Marketers use search engine optimisation (SEO) to optimise their websites and social media channels to organically increase their visibility and rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO has been found time and time again to be an effective method of increasing brand visibility and attracting high-quality leads. With a well-curated SEO campaign, you can get your message across to the right audience.
Standard SEO can help you rank high for your relevant keywords on a national level. Marketers are beginning to understand the power and importance of local SEO – the practice of optimising your content for potential customers in your area. In implementing a local SEO strategy, you make it even easier for your prospects to find your business. As a result, you can drastically improve your conversion rate and return-on-investment (ROI). Let’s take a closer look at why local SEO is an effective marketing strategy.
Higher Google Ranking With Local SEO
Naturally, people who search for their wants and needs online are inclined to search for businesses that offer products and services in their area. Thus, keywords relevant to one’s geolocation will make it easier for that person to find your businesses and become a customer.
According to Think With Google, ’76 % of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a related business within a day, and 28% of those searches result in a purchase’.
It’s hard to ignore the above statistic. Based on these numbers, optimising your content for local SEO is crucial for growth.
Increase High-Quality Traffic With Local SEO
Local SEO can help you increase high-quality traffic to your landing pages, blog posts, and website in general. Many marketers focus too heavily on attracting a large volume of traffic, but high traffic does not equal business growth. Sure, you can never have too much brand awareness, but if your traffic quality is low (visitors are unlikely to become a lead or customer), you won’t see much ROI on your efforts to attract more traffic.
Instead, it can be more beneficial to target smaller, more specific audiences. The quantity of traffic you receive might be lower with specifically targeted audiences, but the quality will likely be high. This means that those who visit your site are likely to engage further and convert.
Types of Content for Local SEO
To optimise your business for local SEO, it’s important to use the right types of content. Here we will look at three of the most beneficial content types to help your business thrive in your area.
Area-specific Landing Pages
Create landing pages for your business and services based on your location. For example, you could write a landing page that explicitly states that your services are available in Central London. By including ‘Central London’ as a keyword in your content, those who live in the area and need your services should have very few problems finding your business.
If you have multiple locations for your business, you don’t need to create new websites for each location. You can add as many landing pages as you like to your website, which means you can add a landing page for each specific location where your business operates.
Blog Content
Blogs are one of the most popular and effective tools used in marketing campaigns today (HubSpot) and have consistently been key to many business’ success. You can attract local customers by creating and publishing content that speaks to a specific, local audience. For example, if you run a healthcare company, and you offer services that are hard to find elsewhere, then you can attract more customers by outlining how your business solves relevant problems in your area. Blog content also helps you show understanding and empathy to your audience, who will likely come to appreciate your insights and proposed solutions to their problems.
Reviews and Testimonials
Given the overload of information and advertising across all of the media we consume, it can be hard for people to know who to trust when it comes to purchasing decisions. It seems that every business has the miracle cure to our problems, if only we become a customer. Instead of exclusively trying to persuade people to convert by yourself, share online reviews and testimonials about your product or service.
According to BrightLocal, 87 percent of consumers read an online review before making a purchasing decision. Podium reports that 93 percent of consumers say online reviews influenced their decision.
Positive reviews are, of course, great to share. They let people know that real people have used and enjoyed your business. This adds a human touch to your marketing efforts and instills trust in the reader.
Your reviews don’t always have to be positive to share. You can share negative reviews when you intend to improve upon a certain area of your business. For example, if a customer complains about your customer service, you could share that review online and add an apology, thanking them for time and outlining how you plan to improve. This shows your people that you care about their experience, increasing your popularity and improving your reputation among the local audience.
In Conclusion
Local SEO has the power to increase the return on your marketing efforts drastically. When you optimise your content for a local audience, you boost the quality of your traffic, thus increasing the likelihood that those who visit your website or follow your socials will convert and become loyal customers. If you haven’t already optimised for local SEO, now is the time to do so.
