Local SEO is the Next Big Thing
· BlueHat Marketing
Local SEO, as simple as it can appear to be, might just be the next big thing for small businesses. With the melding of business pages on social networks with Google Places and local search results, optimizing your local business to be found online by people searching in your area is becoming a more powerful marketing tool every day. Many businesses are realizing this and quickly hopping on the trend.
The facts
- There are 11 million Facebook business pages.
- There are 9 million Google Places pages and 150 million active Google account users .
- There are 1 million Google Places pages being claimed PER MONTH .
While some businesses are going deep into using these tools to sell directly to their customers others haven’t even claimed their Places or social network pages at all.
Falling behind in local SEO will kill your business.
Here are a few reasons why optimizing your business to be found online through tools like Google Places and Facebook pages will boost your business in a real way.
Greater Reach
It’s not enough to simply focus on getting organic or PPC results on Google anymore. Local business listings appear at the top of Google results when a user performs a search, sometimes resulting in an extra entry in addition to organic and PPC links, and get a lot of attention from users.
Greater Trust
Established social networks and local listings tools like Google Places are well known and trusted by users. When they see a business listed in them, they know that there was a process of verification involved. Organic entries don’t come with the same type of guarantee. Social business profiles also include reviews, comments and interactions that further solidify the user’s trust.
Mobile Friendly
Mobile searches represent a significant proportion of search traffic nowadays, especially of the local type. Stable, trusted social networks and applications on mobile devices serve users in a way that is familiar and reliable, increasing their chance to find and click through to your business. Having your business optimized for local SEO combined with a mobile friendly website will give your business a real boost.
The time to act is now.
Optimizing for local SEO can be intimidating, as are many aspects of online marketing. That’s why the Blue Hat team specializes in keeping on top of the latest trends and technologies in the online world. With our local SEO services , we help bring leads to your door while you focus on running your business.
