The Power of Local SEO: A Game-Changer for Small Business Growth in 2024
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is crucial for small businesses looking to grow online. It’s becoming increasingly important as we move towards 2024 to enhance visibility, attract customers, and foster business growth. In the ever-changing digital marketing landscape, Local SEO plays a significant role.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO refers to optimising a website or online presence to increase its visibility in local search results. It’s a specialised branch of SEO that focuses on strategies to attract local customers, often within a specific geographic area. For example, when someone searches for “best coffee shops near me” or “plumbing services in Sunderland,” the search engine results display businesses optimised for local searches.
Why is Local SEO Important?
After understanding local SEO, it’s worth exploring why it is crucial. Essentially, local SEO is a powerful tool that helps you promote your business online, particularly if you’re trying to attract more customers in your area to visit your store.
When looking for local services or businesses nearby, they often use search engines such as Google to find them. For this reason, an effective local SEO strategy is essential to guarantee that your business appears among the top results when potential customers search for your products or services online.
Not convinced that you need an SEO strategy for local searches? Just check out these statistics:
- “Near Me” Searches have increased by more than 500% in the last two years (Source)
- 200% Increase in mobile searches for Phrases like “Open Near Me”) (Source)
- 30% of all mobile searches are related to location. (Source)
What does Local SEO Look like?
Understanding local SEO is essential if you’re interested in using specific keywords tied to locations or local businesses. Local searches are conducted using phrases such as “near me” or “in [city]“, which generate search results focused on a specific regional location.
When a user searches using one of these local phrases, it generates a local SEO 3-pack, a list of three local businesses that fit the user’s search criteria and are in the nearby or specified area.
Imagine you have just moved to a new area, and you are looking for a great pizza place to try out. You pull out your phone and use a search engine to look for “pizza place near me” or “pizza place in Sunderland“. These search queries are local searches because they are location-specific and aim to find businesses or services within your immediate area.
Local SEO 3 Pack.
When you perform a local search, the search engine generates a list of three pizza places near your location. This list is known as the local SEO 3-pack. These three listings are the top businesses that match your search criteria.
The businesses appearing in the local SEO 3-pack are based on several factors, including proximity to your location, relevance to your search, and the quality and quantity of information available online.
It is important to note that if you perform a similar search in a different city or town, the 3-pack will feature a completely different set of companies. The search engine is trying to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information based on your location.
The businesses in the local SEO 3-pack are Google Business Profile listings.
A Google Business Profile is a free listing that businesses can create to showcase their products and services, provide contact information, and highlight positive customer reviews.
Having a Google Business Profile can help you appear in more local search results and improve your chances of being found by potential customers.
In conclusion, a local search is a great way to find businesses or services in your immediate area.
The local SEO 3-pack generated by the search engine provides a quick and easy way to see the top businesses that match your search criteria. By creating a Google Business Profile, businesses can improve their chances of appearing in more local search results and attracting new customers.
