Effective digital marketing is essential for a business to thrive. Information about your business needs to be engaging and easily accessible to a wide range of potential customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) strategies are key to successful digital marketing, particularly if your business only serves a small community or region. Optimizing your local SEO strategies can draw more traffic to your website and drive-up profits.

What Is Search Engine Optimization?

Many consumers use online tools to seek out new businesses that offer the services they need. This means that companies now rely on digital marketing, such as social media or a website, to engage with a wider range of potential customers. Search engine optimization refers to digital marketing practices that make the online presence of your business more appealing to search engines. These programs, such as Google or Bing, utilize bot programs that “crawl” through webpages cataloging information and generating search engine results pages (SERPs). Strong SEO strategies can ensure that your website ranks higher on SERPs, driving more traffic.

Many things contribute to effective SEO. Experts can help you develop effective keywords or key phrases, link-building practices, and even the framework of your website, which all impact your SEO. The webpages with the most effective SEO strategies appear higher on a SERP, so they get more traffic. Understanding SEO strategies and incorporating them properly is important for any digital marketing campaign, but a local SEO strategy is particularly significant for small, regional businesses.

The Difference Between Local and Traditional SEO

Every business is unique and will have specific marketing needs. Larger organizations that reach a national, or even international, customer base often benefit from a more traditional SEO strategy. The tools and practices associated with traditional SEO are designed to reach a larger, more general audience. They may include broader keywords and appeal to multiple states or regions. Traditional SEO often places large companies in top SERP rankings, but it can bury local businesses with a smaller customer base.

These businesses benefit more from an intentional and customized local SEO strategy. This comes into play when potential clients are searching for a business or service in a specific area. Experts estimate that up to 46% of Google searches seek information about a specific locale, meaning these searches should be a major target for smaller local companies. These businesses can use local SEO strategies to boost their SERP ranking, which ensures that they appear higher in these local searches.

Why You Need Local SEO

Any type of search engine optimization is important when aiming to create effective digital marketing, but a local SEO will allow you to reach a more specific client base. Approximately 28% of searches for a product or service in a particular location result in a sale, so properly utilizing local SEO can drive your profits. If, for example, you provide a specific service or only operate within a small region, local SEO can help you reach potential customers close by and most likely to need your services.

Drawing more traffic to your website and improving sales are desirable results, but a good local SEO strategy can also have other benefits. One major benefit of effective local SEO is the development of brand recognition in your area. If your business ranks high on SERPs for your locale, then potential clients are more likely to click on your website. If they have a good experience with your online or physical store, they are more likely to visit again. Local SEO strategies are also essential because they draw in customers looking for your specific products or services, making them more likely to complete a transaction.

How to Make Your Local SEO Effective

Local SEO strategy is a major part of successful digital marketing. Here are several ways that you can ensure your local SEO strategy is effective:

• Ensure your Google My Business profile is accurate and complete. This step will have the biggest impact on your local SEO. You can provide specific information about your business’s name, services, and location, which is then included on Google Maps. Utilizing Google My Business correctly improves your SERP rankings on local Google searches. This tool also allows you to interact directly with customers through reviews, which boosts engagement.
• Create posts specific to your location. Whether it is a social media post or a blog, information about local news and events consistently shows that you are engaged with the community you serve. If you are involved with a region that includes multiple towns, creating specific pages on your website for each community you serve shows the range of services you offer to all clients. Search engines will note a particular location mentioned multiple times and rank your business higher on SERPs for that location.
• Optimize your website for mobile users. It is estimated that over 60% of online searches are now happening on mobile devices, particularly local searches. Making sure your website is clean, fast, and easily accessible for mobile users is a great way to boost your local SEO. Potential customers are more likely to stay on your mobile website and engage with your business if the pages load quickly, so they can find the information they need. Faster load times also boost your SERP rankings.

Whatever your business needs are, utilizing effective local SEO strategies is a great way to draw in more traffic and reach your target audience.

​​Author Bio: Alyssa Anderson is the Content Director at Zero Gravity Marketing (ZGM), a digital marketing agency in Madison, CT. ZGM is known for developing overarching marketing strategies and specializes in Pay-Per-Click, SEO, content marketing, social media, development, design, and eCommerce services.

Follow TechStrange for more Technology, Business, and Digital Marketing News.