Why Local SEO is Important for Small Businesses

November 24, 2023 | 11 min read By: admin

When someone searches for “near me” products or services on search engines like Google and Bing, as a result, Google shows some listed website names on the first page of search engine result pages (SERPs). How come some website appears on the first page of Google search results on “near me”? First of all, the phrase is used for local searches, and getting a spot on the first page of local search results is only possible by using Local SEO.

According to a recent survey, 50% of users use local search daily for visiting local business stores and if you want your business part of that competition or if you want to increase your website visibility on local search results, then Local SEO is the only weapon to get more target audience at your business’s door. Here, we are going to discuss why Local SEO is important for small businesses.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO refers to the process of search engine optimization for local searches which means that with local SEO you can able to rank your website on Map pack listing and appear often when someone searches for your business-related queries.

Google always follows its own method when it comes to showing the exact result whenever someone searches for something on Google. If Google notices someone searches for anything around their products or services then it shows you the Map pack listing results of the first page of SERPs. Local SEO helps your website to optimize for local search and get noticed by local users. Using the right address and adding the city, you are able to reach out to your target audience. With an effective Local SEO strategy, you can market your brand online, gain more sales, and generate more revenue.

Importance of Local SEO for Small Businesses

According to Google survey results, over 76% of users generate local searches for visiting local stores within 24 hours daily and 28% of them search for purchasing. According to Google, 30% of its searches are based on location. Local search is a daily activity for 61% of consumers, according to a recent local search survey. Here are the top 5 reasons why local SEO is important for small businesses which are mentioned below:

Makes More Competitive Edge
Improve Conversion Rate
Generate a Large Number of Organic Traffic
Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
Drive More Sales

1. Makes More Competitive Edge

If you are not thinking of investing in local SEO, then you probably miss out on your potential customers who are most likely to search for your business. That means others of your competitors are one step ahead of you and get all your potential customers. If you have a physical store, and you do not map pack listings then none will find you when they search for your business near them. Others your competitors are showing on the first page in Google local search results, they are gaining more organic traffic plus more potential customers.

For example, if you have a business in a coffee shop and someone searches for “ best cafe near Kolkata” still you don’t include your brand’s name in the GBP listing. So, when users search for your products they will not find you in the local search results. Users Go with your competitors’ websites’, they will get all clicks from your potential audience. If you invest in local SEO, then you’ll get all those clicks and organic traffic to your website.

2. Improve Conversion Rate

Local SEO is the door key for small businesses to improve conversion rates. Due mainly to SEO’s ability to bring in relevant traffic that is already interested in your product, SEO is a great method for increasing sales. Consequently, sales opportunities increase, resulting in better conversion rates.

3. Generate a Large Number of Organic Traffic

SEO is mainly for generating organic traffic to the website. But it doesn’t mean all the traffic you can convert into sales. All visitors might not like to purchase from you, they might click on your website just for the information. But you are more likely to sell your product when more people visit your website. Your business also spreads organically with increased traffic.

4. Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy

Local SEO is way more cost-effective than a paid advertisement. There are expenses associated with investing in quality SEO and digital marketing services. But keeping that in mind, such expenses are linked to long-term outcomes. When your website has effective SEO, it remains. You will need to keep up your SEO and keep moving up the ladder, but you will always have an SEO-friendly website free of any additional ongoing expenses outside the marketing assistants.

5. Drive More Sales

Local SEO helps your business to drive more sales. After you invest in local SEO, and your audience finds you to map pack listings, they are more likely to look into your website. If they find your website genuine and have lots of positive reviews, they’ll visit your physical store to purchase products or services. That’s how you can generate more sales and more ROI.

Who Does Need Local SEO?

Each and every business needs local SEO in order to grow their business on local premises. Still, many users prefer to do business with local companies as they think it is more trustworthy. If you want your business to stay in the competitive market, you need a local SEO strategy. As long as your target audiences are human beings, not robots, they are going to find the nearest location of yours.

A Complete Guide to Local SEO for Small Businesses

Here are top local SEO strategies for small businesses which are mentioned below:

1. Complete Your Google My Business Information:

Having a Google My Business profile is crucial for local SEO if you want to grow your business locally. Since GMB provides a report that helps customers to know about the brand, businesses get more traffic to their website directly. In order to optimize your Google My Business profile, you need to follow the steps below:

First, create an account and complete the verification.
Use Google Posts within your GMB where you provide some information about your products or services along with the Call-to-Action (CTA) button.
Encourage customers to write reviews on your GMB profile.

