In today’s business world everything is a mere Google search away. When running a small business it can seem impossible to compete against big corporations with seemingly unlimited amounts of money to spend on advertising campaigns. Luckily, there’s a common digital marketing strategy specifically made to help.

Local search engine optimization or, local SEO, is a digital marketing strategy that is specifically designed to help draw more attention to small businesses. Local SEO puts more value on geographic location to the search, rather than organic SEO, which is based on keywords and links. 

Are you curious to find out how local SEO can help businesses so much? Keep reading to find out!

What Is Local SEO?

In order to understand how local SEO works for small businesses, we first need to understand what it is. Local SEO is simply a digital marketing strategy that is derived from the traditional version of search engine optimization, organic SEO. While both strategies place value on keywords and links included in their website content, local SEO puts specific value on the geographic location of the business conducting the strategy. 

When conducting a Google search for a business, you will see a list of businesses near you, their profiles, and a list displaying their location relative to the searcher. This is where local SEO thrives. Instead of emphasizing content on their website, directs their focus to these Google Listings.

How Does Local SEO Work?

When a local business appears under a Google listing, this is known as a Google Business Profile. When conducting local SEO, digital marketing professionals will put much of their energy towards building a Google Business Profile. When Google is searching for local businesses to list, they take data from the Google Business Profile and use it to determine which businesses rank the highest. When ranking for Google Business Profiles, Google takes some of the following into account:

• Business Category
• Business Information
  • Address
  • Phone Number
  • Hours Open
  • Website Link
• Reviews
• Website Content
• Location

Since Google takes more into consideration than simply website content, having an in-depth Google Business Profile is a great way to succeed using local SEO.

While local SEO can be done without the help of digital marketing experts, it does require work. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as just setting up the Google Business Profile. Once your profile is live, it is important to provide all the information listed above. In addition, it is also a good idea to encourage your customers or clients to leave reviews. A statistic by Google shows that roughly 76 percent of searchers spend up to 15 minutes reading reviews before they choose to go to a business, so Google puts a lot of stock into the review section.

Regardless of the work, Google Business Profiles are a great, free way to conduct local SEO, and prove that small businesses can succeed without the big advertising budget of large corporations.

Connect With Us Today!

Are you interested in giving local SEO a try, but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, IT Edge is here to help. We have been a business for over 30 years, so we know how hard it can be to juggle your business responsibilities with your marketing responsibilities. That’s why we want to take care of the local SEO for you. 

Connect with us today to get started on your local SEO journey!