As business transactions began to make the move from brick-and-mortar to e-commerce stores, savvy digital marketers and entrepreneurs recognised the potential benefits of local SEO.
This is essentially what Local SEO attempts to do: optimise digital assets, such as a website, in order to be found in local search results. That’s why many businesses use local SEO for lead generation, as part of their wider SEO strategy. It’s important to note that local SEO is not strictly necessary or prioritised by all businesses. For those types of business that do stand to benefit, there are plenty of advantages of local SEO.
In this article we take the ‘beewilderment’ out of local SEO, before giving 8 crucial advantages of local SEO for small businesses.
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What is Local SEO?
At some point in 2021, 90% of internet users searched specifically for local businesses. Local SEO involves optimising web content, including the structure, as well as other elements of websites to increase the likelihood of appearing in local search results.
The Importance of Local SEO is Increasing
As to why local SEO has grown in importance: “It’s probably the smartphones.”
Most smartphone users now have location or GPS enabled on their device, and since most apps require location services to be enabled, even users who previously turned off location services for privacy reasons now leave them on. This allows Google to automatically detect the current location of the user and present the most relevant and localised search results to the user.
“Near me” searches are critical for small businesses, since these types of searches allow you to reach your intended customers during ‘micro-moments’ when they most desire your product or service.
In order to benefit from Local SEO, marketers optimise for local keywords, create local content, and also build local citations and links. It’s true that local SEO isn’t a top priority for all businesses. However, it is crucial for businesses tied to a physical location who want to be found in local search results; such as businesses operating in service industries like hospitality, retail, or tourism.
Benefits of Local SEO & How Small Businesses Take Advantage of Local SEO
Google has been alluding to the importance, and potential, of simple terms like ‘near me’ to advertisers for years. Here’s a simple way to quickly prioritise local SEO for your small business.
Are you a local business owner with your own storefront, restaurant, barber shop, beekeeping association, or any kind of business with a physical location that you’d like people to know about?
If you answered yes, read on and start thinking about the ways you can optimise for local search!
Fortunately, there are countless practical examples of how small businesses of various types can use local SEO to their advantage:
1. Appear in Maps & local search results
Be where the people are, and in local SEO that means being on Google Maps. Ranking higher on Google Maps to improve online visibility is central to local SEO. With Google Maps now being one of the most popular tools within search, small businesses often prioritise setting up a Google Business profile.
A Google Business profile will register your business on Google Maps, meaning your business is actually presented as a physical entity. Users can also view pictures of your business, your product/service offering and access business information such as your contact number and address, or reviews from previous customers.
2. Increasing authority & brand awareness within the local community
Building authority in the local community, both online and ‘in real life’ involves supporting your local area. This activity could range from participating in events or forming bonds with other businesses in similar sectors or doing outreach and link building to increase online visibility.
By improving your local SEO rankings, you increase brand awareness and build authority in the local area. This added credibility pays off in the long run, especially when/if members of your professional network reach out to you to propose partnerships, cross-promotions or other opportunities.
3. Increased web traffic from local searches
Effective local SEO helps businesses rank higher in local search results, which increases interactions with potential customers who are active in a particular area.
Local searches tend to show higher search or user intent, making local search an important and potentially valuable aspect of a wider SEO strategy.
4. Take advantage of local search intent & ‘live searches’
With an up-to-date Google My Business profile (that’s supported by adding details of your business’ to local business directories) businesses can start receiving the relevant traffic from ‘live searches’.
According to HubSpot, over 70% of local searches garner actual visits, when the prospect is within a 5-mile radius. In local SEO, a ‘live search’ refers to users searching within a particular area with high search intent. The businesses that see the most benefit from ‘live searches’, are those that maintain accurate information. Ensure that your business name, address/location, opening hours, photos, and all other relevant and useful content is up to date.
5. Gain a competitive edge over larger competitors
Local SEO has a ‘David & Goliath’ element to it. One of the strongest arguments for local SEO is the way it allows small businesses to compete with much larger competitors. Small businesses with effective local SEO regularly rank higher than much larger businesses in local search results.
As Steve Jobs famously said when talking about the internet in 1995, ‘the smallest company in the world can look as large as the largest company in the world on the web.’
Even when the marketing budget is considerably smaller, a business with a laser focus on local SEO will always rank higher than competitors who rely on traditional methods.
6. Generate WOM, additional reviews & User Generated Content
A powerful reason businesses of all sizes pursue local SEO is the Word of Mouth effect. Local SEO involves earning online reviews. Increasingly, businesses pay for review aggregators, such as TrustPilot or Feefo, but local SEO incentivises earning ‘organic’ customer reviews that are up-to-date and useful.
Continuously generating fresh feedback is seen as a ranking factor by search engines which improves your ranking. Furthermore, businesses that generate feedback can interact with customers, build loyalty and even benefit from user generated content. Keep in mind that word of mouth marketing is particularly powerful with upwards of 95% of people basing their purchasing decisions on what other people are saying about a product or service.
7. Mobile optimisation – ‘bee’ accessible from anywhere
Search engines prioritise mobile-friendly websites in the SERPs when users are searching from mobile devices. For example, the Google algorithm considers mobile-friendliness as a critical ranking factor particularly local search. Simply put, businesses that don’t actively optimise their website for mobile devices are likely losing out on potential customers.
By building a responsive website that adapts to different screen sizes and uses mobile-friendly fonts and font sizes, businesses improve the experience for mobile users. With mobile users now making up for ~60% of local searches, optimisation for mobile devices is a key to effective local SEO.
8. More foot traffic, in-store visits and sales
More visibility within the local search result inevitably brings more foot traffic to your location, which highlights the importance of creating a memorable appearance or customer experience.
Google Local Pack is a format for displaying top results for local business searches, has been designed to connect local search intent with relevant options. When a user is searching for local services in any known location, the SERPs displays a ‘local pack’ that has 3 options for the user to choose from. Users can pick from the three featured businesses or expand their search using the ‘View All’ button.
Getting Started
If you’re a small business that’s just getting started on your SEO journey, consider reviewing the WebHummel refresher on SEO for Small Businesses. The short guide gives straightforward explanations and practical tips on different aspects of SEO strategy, such as keyword research, content creation and local SEO.
For those looking for a simple way to kickstart their own local SEO efforts, see our guide to Free UK Business Directories.
Final thoughts
Remember that a large part of local SEO involves optimising digital assets, such as websites, so also consider the UX and overall effectiveness of your business’ website. We also offer a full and expanding range of SEO services, including content marketing and local SEO.
