The ideal for any business owner is to have people just show up that want to buy your products and services. There’s no hard sell, they just call.
Local SEO services can help your business reach that ideal. It doesn’t matter where you are in the EU, if you are a local business, you need to consider local SEO as part of your marketing strategy.
Read on to learn more about local SEO and how it can transform your business.
You’ve probably heard of search engine optimisation, or SEO. That’s the process of optimizing your website and online presence to rank high in search results for specific search terms or keywords.
Local SEO is very similar, except that it focuses on local search results. About 80% of smartphone users search for products and services that are near them. About 90% of those who turn to “near me” searches will click on the first search results.
A part of Google’s algorithm is the proximity to the user. The algorithm can figure out the location based on the user’s phone or IP address and can then find the closest-matching services near that location.
There are about 199 other things that Google’s algorithm factors into the equation before it produces search results.
Local SEO services help your website be found by Google’s indexing bots and positions your site in the best light possible to appear higher in search results.
Why does local SEO matter to your business? When people are ready to buy a product or service, they’re going to look up where they can buy that product or service online.
Restaurants are a great example of that. If you’ve ever been hungry and indecisive about where you eat, you probably turned to Google for help. Tourists and other people that aren’t local to Malta make up about 33% of all local searches.
If your business is trying to capture the tourism market, local SEO is a great way to do that.
Does your website get a fair amount of traffic that just leaves without taking action? There could be a lot of reasons for that. One of those reasons could be that you’re driving the wrong type of traffic to your site.
For example, if you have a fitness centre that’s trying to attract new members to your business, you may find that you’re getting clients who aren’t ready to commit yet.
There’s a path that customer’s go through before they make a decision. That’s the buyer’s journey. They take their time to research products and services before buying.
You could be reaching people earlier in the buying process and missing them when they’re ready to purchase.
This applies to every business, even ecommerce.
Local SEO enables you to target your ideal customers at every stage in the buyer’s journey. That allows you to build trust with them before they make a decision. When they are ready to make a decision, you’ll be well-positioned to get their business.
Local SEO isn’t just about your website. It’s about how your business appears throughout the online world. Things like directory listings, social media accounts, online reviews, and links to your site all play a role in search results, too.
You have to look at every aspect of SEO and make improvements to achieve results. That results in a stronger SEO online presence.
You’ll have a more consistent presence, which search engines and internet users appreciate. If you don’t think that can have a positive impact on your business, think again. Brand consistency has been shown to increase sales.
One way to reach potential customers and build relationships with them is to provide a lot of value throughout the customer journey.
How can you do that? Give them content that they’re looking for as they’re doing research for products or services.
For example, a fitness centre can provide useful articles for potential clients who are interested in losing weight. They can target keywords like “weight loss programs” or “how to lose weight.”
They can have articles about these topics that people can use in their daily lives. They’ll then look for specific workouts, such as “kettlebell workouts for beginners.” Again, the fitness centre can be positioned to capture that traffic.
By this point in the process, they’re familiar with the fitness centre and trust the content that they provide.
When they’re ready to find a fitness centre, they’ll search for “fitness centre near me” and when you appear, they will join your fitness centre because they already know the brand and trust your content.
How can you start to improve your business’ appearance in search results? It starts with a website audit.
An audit will tell you where improvements need to be made on your site.
Your website needs to be a high-performing machine. It needs to be fast and provide code so search engines know exactly what each page of your website is about.
After the audit, you can use local SEO services to make recommendations and to prioritize improvements.
Can local SEO services transform your business? The answer is a resounding yes.
Local SEO can put your business in a position to get in front of potential customers at the most crucial moment – when they’re ready to make a purchase. That leads to more website traffic, more sales, and more revenue for your business.
Are you ready to explore local SEO services for your business? Take this free website SEO analysis to see where you can improve your search results today.
Contact us today to see how The Web Ally can help your business succeed.
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