When it comes to shopping, whether you want to buy clothes or groceries, it is common to be told that you should shop locally, and buy local. When you think about it is it really any different when looking for a company to provide you with a service, shouldn’t you “buy” local for that as well.
Of course, there are plenty of big businesses out there that are looking for your business, but there are also plenty of local ones as well – it’s just a question of finding them. Using a local business and knowing that you are helping to keep them in business can be a great feeling. This is one of the big reasons that local SEO companies are becoming increasingly popular, especially amongst the smaller businesses.
What is Local SEO?
Basically, local SEO is an incredibly effective way in which you can promote your business online; it helps you show your products and services to locals customers at the exact point they want to see them.
It is fair to say that millions of customers all over the world use local search every day, searching for a local business in their area. Take for example the following scenario; your boiler breaks down leaving you with no heating and no hot water during an unusually cold period, you need to get it fixed as soon as possible, you are most likely to search “heating engineers close <my location>”. This search should bring up the three nearest local companies. Chances are you will contact these and hopefully find someone who can come out and look at your boiler. At the bottom of the is a little link to click for more companies. There is a good chance however that you won’t need to use this. So, if your business is not optimized for local SEO, then you could be missing out on business
In today’s digital age a huge number of people use smartphone technology to search for local businesses, so every business, no matter how small they might be needs to have not only a website but also some form of online marketing strategy. Competition to be the businesses listed in those top three is growing, and local SEO is becoming increasingly important in order to make sure that your company is on that list.
Are You Optimised For Local SEO?
Having a website is a great start, as is being listed in any local online directories but there is more than you can be doing. For a start make sure that your businesses identifying details; name, address and telephone number are identical everywhere they should be online, this means social media profile if you have one, website and things like Google My Business listings. Reviews are another great local SEO tool that you should be using; these will help with search profiles.
You should also be considering localized onsite content for your website, the more relevant your content is to the person searching then the more likelihood there is that your business will show up in their search results. You can do this in a number of ways, for example by including local maps complete with your location, specifying the areas you cover. These might seem like simple changes that couldn’t possibly make your business more visible in searches, but you might be surprised.
If you are looking to optimize the local SEO on your website but are not sure what you can do to improve it, then search for a company who specialize in Web design Stockport and see what they can do to help you increase your local SEO.
