Why Local SEO: The Case For Local
Why Local SEO?
Local SEO is a great way for local businesses to attract nearby customers who are actively searching for your products and services, without paying to do so.
If you’re a high street business, a local tradesperson, a professional services business, a leisure & fitness business, a health & wellness business, a school, or even a design & marketing agency in need of more calls, email enquiries or in-store visits, local SEO can help.
What are the benefits of local SEO for my small business?
If your local business depends on customers that live, work or travel nearby, then chances are local SEO could help.
Of course local SEO will improve your business’ visibility in local results on Google, Bing, and other search engines, but there are many other potential ways that local SEO can benefit your small business.
Local SEO can bring your business…
Incredibly high conversion rates, from search to enquiry to purchase
More leads and enquiries by phone and email
Increased in-store visits and footfall
More sales revenue
Improved trust with potential local customers
Greater local authority, as you become the expert in your area
Way better ROI than most other marketing channels
Let’s dig a little deeper into each of these local SEO benefits…
INCREASED VISIBILITY IN LOCAL SEARCH RESULTS
One of the most obvious benefits of local SEO is increased visibility in local search results. By optimising your website and online presence for local search, you can ensure that your business is appearing as high up in the results as possible for relevant searches.
LOCAL SEARCH AND HIGH PURCHASE INTENT
Recent years have seen widespread changes in consumer buying habits. One of the most notable is that today’s consumers increasingly prioritise local businesses when it comes to buying.
One of the core benefits of local SEO is it puts you in front of local consumers exactly when they need your products or services.
This increased visibility can lead to more website visitors, and ultimately, more clients for your business. With a staggering 93% of consumers who use online searches to find a local business, if you’re not capitalising on local search for your local business, you’re missing out. And, as 75% of people will never go past the first page of Google, which means if you are not ranking locally, your business will never even be found!
MORE CALLS, ENQUIRIES AND LEADS
There are an incredible 37k local searches each second. And the monthly number of google local searches is a mind boggling 97 billion.
Local search is growing on a daily basis, with 46% of Google queries containing local search intent. Your local business can capitalise on how customers find your products and services, by implementing a local SEO strategy.
Remember the popularity of supporting local businesses is growing, in fact post COVID, more than 50% of consumers prefer to use local businesses and support smaller brands. And with 78% of people wanting to shop locally after looking on Google, local search means more calls, enquiries and potential sales for your local business
MORE IN STORE VISITS AND FOOTFALL
Because of the high intent to buy from people searching locally, you can expect more in-store visits. Local Organic Google searchers are among the most motivated of potential customers, and as a result are highly likely to convert to visitor, lead and even new customer.
Consumers are conducting “near me” searches on Google more than ever, with a 500% growth in "near me" mobile searches which have a variant of "can I buy" or "to buy" over the last two years [Hubspot]. In fact 50% of users visit a store within a day of a local search, and that 72% of people went to a store within 8 kilometres of where they were looking.
As a local business owner using local SEO as part of your marketing strategy, you can expect more customers through your doors.
Did you know that 76% of consumers who look for anything local on their smartphone visit the shop within one day and that mobile results have 85% more click-through rate than desktop results?
MORE SALES & SALES REVENUE
Considering the vast majority of local searches result in conversions, SEO for local business has become one of the most powerful ways to market in the past 10 years, completely overtaking paid advertising.
Users conducting local searches have such high purchase intent, with almost a third of all local searches resulting in a purchase. Searchers are more likely to care about location if they are ready to buy.
Local businesses using a local SEO strategy aren’t just enhancing their online presence, they are attracting high converting, qualified, leads. A purchase follows
28% of all local searches so if you are not capitalising on local seo for your business you are missing out.
BUILD TRUST/REPUTATION WITH LOCAL POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
Reviews will improve local SEO performance as well as provide social proof to your potential customers. Reviews not only increase awareness about your product or service, but at the same time they can increase the likelihood of a first purchase. In fact, more than 70% of consumers read product reviews before making a purchase.
By building that all-important social proof, these same reviews about your product or service help to increase referrals and more customers.
And by continually popping up in those local search results, you’re building familiarity with potential local customers. How many times have you been reminded on Google, "Oh I must check out that new restaurant I keep seeing" or "I've been meaning to get my hair cut.”?
GREATER LOCAL AUTHORITY: BE THE EXPERT IN YOUR AREA
A user looking for a local business is more likely going to choose an authoritative brand that has a known reputation.
Trust is essential for any business to lead customers further down the buyer’s journey. Creating useful and relevant content is key to building that. Users expect to have their questions answered when performing a search and clicking through to a site. For example, a local photographer working in Cornwall probably would not write a guide to shooting family photos in big cities, but would focus on beach and countryside photography tips.
For some local businesses, creating content that speaks to the local area they sell in, is a fantastic way to help build authority for the business’ website.
BETTER ROI THAN ADVERTISING
One of the biggest advantages of investing in local SEO is the fact that it typically provides a better return on investment than traditional advertising methods like print, TV and even online ads. With advertising you often end up paying for ads that reach a much wider audience, including people who may not be interested in what you have to offer.
With local SEO you’re targeting people who are actively looking for what you have to offer, i.e. those potential customers actively searching for businesses or services like yours in their area. As a result, conversion rates from local SEO tend to be significantly higher than most other marketing channels.
In fact organic traffic is responsible for 53% of total website traffic as of 2023 whereas paid traffic accounts for just 15%.
By now, you can see the numerous benefits of local SEO for your local business. It's a cost-effective way to bring in more leads, increase sales revenue, and build trust with potential customers in your area. With so many consumers using online searches to find local businesses, it's more important than ever to make sure your business is optimised for local search.
We’d love to hear from you and discuss your local SEO needs. Contact us today to see how we can help you drive more website traffic, leads and sales from your local market. It’s time to get the local customers that are actively searching for products or services like yours. Let's make it happen!
Are you ready to talk Local SEO?
Give us 30 minutes, and we’ll walk you through a free local SEO analysis and a tailored proposal for working with our experts to attract local customers to your business. Arrange your free 1-to-1 consultation with one of our experts today.