Can Small Business Owners Benefit From Local Search?
As I used to say, the internet has totally changed almost every aspect of human life and local or small businesses are no exceptions. If done well, local search can be a powerful instrument in the hands of local business owners. As per recent data, over 46% of searches on Google alone accounts for searches that target local and small businesses. Searches with the addition of the phrase “near me” are but too common these days. In the next few lines, I am going to look into how small businesses can benefit from local searches on any major search engine.
Keyword Research Is Key
While it may seem like a lot to ask of the first page of search results, it’s actually a relatively simple task when it’s done correctly. If you use keyword research tools to find the right keywords to go with, you will find that search queries are more likely to be performed by someone looking for what you offer. In other words, if you sell kids clothing and the customer types in “kids clothes” and your listing appears on page one, you can be certain that they are not looking for “kids pants” – meaning they have found you the right product and they are interested in what you have to offer.
As a local business owner, you should try to keep your ear to the ground and listen to what your potential customers as well as people around you are talking about. You might pick up valuable clues.
Keep Doing Your Research
If your site has been optimized for local search but your keywords still aren’t ranking well, you need to double check your keywords to see if they’ve changed. The only way to be sure is to run your keyword research again. It’s worth it for the peace of mind. There is a chance you might uncover new keywords you may have missed in your previous researches. It is very important you include terms such as location. What I mean is including the region or City where your business is located. In larger cities, it may be a very good idea to include the part or neighborhood of the city as well.
Optimize For Local Search
The other day I saw a client struggling with his SEO efforts when it comes to local search. He knew what he wanted to offer his customers and was doing everything right except his local search was still falling short of expectations. As a small business owner, you cannot afford to ignore local search. You’re the only one who can tell if you need to optimize for local search; the rest of the competition can tell if you’re doing it right.
Another instance which I would like to cite concerns in particular local search engine optimization. As you may have known, there are countless SEO companies, agencies and consultants in Houston Texas. Some of these are more successful than others. The competition is fierce because the city is a very large market. Just trying to rank for locally for keywords like good search engine optimization company in Houston might be too intimidation for local businesses. Something like SEO Company for small businesses in Houston might be more appropriate and is more focused. A local business owner will immediately know this is meant for him and not some oil and gas giant.
Optimize For Local Consumers
The final piece of the puzzle: Local consumers are looking for specific things and you need to make it easy for them to find the products and services you provide. You can’t simply optimize for a general term such as “kids clothes”; your customers would get the message that you don’t sell what they want and they don’t buy from you anyhow. They’ll go to the next most popular search destination instead. You need to make the landing page relevant to what your customer is looking for.
Local SEO has become a huge area of opportunity for small businesses all across America and around the world. There are great products already out there to help you get started, so don’t pay for a consultant just to work on local SEO, spend your money on them instead.
