Location-based marketing is a crucial component of any sales and marketing strategy.

Every day, in every city, and on every device, people search for things nearby. In fact, 80% of consumers use search engines to find local information such as store addresses, business hours and product availability – so if your business isn’t optimized for local search, you could be saying goodbye to 80% of your potential customers!

That’s why it’s time to learn how to optimize your site with local SEO.

But first, what exactly is local SEO?

In simplest terms, this is a form of local marketing. It’s about taking a more targeted and personal approach to reaching your audience.

By optimizing your website and online advertising for specific regions, you are targeting potential customers within your business’ immediate vicinity – this increases your chances of being seen by customers who will actually be interested in visiting your store.

Search engines rely on things like local content, social media pages and links to provide the most relevant local results to their users.

Why is this type of marketing so popular lately?

The Google algorithm uses a searcher’s current location to provide them with relevant nearby options. This means that any business with optimized local SEO has more of an opportunity to outshine its non-local competitors.

Search engines today are greatly in favour of localized marketing, so now’s definitely the time to make it work for your business.

5 SEO stats you need to know:
1. Over 60% of consumers want ads that are customized to their city or immediate surroundings.
2. 46% of all Google searches are seeking local information.
3. 72% of consumers that completed a local search visited a store within eight kilometers.
4. 97% of consumers learn more about a company online than anywhere else.
5. Searches with “near me” or “close by” grew by over 900% over the last two years.

Now that you know why you should localize your site, check out our tips on how to make the best of your local SEO strategy!

Local SEO Tips

1. Optimize Google My Business

Google My Business allows you to easily engage with customers through Google Search and Google Maps. Your Google business profile (which is free of charge) contains your contact information, address, hours of operation, directions, and link to your website. This is also a great way to build trust with customers by providing pictures, responding to reviews, and keeping customers up to date with new hours or products.

2. Use the right keywords

When it comes to your online presence, content is key. Every new blog you post is a new indexed page and a new opportunity to target a location-based search phrase and get found in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

But remember, every time you write a piece of content, you need to optimize it for search engines by using high-volume keywords in the URL, title, header, meta description, and body. Check out our blog on SEO basics to learn more about the use of keywords!

3. Add a location page to your website

Location pages provide potential customers with your address, phone number, store hours, parking/transit information and testimonials from previous customers. If you really want to kick it up a notch, add a Google Map to your location page!

4. Localize your advertising (geotargeting)

Geotargeting delivers ads and content to users based on their geographic location. It can be extremely advantageous to small businesses to restrict your ads to your local area. Geotargeting is now available on various social media platforms such as Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads and LinkedIn Ads.

5. Make your website mobile-friendly

Since most local searches are conducted on mobile devices, it’s critical to ensure your website is mobile-friendly. When consumers use their smartphones to look up your products/menu items, directions to your location, or contact information, they need the process to be quick and easy. Don’t scare away your potential customers with long load times or difficult navigation!

With most businesses joining the online world, it’s essential to do everything possible to stay ahead of your competition in your new marketing campaigns. When you optimize your local SEO, you are positioning yourself to better compete in the local market.

Contact us today, and we’ll get back to you to help out in any way that we can.