What does a local SEO company do
If you are a small business, local business, or startup, you may not have a large amount of capital available. However, you still desire to allocate some funds towards implementing a local SEO strategy. If you decide to enlist the services of an agency, what exactly would their actions involve? The following outlines the step-by-step procedure. Firstly, you would arrange a meeting with the local SEO company to address your ongoing SEO obstacles and objectives.
The agency will develop a tailored plan for you, considering your goals and the SEO efforts you have already made. They can modify existing tactics or assist in starting anew. As professionals, the local SEO company knows the requirements to achieve a high ranking on the first page of search results and will support you in reaching that goal.
Throughout the process, the agency will request important details, including your list of products and services, information about your target audience, the size of your email list and social media following, and other relevant data. Based on these inputs, they will develop a customized local SEO strategy specifically for your startup. You will be involved at every stage, ensuring that you comprehend the actions the agency will implement and the expected outcomes.
Once the campaign is launched, you will be provided with timely updates from the agency regarding the ongoing progress, the goals that have been accomplished, and the objectives that are anticipated to be achieved by the end of the campaign.
Why does business need local SEO services
If your small business or startup is not already utilizing local SEO services, then the question to ask is why not? Local business SEO services can offer numerous benefits to companies of all sizes. Now, let’s discuss the advantages.
Build a strong community
To reach a broader audience, regular SEO services are used, whereas local SEO focuses on building strong connections with the community.
By implementing local SEO tactics such as generating leads, incorporating local citations, listing your business, utilizing content marketing, and managing online reputation, you can cultivate a devoted customer base that will result in long-term repeat business.
Increase visibility
As a small business, it can be overwhelming to feel like the smallest fish in a huge pond. Even though you post on social media and maintain a lively blog, there are occasions when it seems like your posts are going unnoticed.
By ascending in the hierarchy with the assistance of local SEO services, you will enhance your visibility. This will enable you to become a stronger competitor, attract additional business, and motivate your rivals to alter their strategies in order to stay competitive.
Get more reviews
Local SEO can assist you in acquiring a greater number of online reviews for your products or services, which is crucial as over 92 percent of consumers acknowledge the influence of these reviews on their purchasing decisions, as reported by Exploding Topics.
By viewing your reviews, potential customers will be able to make an informed and decisive choice regarding whether or not to make a purchase from you.
Spend less to advertise
The main purpose of advertising is to increase awareness about your small business and what it offers. With a strong SEO presence, you can significantly reduce the amount of money needed for advertising.
Small businesses value dollars greatly. Every single dollar and cent is important. It is probable that you already have a limited advertising budget. Decreasing it even more will aid your business in financial management.
Attract more website traffic
According to Infront Webworks, a digital marketing company, the top result on a search engine results page garners 28.5 clicks, while the second position receives a significantly lower percentage of clicks, amounting to only 15.7 percent.
Clicks result in increased website traffic. After users have landed on your website, it is important to have a well-optimized layout that encourages them to delve deeper, gain knowledge about your company, and enroll in your email newsletter.
Boost your conversions
Are you struggling with a very low conversion rate that you want to improve but don’t know how? Utilizing local SEO services can offer you assistance. As your website improves and climbs up in search engine rankings, you will not only experience an increase in website traffic but also attract potential customers who are more likely to convert and become paying customers.
The best local SEO services to boost your business
You have made the decision to explore local SEO marketing services. However, you may be wondering which services will be most effective in achieving success for your startup or local business. As stated in the introduction, the following are the key components of a successful local SEO strategy. Your chosen local SEO company can offer these services and potentially more!
1. Local SEO audit
To start, the local SEO agency will conduct an audit before providing any strategies. This audit will evaluate your entire website, examining factors like the quantity and effectiveness of backlinks, on-page SEO, keyword research implementation, site structure, and the overall user experience quality.
Search engines such as Google utilize these factors to categorize your website and ascertain its ability to be crawled. It is possible that you may not excel in certain aspects, particularly if you have never undergone a local SEO audit. However, there is no need to worry, as local SEO services are available to enhance your website’s effectiveness in achieving high rankings in search engine results.
2. Local keyword research
When considering local SEO marketing services, it is important to assess the quality of your keyword research, the types of keywords you are targeting, and how effectively you are using keywords in your content. For startups or local businesses aiming to reach a nearby audience, it is advisable to incorporate local keywords into your content marketing strategy.
If you randomly select keywords for your content, it will not be engaging to your audience. They will not show any interest in it. Hence, you require custom, localized keyword research, which can be provided by a local SEO optimization company, ensuring dependable services.
You will acquire the skill of identifying the keywords that your audience uses in their searches, and then incorporating them into your editorial plan. We will discuss editorial planning in more detail soon, so be sure not to overlook that.
3. Managing local citations
When considering local SEO services from an agency or consultant, it is important to note that building citations is only a part of this tactic. Along with creating new citations, it is also essential to review and maintain existing citations to ensure the data is accurate and updated when needed. As you assess the local SEO services provided, be sure to look for ongoing citation cleanup and management as a service offered as well.
Multi-location businesses encounter an additional challenge since efficiently handling a large number of citations across numerous locations can swiftly become extremely challenging.
4. Local link building
Local SEO relies on obtaining local links, which is crucial for enhancing visibility online and offering new discovery avenues for local consumers. Additionally, links serve as a longstanding ranking factor in local SEO.
The process of link building for a local business typically includes reaching out, engaging, and participating in the local community. Local links can originate from various sources, such as local media organizations, local chambers of commerce and business associations, directory websites, community groups, and even neighboring businesses.
Finding potential sites to obtain a local link from and contacting potential prospects takes a significant amount of time. Nonetheless, a proficient local SEO agency or consultant should possess a variety of tactics for building local links, such as producing valuable content, sponsoring events, actively participating in the community, or assisting local charities.
Link building can increase the visibility and credibility of your business, thereby enhancing the authority of your brand.
5. Localizing your website
The process of localizing your website involves naturally including the name of your city, county, state, or region in various elements of your site content, including the footer, contact page, and important sections of your website’s metadata like page titles, H1 headers, and meta descriptions.
By following this process, search engines can gather significant information about the appropriate local search results where your website should be included. This significance lies in establishing the relevance of your website specifically for local search outcomes.
Instead of localizing the main site for a specific location, multi-business locations should create individual location pages (or store pages). These pages should be localized for their respective surrounding areas. Additionally, each location page should include the location keyword in its URL structure.
6. Reputation management
With local consumers reading more reviews, more frequently, online reviews have become increasingly crucial. They aid consumers in establishing shortlists, comparing local businesses, and ultimately determining where to allocate their finances, highlighting the importance of trust.
The practice of reputation management involves:
- Being proactive about requesting reviews to build your review profile
- Monitoring for new reviews
- Responding to good reviews
- Responding to negative reviews
- Identifying any recurring issues flagged up in reviews that could impact the wider success of the business (such as complaints about venue cleanliness, long wait times, or unhelpful staff)
- Repurposing good reviews
- Identifying appropriate new review platforms
7. Monitoring local search rankings
Your local SEO strategy is the sum of all the effort that has been invested, resulting in your local search rankings.
If you do not have a local search ranking tracker, you cannot determine if your strategy is effective. Additionally, not monitoring rankings will leave you unaware of any sudden decrease in rankings, possibly due to a new algorithm or Google penalty.
Performing a local search occasionally is insufficient. To improve its local search presence, any serious local business must consistently monitor keyword performance and competitor rankings. Checking rankings should also reflect how local consumers search for the business, utilizing specific search locations.
