Around 43% of the total Google searches are for local content. It’s like everyone is performing local searches!
If you don’t appear on search results, you basically don’t exist for many users! Therefore, you need to raise your game by improving your local SEO strategy.
But, you can’t do it all by yourself. Discover the ten reasons why you need to hire an agency which specializes in local SEO services. Let’s find out why!
What do you do if you want to know about local businesses in your area?
You don’t pick up the dusty old phone book. You search online for what you want in your area.
That’s what 64% of consumers do. A further 96% of computer owners claim they conduct local searches on a regular basis.
This is not only related to the growth of internet shopping either.
Nearly 80% of local searches conducted via a mobile device result in an offline purchase. That means that after the user visits your website, they come-by your bricks-and-mortar store to make purchases.
Local SEO is very different from pumping out ads about your business. It’s target marketing!
Target marketing is when you concentrate your marketing efforts on consumers who are most likely to buy your products or services.
The top two reasons why people conduct a local search are the following:
Local SEO can help you to promote your business to the consumers searching for your products and services.
Instead of attempting to persuade consumers that they need to buy your product or service. You’re connecting with consumers that already know they need you.
Remember yellow pages? Well, the legendary yellow pages catalog may be dead. But, online directories are alive and kicking.
For local searches, online directories make many of the top results on search engines. In fact, the top directories have a conversion rate of 50%, according to studies.
Some of the most popular online directories include:
A Local SEO agency will ensure that your business information (e.g. contact details) and other information (e.g. descriptions) are displayed clearly across the main online directories.
Mobile devices include smartphones and tablets. More than 77% of people in the U.S. own a smartphone.
Since more and more people are conducting searches via mobile devices, your SEO strategy needs to adapt to the new reality.
More than 60% of Google searches are now via mobile devices.
As a local business, you can’t afford to miss out on the opportunity to connect with consumers searching on their mobile devices.
Businesses are spending an increasing amount of their marketing budget on digital marketing.
You can’t afford to throw money after bad! So stop wasting your marketing budget on mass marketing to audiences who don’t care about your products or services.
Instead, concentrate your efforts local customers who are already interested in your company. This way you optimize your results for each dollar you spend.
The SEO marketing industry is growing at a rapid rate. Many small businesses are jumping to take the opportunity.
SEO investment by small businesses has increased by 20% in the past year. You can also expect the rise in local SEO services spending to rise in the coming years.
Despite the growth of SEO, many businesses continue to be slow to realize the potential of local SEO services.
For example, over 56% of businesses have not claimed their Google My Business listing. This is a huge opportunity wasted!
You can even great ahead of large businesses with an effective SEO strategy in place to position your business as better than the rest.
You have the opportunity to get ahead of your competitors by embracing the potential of local SEO services to rise up the search engine rankings.
Local SEO services can improve awareness of your brand and exposure of your products and services. However, consumers do a lot of work too. Old-fashioned “Word of Mouth” still matters.
You want to encourage your local customers to leave reviews of your business on directory listings. More than 91% of consumers read business reviews.
And also, people trust them! Around 84% of people trust business reviews as much as they do a friend who recommended a business.
It doesn’t take many reviews for customers to form an opinion about your business either. 68% of people say they read between one and six reviews before they decide what they think about your business.
The local SEO industry is constantly changing as new trends emerge and search engines release new algorithms. It’s almost impossible for most small and medium businesses to keep up with so many changes.
That’s why you need to make sure you hire a professional SEO services agency to manage your local SEO for you. You don’t want to fall behind your competitors because you don’t have the expertise onboard.
Traditionally, local businesses marketed themselves to prospective customers through local newspapers.
However, this kind of news media is dead. The circulation of newspapers continues to be in a steady decline in recent decades.
Local SEO services give you an opportunity to reach out to your customer base via digital marketing now.
Now you know the reasons why local SEO services are so important for your business.
Nowadays, everyone depends on the internet to find information about businesses in our area. The better positioned you are to connect with customers in your location, the higher your profits. Simple!
Do you want to get started? Get in touch with us to get help from one of our digital marketing experts.
