In today’s day and age, being visible is the only option. You cannot expect your customers to find you, instead, you have to make sure that they find you. But why are SEO and Local SEO important for your business? Let’s find out how both these concepts are so connected yet different from each other.
In this article, we will talk about:
1. SEO v/s local SEO
At a single glance, you might get confused about SEO and local SEO. Some of their techniques and strategies can seem similar. But at a deeper level, you will start understanding the unique & different approaches of both these techniques.
Let us look at SEO first- the main goal of SEO or Search Engine Optimization is search visibility and gaining organic traffic. The main idea is popping up on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) as soon as a user searches for terms related to your business.
On the other hand, If you add a geographic limitation to this mix, you will end up with local SEO. Local SEO deals with targeting the local traffic and ranking higher when somebody conducts a local search.
Let us take a practical example, suppose you have a bag-making business in Kuala Lumpur. When you have just started a business, it is natural to first keep your focus within the geographic limits of your city.
You would want to pop up as soon as a person searches for ‘best bags in Kuala Lumpur’ or ‘Kuala Lumpur bag shop’. For this reason, you would focus on local SEO to show up in these search results.
After a while, when your business starts booming and you want to expand, you cannot just rely on just local SEO. In this case, you will need SEO as well as local SEO to target a global market and expand to places outside Kuala Lumpur.
2. Why Local SEO?
When a user searches for a particular term on Google, Google’s crawlers or bots crawl on a sea of content. These crawlers segregate or index this content so that they can show the best possible result when a user needs it. These results are both organic and paid.
According to various studies, local searches have a strong purchasing intent behind them. As a result, it becomes important to optimize your website with local SEO.
When you have a brick-and-mortar business, you have a local customer community. Consequently, you have to make use of a technical SEO audit service to meet your business goals. For example, including local customer reviews on your website, tracking local customer behavior with the help of Google Analytics, and registering on local directories becomes pertinent for such types of businesses.
Interestingly, Local SEO is a part of SEO and helps to boost the overall search visibility of a business.
3. Strategies of local SEO
While content is one of the biggest factors in National SEO, local SEO needs a few more tricks.
1. NAP
NAP refers to Name, Address, and Phone Number. When search engines decide on which results to show up on SERP, they normally consider a few things.
A business needs to have a consistent name, address, and phone number on various listings. This builds confidence and the search engines can rely on such businesses.
2. Google My Business
Using various Google instruments is a good idea for better ranking and relevance. Local businesses can benefit on a large level when they list themselves on Google My Business. Make sure to add relevant and up-to-date information on this account like working hours, modes of payment, and location.
3. Voice search
Voice search is going to be the next big thing in the market in the future. People normally use longer keywords in voice searches.
As a result, make it a priority to optimize your local SEO strategy with Voice search.
4. Customer reviews
Nowadays, customers rely heavily on reviews before they decide to make a purchase. It is a good practice to ask for reviews from your customers after a purchase. You can then post these reviews on your website and social media which will enhance your reputation.
5. Local content
When you are targeting a local customer base, adding local content and stories on your website, blogs and posts can boost your engagement levels.
Moreover, this gives you a medium to address specific problems of your consumers and solve them. It is a great way to speak directly with your consumers in their language.