Local SEO Why Does It Matter

2. Local SEO: Why Does It Matter? • Local search is when somebody searches for businesses, products, services or any other information relevant to one specific location. They could be searching for “shows near me” to find an upcoming show in their town or “best car service in [location]” to find a car service nearby. In simple words, local search is more specific to a particular location than general Google searches. And Local SEO refers to the technique of search engine optimization (SEO) that helps your business to become more visible to local consumers online

3. What are the benefits of local SEO? • Following are the benefits of using local SEO for your business, • Gain more online visibility – With local SEO, your business gains more visibility in that it gets found by the desired audience interested in your product and at the right moment. When your business is more visible, that results in more profits & sales. • Get you more traffic to your brick-and-mortar location • Targeted web traffic – Draw more targeted traffic, which increases your chances of conversion. • More calls – Optimizing Google Business Profile can enhance Google Maps visibility. Therefore, it can lead to more calls and more in-person visits.

4. • Improve trust – Reputation management builds trust in your business. Consumers tend to go for online reviews to help decision-making when choosing a local business. • Improved conversion rate – Website optimization can improve your conversion rate, increasing contact form submissions, phone calls, email subscriptions, or sales. • More Competitive – Local SEO keeps you informed about your rivals’ moves. You can incorporate those tactics into your approach by studying what your competitors are doing well.

5. Local SEO Checklist • Without a solid foundation, local SEO cannot be successful. Your website is the most crucial component. Without a great website that sticks to SEO best practices, no amount of optimization is going to get you the results you desire.

6. • Make your site mobile friendly – In today’s technologically advanced world, smartphones are almost everything we need. Mobile-optimized websites help you reach a greater audience and increase conversions. • Boost the website’s speed – Page speed is an increasingly important ranking factor nowadays. On top of that, nothing frustrates searchers more than a slow- loading website that will cause them to leave a website if it doesn’t load quickly. • It only takes split seconds to persuade a visitor to wait for your page to load before they move on to the next search. • The right URL structure – You need to consider the structure of your website for both search engines and users. Ensure your site is easy to navigate with a clear path for users to follow from the moment they land on it until they become customers.

7. • Conduct local keyword research – Keywords are the words or phrases people use to find information on search engines. By targeting specific keywords as part of your local SEO strategy, you can increase your chances of appearing for those searches. • Optimize title tags and meta descriptions – Once you know that your website is in good shape and you have a robust local keyword list, you can start optimizing for local searches. One crucial way to do this is by optimizing each web page’s title tags and meta descriptions. • A title tag is the HTML title of the web page and is displayed on the search engine results page.

8. • Meta descriptions are the HTML code that shows under the title of a page in search results to give users a better idea of what content to expect on the page before they click. • Your meta descriptions should be between 50-160 characters long and include your target keyword and a description of the content on the page.

9. Why is local SEO Important? • Optimizing your business for local SEO allows you to promote your products and services to an audience of interested buyers and people who are close to your business and are actively searching for a product or service that you sell. • Since these leads are from people specifically searching for products or services your business offers, they are also likely to give you a high conversion rate. • Searches with local intent are on the rise, with 4 in 5 consumers now using search engines to find local information and search result information, sending a massive 70% of consumers to a physical store.[2] • Local SEO also helps drive people’s decisions in favor of your business. The more information they have about your business before they visit, the more trustworthy you are in their eyes.