21 Jun What is Local SEO and what impacts it?

Many people are aware of Search Engine Optimization but are not aware that a variation of this is Local SEO. Local SEO is very different from your organic SEO campaign, and the local search results are changing more rapidly than any other. In the recent times, Local SEO is becoming an essential component to every business and brands which are simply trying to secure better search engine rankings. In this article, we will explain to you what Local SEO is and its importance in sales and marketing.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO refers to optimizing pages on your website to make it easier for the searchers to find local information on queries they request on search engines. Over the last few years, the Local SEO has grown exponentially, particularly after the rise of smartphone usage. Though there are a lot of similarities between Organic and Local SEO, it is ultimately very different. The objective of the Local SEO is to provide relevant results to the searchers which are specific to their current location. For instance, if you search for best steak restaurant on the Google page, you will be provided with results that are nearest to you.

The importance of Local SEO:

Local SEO is one of the most target marketing approach online. Local SEO allows you to position your business on search engines and other digital marketing platforms so your business is easily available to your potential customers. As many businesses and marketers are already taking advantage of its benefits, it is essential to understand the importance of Local SEO.

• The growth of Mobile and Wearable Devices: Several studies have revealed that more Google searches take place on a mobile device than on a PC. The popularity of wearable devices like smartwatches have also been promoting the instant searches. These factors have contributed to the frequent local and proximity-based searches while making Local SEO a basic necessity for online marketing.
• Increasing competition: Every year millions of new sites are created and thousands of new businesses are stabilizing as formidable enterprises. This has led to the stiff competition among business owners to find smaller target niches in order to achieve relevant visibility. This can be achieved only by adopting Local SEO methods. The Local SEO will only grow in importance as competition continues to increase.
• More individualized results: Google provides searchers with an individualized result. As long as you are logged into a Google account, Google considers your history and geographic location to provide you with results that you look forward to receiving. As Google is growing more sophisticated and with users demanding more individualized results, the importance of local optimization is growing rapidly.

The importance of online reviews and how they impact Local SEO:

Studies have revealed that 90% of customers believe that online reviews have a great impact on their buying decisions. Positive reviews help companies clinch a prominent position in local search engine results. In fact, online reviews, both positive and negative, give consumers an extra push while making a buying decision. In local search results, having positive online reviews can mean the difference between winning over a potential customer or not. Furthermore, consumers love reading reviews in order to make an informed purchasing decisions. Therefore, search engines like Google and Bing want to provide users with necessary information that are required to make decisions on future purchases. According to a study conducted by MOZ’s Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, online reviews make up approximately 10% of how search engines decide to rank search results. Though online reviews are an integral part of your digital marketing strategy, you can’t specifically control the same.

Online Reputation Management:

Why is Online Reputation Management Important?

Online Reputation Management plays a crucial role in building a brand. It can influence purchase decisions or even falsely destroy a company’s reputation. Further, search results can certainly make or break a brand. Today, the barrier between one customer and the other are far reduced that the word-of-mouth can now travel almost literally at the speed of light.

Online reputation management and repair has been the most flourishing segment of online marketing. In the present scenario, brands who do not invest in developing their online reputation and presence will more like pay considerable costs later in terms of lost revenues and repairing the damage. Additionally, those businesses tied closely to the identities of their founders/proprietors, managing the reputation of the names of their executives is another area that demands attention.

We provide you with some professional tips for online reputation management.

• Consider your brands and products: Do you have a brand and product names beyond your company name? Develop content to rank those names. The names have to be ranked in the content that you develop for websites, social media profiles, web pages, and collateral materials.
• Blogs: Blogs are a secret weapon for Local SEO because insertion of good keywords into the blog posts can certainly help with site’s ranking and also boost social media accounts.
• Don’t argue with your clients/customers online: Harsh or unprofessional behavior online can damage your reputation. The best approach is to take communications offline. Be very professional in your online interactions and these professional responses will help you win more customer.
• Never neglect your social media accounts: Merely opening an account on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ account/page for your business is insufficient. Interact with customers to increase your engagement scores and influence. Besides, use keywords wisely and optimize your profiles from keywords that hold great importance to your business.

Remember that though your SEO elements are strong, search engines do not display companies with poor reviews at the top of their result pages. In fact, local businesses are more vulnerable to online reputation attacks. In order to reach the top of a local results page for your targeted keywords, consider the management of your online reputation. If you’ve already set up and optimized your online presence, represent yourself in the best possible way.

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Request a demo to see how Reputation Shielder’s efficient, mobile process can help your business collect 20x more reviews than traditional platforms. This will, in turn, improve local SEO and ultimately boost revenues.

Author: Susan MillerSusan is an accomplished graphics designer, published author, and writer with 2 different publishing companies, & over 5yrs of experience. She is Elevatie's online content manager and graphics designer.