In today’s business landscape, you need to have an online presence or miss out on a large portion of your audience, potential customers, and sales. However, it’s not just a matter of taking your business online. You should make how you go about it a key consideration. To get the full benefits of having an online presence, you need to learn the tactics and strategies of online marketing, local marketing included.
If you search for a specific product or service today, you’ll notice that you get localized results for businesses within your geographical location. That’s the power of local online marketing. If you want to be successful and at par with other local businesses, continue reading this article to learn more about local online marketing and how it can benefit you.
What is local online marketing?
Localizing your online presence is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that allows you to promote your brand to local customers. It combines various marketing methods that help to boost your brand’s online visibility. These methods include creating content that’s relevant to local customers and using location-specific keywords.
If you follow these and other marketing for local businesses best practices, your business appears at the top of search engines, driving more traffic to your site. Ultimately, the traffic pays off with higher conversions and sales.
Benefits of local online marketing
Search engine optimization for local businesses pulls your business from the massive global pool where your voice can get lost and places you in a small pond where your brand is more relevant. That gives your business the following benefits:
- Improved online brand visibility
Statistics would show that a whopping 67.6% of user clicks go to the first five results on google. If your business appears among those results, chances are, web visitors will be clicking to see what you’re offering. One of the biggest success factors for your business is being where potential customers can find you easily. Local SEO helps you become more visible, significantly improving the chances of customers finding your business - Higher trust and authority
When visitors see a page or website ranking high, the first assumption is search engines have vetted your business and have proved it credible, reliable, and trustworthy. The position also portrays a high authority in your niche, making your business more appealing to visitors - You get more relevent traffic
Getting local traffic improves the chances of visitors converting to customers. Research shows that up to 72% of local searches ended with an in-store visit for businesses within five miles of the page visitor. Targeting local customers means you’re most likely getting web visits from people who may visit your store or make purchases online. - Earning loyalty and return customers
Even customers appreciate the convenience of doing business within the local economy. When they do business with you and enjoy an excellent customer experience, they’re more likely to return and even refer your business to others. They also appreciate the convenience of being able to drop by anytime for shopping, returns, exchanges, and offers. This helps you gain a loyal following and repeat customers - Boosting sales and revenue
Relevant traffic to your business improves conversion rates and, therefore, sales. Local searches are usually from visitors who have made up their minds to get something and are only looking for the most suitable vendor. Those who haven’t made up their minds yet will have a local store in mind for when they finally decide. - It’s a cost-effective marketing method
Organic traffic brings in a valuable audience without having to pay for it. Simply optimizing your site for the local market allows you to improve your rank and enjoy the benefits of free advertising and marketing.
How to get started with local online marketing.
Getting the benefits shared above isn’t difficult. With a few SEO for local businesses marketing strategies, you can see positive changes in your traffic, customer engagement both online and in-store, and bottom line. Here’s how you can get started:
- Create and maintain a Google Business Profile (formally Google My Business) account.
Creating and optimizing your GBP accounts is among the surest ways to rank higher on Google maps and make your business more visible in local Google search results. A good GBP account is a complete, correct, up-to-date, and relevant reflection of your business.
Optimizing your GMB profile includes products or services you offer, hours of operation, payment methods, and business logo. Also, encourage customer reviews and sincerely respond to them. - Create locally based content.
Create content your audience can directly relate to as it speaks directly to them, grabbing their attention more quickly. You can write blogs about local activities, events, and news and create video content about local causes and charities your business supports. Set up location-specific pages for each store if you’re in different locations - Keep your search phrases local
Keep in mind that your keywords should be relevant to the local visitors and customers. Tools such as the Google Keyword Planner are excellent in helping you filter keyword searches using location. This will help you get an idea of the local search terms. When you get the keywords and phrases, use them in your content, URLs, and meta tags. - Ask for reviews
Getting customer reviews isn’t only beneficial in optimizing your GMB profile. It also encourages customers to engage with your business. The majority of the customers will look at your business reviews before deciding to buy. - Make your website responsive
A responsive website can be accessed through any device. The most noticeable trend is web visitors using mobile devices to engage brands online. In fact, one study indicates that local traffic from mobile devices exhibits a 75% chance of intent to make an offline visit to a local store within 24 hours.
Takeaway
Practising marketing for local businesses can help you reach more people, enhance your search engine results, build brand authority, increase website traffic, and boost sales. It can also assist you in building your business in the area where your actual store is located by increasing your visibility to your most relevant audiences. To attract, retain, and engage new customers, it’s high time you invest in SEO and marketing strategies for local businesses