaluable for your future marketing.

Local SEO helps small businesses

 

Local SEO has the potential to be a great tool for small businesses. It allows them not only to remain competitive in their field but to stay ahead of their competition. From other small or medium-sized businesses to large corporations with locations in your market. You can use Local SEO to stay on top.

It helps generate more online visibility, more customers, more leads and more sales. Engagement with potential customers, more trust and authority, etc. Additionally, Local SEO is still growing rapidly and its reach is only going to get bigger.