Instead of wasting time, money and nerves struggling with a nationwide competition it is better to promote local
business …. locally.
The question is how to do it right?
Lets imagine that your car alternator failed while you were on a trip in Bristol. You take out your phone and type in the search engine “alternator fixing”. You will be surely happy to see the TOP 10 results from London, Cardiff and Bath. Not really?
Geolocation first.
We could add the city name to our search phrase, but lets face it who wants to do more than required?
Google search engine aims to ensure that the user after entering a specific search query receives the most suitable results, tailored to his or hers needs.
One of the steps Google took in this direction is results geolocation. The recent change in the algorithm makes the general search queries tailored to the users specific location.
Thanks to smartphones and tablets users can search for local shops or businesses on the go, whenever they are in the need of a specific service. This opens up new possibilities for companies who are focused on providing services to local clients. However it is not only for small businesses like vets, hairdressers or garages but also for companies which have branches nationwide.
Local SEO vs regular SEO
Unlike regular SEO, local SEO puts more emphasis on the optimization of websites in search results for clients in specific town, region or province in which the head office is located, its branch, local service or the point of receipt of goods.
Similar to regular SEO there is a need to optimize the website as well as performing a number of off site activities designed to help website to achieve high positions in search results. However, unlike the usual SEO greater emphasis is put here on the local dimension of promotion. It is also very important to continuously “sending signals” to the search engine robots for specific placement and area of operation of the company. Industry in which the company operates is virtually meaningless. It is important however to meet one condition which is to have a physical location and customers visiting it on a regular basis.
Local SEO: why is it important?
There are several reasons why you should be interested in promoting your business using local SEO.
The first reason is relatively lower competition. The nationwide search results makes hundreds of companies
compete with each other. This situation requires incurring more work and higher spending. Small businesses often can not afford it. In case of local SEO the competition is reduced mostly to a few or several undertakings (depending on the size of the city and the overall competitiveness of the industries). As a result, small local companies may be high in search results for competitive phrases incurring relatively small costs.
Local SEO is also a good way to increase your CTR. Focusing your efforts on reaching local customers increase the likelihood that our website will be visited. A resident of Cardiff looking for a car mechanic naturally will be much less interested in garages from Bristol or Swansea.
Another argument in favour of local SEO is constantly increasing number of searches from mobile devices. Google tries to present people using smartphones or tablets results tailored to their location. These results are determined by the search engine whether their searched key phrase contains the name of the town or not.
Local SEO potential
Local SEO is an excellent strategy for supporting and supplementing the activities carried out within the framework of traditional SEO. By making small optimization changes and relevant off site work you can get tangible benefits in terms of improved CTR and reaching easily specific customers located in your city.
Local SEO is not only a chance for small businesses operating locally, but also for large companies wanting to reach out to their customers in the cities in which they have their branches. The success is out there and all you need to do is to reach for it.
