Why Small Business Owners Need Local SEO to Remain Competitive

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Being found by ready-to-buy prospects and converting them into customers is all about search engine optimization, or more precisely, local SEO. Here are a few stats that prove our point:
  • 50% of consumers who perform a local search on their smartphone visit a store the same day.
  • 18% of local mobile searches result in a sale within one day.
  • 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase.

Sounds amazing, right?

Local SEO gained popularity after the release of the famous ‘Pigeon’ update of Google’s search algorithm in 2014. The new algorithm update dramatically improved the way the search engine handles and interprets location cues, making it easier for businesses to get found by prospects who are actively looking for their product or service.
While local SEO is an essential component of any winning online marketing strategy, it’s particularly important for small businesses for the following reasons:
1. It’s a cost-effective way to reach customers
Compared to other forms of advertising, such as PPC, paid ads on different social media platforms, or purchasing leads, local SEO is a more cost-effective way to reach a large number of prospects. What’s more, in terms of lead generation, local SEO offers better results with 78 percent of local searches resulting in an offline purchase. On the other hand, only 1.7 percent of outbound leads result in sales.
2. It extends your reach to a larger, more targeted audience
Think of how many times you have searched for a keyword or phrase followed by the name of your neighborhood? Your customers search for businesses similar to yours the same way. According to MOZ Local, more than 50 percent of searches conducted by mobile users have local intent. To reach these potential customers, you must optimize your business’s online presence for local SEO.
3. It’s a critical need of the time
With every update to its search algorithm, Google changes the way it looks at and ranks websites. Therefore, not optimizing your website for local SEO may compromise your website’s search engine rankings and impacts your business’s visibility on the web. What’s more, if you are not optimizing your website, you are losing ground to a competitor who is investing time and money in local SEO.
To summarize, investing in local SEO has become more important than ever before and your business definitely can benefit from a well-designed, results-driven local SEO strategy.

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