Whenever you try to create an account with Google Knowledge Panel, Google Local Results, and Google Maps, you need to fill up the required information like Company name, phone number, and address- this all is going to help you with your Google business listing.

2. Add Google Maps in Your Website:

Adding Google Maps to the website can be a great way to enhance user experience. Enabling customers to access location information and directions within your site provides a seamless experience, as opposed to having to open up another window or tab to access this information. This not only saves time but also ensures that customers can easily find your business’s location on the map and navigate through directions.

Embedding Google Maps on your small business website is a great way to enhance your local SEO. Google Maps is a powerful tool that can provide valuable information about your business, including your location, contact details, and reviews. By embedding Google Maps on your website, you can make it easier for customers to find your business and improve your local SEO.

Embedding Google Maps on your website can also enhance your website’s user experience. Customers can easily find your business’s location, and they can get directions to your business with just a few clicks. This can make it easier for customers to navigate your website and find the information they need, which can improve their overall experience and increase their likelihood of doing business with you.

3. Look for Technical Issues that impact Your Local Small Business:

If your small business isn’t getting any attention from customers, technical issues can be the reason for it. Because if search engines don’t crawl your website, it means your customers will never find your company. For that, you need to understand how search engines crawl and index your website which will help you to get knowledge of what kind of technical issues you are facing and how to fix them.

If you think technical issues are too complex to manage by yourself, then you will get a clear idea of whether you want to hire an SEO consultant or agency.

4. Focus on Local Listings:

As a small business offering a great user experience is always part of your goal in order to convert users into customers. It doesn’t only matter for your audience, however, it also matters for Google’s algorithm. If you have wrong information and outdated content that will negatively affect user experience along with your website appearance on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Whenever and wherever a user finds your website on any platform like Google, various social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and more, or Yellow Pages, or review sites including Tripadvisor, and Yelp- they should find the right information about your company so they easily convert into your customers.

So, if you add various kinds of information on various platforms it makes it difficult for the web to decide whether the information is true or not. We all know that Search engines like Google and Bing give users the best possible answers to their queries. So, if you add various versions of the information to platforms it makes them confused about whether your website is trustworthy or not.

Keeping track of business listings by hand is time-consuming and incredibly difficult since directories and data aggregators are constantly updating their information. To solve this problem quickly, small businesses can use Local SEO tools like SEmrush local SEO tool or Moz Local to make the process of scanning the website automated.

5. Create Quality and Relevant Content:

You might be thinking of why every strategy has one thing in common which is- creating quality and relevant content. The answer is that without having zero content on your website, search engines and your target audience won’t give you the importance that you need for growing your small business.

However, your competition is not just with other businesses similar to yours in search engines but also with media publications, local review sites, big brands, and all these kinds of sites that offer information about products or services like yours – all are up against you.

This means the competition is too high. So, your content should be relevant, fresh, and unique from your competitors. So, before you take pen and paper in your hand, you need to have knowledge about how to write a blog post and how to create an effective content plan that aligns with your business goals.

6. Add Local Build Linking to Your Local SEO Strategy:

When it comes to local link building, you need to understand what it is. Local link building is the method of link building that gets linking from a high authority website to your website. The more you get them, the more your website becomes expert, authoritative, and trustworthy. By building local links, you express your business’s trust or endorsement from others in the local community.

According to Local SEO professionals, creating lists of citations, correcting NAP information including the company’s name, address, and phone number, creating local content, and building local links are the most crucial elements in local SEO strategy.

When it is about earning links, make sure the backlink points to the most relevant and important page of your site and it is essential to CTAs on the linked pages.

7. Use Local Schema:

Local schema is basically structured data that makes web crawlers understand your website content like what your company does and what your company offers better in easier and quicker ways. If adding local schema helps Google appear on your website for relevant queries from your target customers- then it would be a win-win situation.

Rich search results can be triggered by schema markup by highlighting additional information like FAQs, reviews, breadcrumbs, and links to sites. In order to get noticed by Google, you need to apply a local schema with proper testing and validation.

8. Give Response To Local Reviews:

According to the Local Consumer Review Survey 2023, they are likely to read reviews daily for local businesses. Having reviews is more impactful for local businesses to grow your business. If your website has these three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence then Google will add your business to its local listing.

Conclusion

It is crucial for small businesses to direct their effort to a specific marketing strategy. Investing in local SEO will give small businesses a huge boost to grow their business in digital media along with local areas but only if you follow the right local SEO strategy. We can help you with our local SEO services which can give you a limelight. We hope this article on why local SEO is important for small businesses will help you to understand it better. If you want to read more articles on trending topics, keep your eye on our blog page.