As a small business, you need to market efficiently. Gaining visibility in your community while saving money on marketing expenses is key to driving sales and growth.
Enter local SEO. Promoting your small business through the search results for your geographic area provides many benefits. Here is a look at some of the biggest benefits of local SEO for your small business.
Local SEO optimizes your marketing budget.
As a small business, your marketing dollars are limited. Even if you spend the recommended 6-12% of your annual revenue on marketing, your smaller business will equate to smaller available funds. You need to maximize the impact those marketing dollars make on your bottom line.
Local SEO is an effective tool for doing so. You do not need to pay search engines to rank you favorably in the search results. You simply need to prove that your content is the most relevant to individuals looking for a local business like yours.
Search engine optimization strategies themselves are also often low cost or even free. You need only pay for the time and expertise necessary to conduct keyword research, write compelling content, update metadata, and so forth.
At the same time, local SEO is very effective at reaching your target audiences. Consider the fact that 75 percent of people never scroll past the first page of the search results and 80 percent of mobile users choose the “near me” option when conducting online searches.
If your business can rank favorably in the local search results, you dramatically broaden the number of people you can reach. That leads to more website visitors, more leads, more conversions, and a greater ROI.
Less money and more results optimize your small business marketing budget, and position your company to grow.
Local SEO builds local brand awareness.
Marketing does more than earn you money from individuals who are ready to buy. You also need to build brand awareness throughout your community. Then, when people need the products and services you offer, they think to search for you.
Local search engine optimization builds this awareness of your business within your community by getting your name in front of individuals who conduct relevant local searches online.
For example, if someone in your community searches for “florist, Greencastle, IN,” and you have a strong local SEO campaign in place, then your florist business will show up in their results.
While they may not purchase from you at that moment, they may call you up when they do need a florist. They may mention you to their friend who has an anniversary coming up, or recommend you on a social media site when someone posts looking for a local place to purchase their wedding arrangements.
This type of brand awareness is only possible with sound strategies that get your business ranked favorably in the search results across search engines.
Local SEO targets qualified customers.
As a small business, there are few things more frustrating than spending marketing dollars just to attract people who will never buy from your business. For example, money spent on a click through from a person in California is wasted money if your florist shop is located in Greencastle.
Instead, you want to get your business in front of the individuals who want to purchase your products and services. Local SEO helps you to do that in two ways.
First, local SEO allows your business to rank for search results that are relevant to the products and services you offer. For example, you can rank for “last-minute wedding bouquets” and “funeral arrangements” and not for “greenhouses” or “DIY gardening.”
Second, local SEO allows your business to rank specifically for local searches. Your Greencastle florist shop needs to show up for people who are looking for floral arrangements in the Greencastle area.
The right SEO strategies help you to achieve both of these goals, leading to more qualified leads and, therefore, a higher rate of conversion (which means more profits for your business).
Local SEO builds trust within your community.
In order to thrive as a small business, you need your community to trust you as a reliable and authoritative source for information, products, and services in your field.
One way to build this trust (besides consistently excellent customer service) is through local SEO strategies. People tend to trust the listings that appear at the top of the search results page.
If your business ranks favorably in the search results, your target audience will inherently trust your business. In addition, broader brand awareness means you are top of mind in customers' minds, leading them to believe that you are the right company to trust with their business.
Local SEO can also build trust within your community by winning you more online reviews. As your local marketing efforts cultivate interactions with customers, and they discuss those interactions online, you enjoy a better reputation among your target audiences.
Local SEO builds community.
Local search engine optimization efforts don't just benefit your company's bottom line. They benefit your company's place within your community, and they benefit the community itself.
For example, as you gain brand awareness within your community, local residents are more likely to choose you when they want to shop local or shop small. By keeping commerce within your area, you help your local economy to thrive.
Similarly, you may find that greater visibility in the search results leads to opportunities to partner with other local businesses and organizations. As they become aware of your presence, opportunities to build thriving relationships also become clear.
Creating a stronger small business and a stronger community is possible through local SEO. You just need the right marketing partner to make it all happen.
Enter Distinct. Our local marketing advisers, like Shannon Detro, have years of experience in local marketing. They can help you to develop and implement a powerful local plan that helps your business grow.
Let us show you how we can help you!
