What Is Local SEO? Why Does It Matter?

If I ask you the question; “how often do you look for a local business using the Google app on your smartphone?” Your answer would be around several times a week. Though you might not give it much attention; your Google searches for an address of a local clothes’ shop, the phone number of a local store or even a restaurant to dine at are all examples of local searches done by you.

It is not just only you! Hundreds and thousands of people in your town or city conduct local searches to search for the local information they need. That is why you need to have a local SEO strategy as a business.

Why Local SEO?

A strong local SEO strategy can get you quite ahead of your competitors by placing your website on the first page of the search results. Almost every one of us is more likely to rely on the search results on the first page rather than scrolling down to the others.

Once you implement a strong SEO strategy, it is your business website which will enjoy the benefits of increased traffic and higher ranking. Local SEO would do no harm, and on the other hand, it will help you with more customer inquiries for your business.

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Local SEO and Small Businesses

If you are a small business owner, then a local SEO strategy would be of immense help to improve the sales of your business by increasing traffic, attracting customers and creating brand awareness. What makes local SEO so intriguing is the fact that it is the customers who come in search of your product or service.

It is well aware that almost 95% of the local customers search about local businesses, using search engines. If you have a strong local SEO strategy, then you will appear in the search results of your potential customer. Your small business would flourish within a few years of implementing a successful local SEO strategy.

What Do Customers Search For?

What does a typical local customer search for? I, search for information like; addresses of local stores, business hours of a particular store and mostly directions for certain local stores. Your local SEO strategy can help your customers to find you when they need your product or service.

Suppose that you are a local restaurant owner in Melbourne. You can use keywords like “Restaurants in Melbourne” or “Melbourne restaurants” to improve the ranking. If a local customer is looking for a restaurant in Melbourne, he or she will try the above keywords where your business would appear in the search results for the above keywords.

How Reasonable Is A Local SEO Strategy?

If you are still doubtful about the benefits of local SEO, then take a look at the following to add up for the reasons why you should have a strong local SEO strategy.

  • Customers are more likely to implement local searches.
  • Majority of the customers who conduct local searches visit the particular local store on the same day.
  • Smartphone users conduct local searches several times a week.
  • More than half of the customers look up in a search engine before visiting a store.
  • Almost 50% of the Google searches are local searches.

Have no second thoughts about implementing a local SEO strategy since it would be a step of laying the foundation for the success in your business. Witness the growth of your business and see how it expands within a time of few years.