Do you operate a small business that relies on local traffic? You should invest the necessary time and resources into optimizing your website for your respective geographic keywords.
Known as local search optimization — or LSO for short — it’s an essential component in maintaining a strong online presence. To learn more about LSO and why it’s important for small businesses, keep reading.
There are 3 Billion+ Google Searches Made Daily
To say there’s a lot of searches performed on Google.com would be an understatement. In an interview with SearchEngineLand, Google revealed that it parses more than 3 billion search queries per day, or 1 trillion per year. Small business owners who fail to optimize their websites appropriately for their target keywords, including local keywords, will get left in the dust by their competitors.
Google’s Algorithm Now Includes Local Results Without Local Queries
In the past, Google would only display local search listings if the user included a local keyword within his or her query. A local keyword may consist of a city name, county, country or zip code.
But Google has since updated its algorithm to automatically display relevant local listings, even if the user didn’t include a local keyword in the search query. You can test this out by searching for a keyword like “pizza delivery” or “gas station” in Google. The search engine giant will likely reveal local listings that are near your location.
By performing local search optimization on your website, you’ll capture a greater portion of these searches.
Local Searches Drive More Local Sales
This may sound like common sense, but it’s still worth mentioning that local search queries will drive more sales for local businesses.
If you run a retail wedding boutique, for instance, visitors who are located in or around your shop will be most likely to purchase your products. Therefore, you should focus your efforts on attracting them instead of visitors from across the globe.
Of course, if you sell products directly on your website, and you are willing to ship to other states/countries, this shouldn’t be an issue. But if your sales come strictly from “walk-in” customers and clients, you need to focus on LSO to attract these visitors to your website and your establishment.
Establish Your Brand as the Leading Figure
Last but not least, LSO will allow business owners to establish themselves as the leading figure in their respective niche or industry. Unless you are ranking for your geo-related keywords, chances are someone else is ranking them — most likely a competitor.
So anytime a potential customer searches for a geo-related phrase, he or she will see your competitor’s website listed instead of yours. Over time, this can result in your competitor(s) being viewed as the leading figure.
For more helpful tips, check out this previous blog on local search ranking!
Have any other local search optimization tips that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know in the comments section below!
Not sure how to make the best of local search optimization for your small business? Contact us for a FREE business growth call here, to see how we can help your small business attract more local customers!
