Why Local SEO is Important and How It Will Impact Your Business

The average person uses Google between three and four times per day. At any given minute, 3.8 million Google searches are underway, and this number has been steadily rising over the years.

Improving your local SEO is going to put you in front of more prospects. Local SEO is not a trend you want to miss. Here are three reasons why local SEO is crucial and how it will impact your business.

1. Local SEO Puts Your Business in Front of More Prospects

Think of this from a consumer/customer perspective. Imagine you were just involved in a car accident and you need to find a lawyer immediately. You search Google for “personal injury lawyers near me” and what do you see?

You see Google’s Local 3-Pack, and it looks something like this:

Google has presented three main options and mapped out their physical locations. You take a quick look at how well each one is rated, and you click the one you like.

From here, you can visit their website, go to their office, or call them directly. It’s the same process that most people follow. According to Forbes:

  • 95% of people search for local businesses online
  • 61% of people called the business
  • 59% of people visited the business’s physical location

Most people are either calling immediately or visiting the physical location. But what about everyone else? If they need your services but haven’t called yet, they’re probably doing more research.

2. Local SEO Educates Your Prospects About Your Industry

When we searched for “personal injury lawyer,” remember Google’s Map Pack prominently displayed at the top of the page? After clicking on one of the options, more information about the business appears.

One of the main buttons will bring you to that business’s website, where you’ll be able to do your research.

It’s important to have valuable content prepared for your website visitors. Your content should answer their questions and provide local context whenever possible.

The goal here is two-fold:

  1. Get more people to contact your business and
  2. make sure the people contacting you are well-informed

If your website ranks on Google’s front page, you’ll have another opportunity to convert that prospect into a client.

Now that they’re browsing your website, what will they find? Make sure it’s clear to your visitors that you’re a local business. Make it easy for them to find answers to their questions and information on your products or services.

If done correctly, they’ll start to view you as a local expert.

3. Local SEO Frames You As an Expert

To convert your new visitors into clients, you need to make sure your website is useful to them.

Think of the content on your website as an extension of you. Your prospects will have questions for you. Some will want to get an idea of what it’s like to work with you before contacting you.

Here are a few ways you can position yourself as a local expert:

  • Display multiple professional headshots
  • Create an informative blog that ranks on Google and thoroughly answers the questions searched by your prospects
  • Uncover your prospect’s latent needs. If you can answer the questions they haven’t thought of yet, they’re probably going to trust your expertise.

Now you know why local SEO is important, let’s look at how it will impact your business.

How will local SEO impact your business?

In short, you’ll make more money.

When you’re at the top of Google’s Map Pack or ranking on the front page, you’ll have more people trying to contact you. At this point, it’s simply a numbers game. You’ll increase your revenue if you’re able to convert your prospects into clients.

The goal of local SEO is getting in front of more people to educate them about your products and services. Local SEO has two main effects:

  1. The searcher finds what they’re looking for and appreciates you for it and
  2. Google wants to rank you higher.

If you’re consistently producing content that ranks well on search engines, an increasing amount of people are going to be impressed by your website. Over time, they’ll see you as a local expert. How does being an expert impact your business?

Being a local expert makes you their obvious choice. It also makes word-of-mouth referrals more likely to happen.

You can boost your local SEO results and outrank your competitors by working with an SEO company like [Business Name]. Give us a call at [Phone #] or check out our website to learn more about how we’ve helped local businesses rank on Google and how we can help you, too.