Having a local focus to your search engine optimization campaign is crucial because not only are people increasingly researching products and services online, they also want to get them from local merchants. Marketing your business locally through SEO is a powerful strategy to create and expand a solid client base around your area. Here are a few stats to help visualize the reality people’s online behavior with respect to local search.
- People are searching locally. 73% of searches online are related to local content.
- 43% of search engine users are seeking a local merchant to buy something offline.
- 51% explicitly characterize their behavior as “Shop Online, Purchase Offline.”
Whether your business is conducted online or in a physical store, people are still searching for the products or services you are offering online. This research is influencing their purchases no matter where or how they are made. This is simply the new reality of consumer behaviour.
Achieving High Local Ranking
If you want your business to be found online, your website must be highly ranked on search engines. Ranking for keywords overall is tough, but doing so locally can be a bit easier, and well worth the focus. First of all, there is less competition as the pool of businesses is smaller. Second, people take pride in their community and want to buy local, narrowing their focus and bringing traffic to local business websites. Even if they move away from their home town, people often like to maintain connections and purchase products from their area. Third, search engines like Google have many specific tools to help businesses rank higher locally, such as:
-Google+ Pages / Maps
-Google local business listings
-Google local AdWords
Local Ads Cost Less
Small business owners can get a lot more mileage out of their marketing campaigns by going local. Finding a local niche will significantly reduce cost per click on ads and increase your return on investment.
Social and Local
Targeting a niche and building a community of local customers naturally goes hand in hand with social media. Using networks like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest supplement SEO efforts and strengthens interaction with potential clients. This not only builds your brand but leads to real increases in sales.
The key to all this is having the guidance of a professional SEO services team that brings all of these angles together in an effective way. The Blue Hat team, with custom solutions such as the all-in-one Hybrid SEO package, is a solid partner for businesses looking to carve out their online niche and build a lasting foundation in the most efficient way possible.
