Nowadays, customers are searching for the best products and services near them. Getting a product or benefit from a service fast and easy plays a huge role in the user’s experience so if you have a local business, local SEO is the way to go if you want to get customers.
But what is local SEO? Why is local SEO so important and is it different from the SEO we all know? What are the most important local SEO ranking factors? Drivenly got you covered!
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is all about optimizing the online visibility of your business to customers in your physical location area. It also helps online potential customers to find out where your business is located in real life. So implementing good local SEO practices should be on your agenda.
Why is local SEO important?
According to Hubspot, 46% of all Google searches are with a local intent and 72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within five miles. So adopting an effective local SEO strategy it’s imperative if you want to maximize the chances of your business being discovered.
And now the big question…
Is local SEO different from “regular ” SEO?
Here it goes… While traditional SEO focuses on improving your website’s visibility on a national or global scale, local SEO allows you to capture local search territory and connect with consumers in your area. Local SEO has a lot in common with the SEO we all know and love, but includes the promotion of your location information, which you will need to optimize your strategy around.
And what about local SEO and ranking factors?
When Google ranks websites for local SEO, it examines regular SEO ranking factors and a set of unique local search factors, like for example:
- Where a person is searching from.
- The amount of name, address and phone number (NAP) citations the business has.
- The Google My Business profile presentation.
- Online reviews that the business has and the keywords used on those reviews
- The “check-ins” the business has received
- The local business has been shared on social media?
- The brand’s Google Maps star rating
- Behavioral factors like purchases.
For an effective local SEO strategy, you should take into consideration these factors and implement practices that will rank your website higher.