The intrinsic link between a searcher’s location and the search term defines the search intent, which helps search engines present the most relevant search results. For example, suppose you are searching for the best Mediterranean restaurant. This underlines your intention of visiting some restaurant, which in turn tells search engines to include most of the local and nearby Mediterranean restaurants in the results. And herein is the importance of local SEO, which has higher chances of conversions because searchers have almost made up their minds about engaging with the chosen business.
Therefore, if your business is a small business focusing on the local market, implementing local SEO is not a choice but a necessity to drive more people to your business. To implement local SEO, you must first understand its importance and benefits in detail.
What Is Local SEO?
SEO has a uniform structure and features that all kinds of businesses can adapt to, but the business vision and its focus define local SEO. When small businesses use SEO to increase visibility within the local market and searches, it is an example of Local SEO. The purpose of local SEO is to expose businesses to local buyers who dominate the searches to find resources nearby. Regardless of whether the search term has the phrase ‘near me,’ the underlying geographical constraints become clear to the search engines.
Why Is Local SEO Important?
Small businesses cannot do without implementing local SEO because it is necessary for their survival and growth. To help small enterprises gain maximum exposure and visibility within the local market and local buyers, only local SEO can help achieve the goal. There are now even niche SEO services available, like automotive search engine optimization. On analyzing the Google searches, you will find that more than 50% of searches have local interest. Therefore, implementing local SEO will help your website figure most of the time in the search results against the relevant search terms. The tremendous surge in local searches increased by almost 900%, and that compelled Google to provide more geographically related results based on relevance, proximity, and prominence.
Optimized business listings within the geographical boundaries of your business increase the chances of potential customers easily finding your business.
Benefits of local SEO
- Cost-effective marketing: Listing your business in local directories using some free tools like Facebook and Google My Business is a highly cost-effective way to market your business. However, you must devote some time and effort to managing the listings and ensuring consistency in providing all business information that will help attract customers, especially if you will be using Shopify SEO services for e-commerce.
- Get customers with high buying intent: Local searchers usually have higher buying intent. This means that they search only after they decide to buy something, dramatically increasing the chances of conversions.
- More qualified search traffic: As local searchers have higher buying intent, the traffic you receive comprises only those interested in engaging with your business. Thus, it makes the interactions more meaningful and increases the chances of positive outcomes.
To make your small business flourish faster, you must implement local SEO by understanding how Google Search works and, likewise, how Bing works.
