Thursday 28 March 2024

The Growth Of Local SEO and Its Impact On Businesses

Ever since Google rolled out is Pigeon Update in 2014, the prominence of local SEO has grown exponentially. Businesses can now take advantage of local SEO even in their directory listings for them to be found by their customers.

Google has expressed its love and favoritism for smaller, newer, and more agile businesses. While the focus and ranking criteria Google uses largely depends on the history of a brand and its authority, Google also wants to give people exactly what they want. As a result of this, small business owners who may not have resources to do massive advertisements can rely on business listing portals and still feature on Google search.

Individualized Results

Local SEO is focused on giving people individualized results. Google can generate specific results depending on the person doing the search. The geographic location of your customer plays an important role in the generation of results. Through business directory listing, you can specify your location and this makes it easier for you to be found by your customers within the particular area.

The Growth of Mobile Devices

 The market for mobile and wearable devices continue to grow and this has a tremendous impact on both local SEO and directory listings. Most of mobile searches are conducted on the go by users who want immediate results.

Proximity-based searches will thus grow in popularity and local searches will become more specific. Wearable devices are likely to drive a more geographically relevant network of information and even eliminate more barriers between physical and digital worlds. Therefore, positioning your online ad listings can help you cash in on this growth of local searches.

The Increase in Competition

Each year, thousands of businesses and millions of websites come up to compete with the existing businesses. As a result, this leads to a drop in search visibility leaving only the blue chip brands to dominate the search landscape.

As a business owner, you should target your niche so as to gain the relevant visibility. Among the ways to do this is to list your business on a local online directory. This will in turn boost your local SEO and grow your brand even as competition stiffens.

Starting Your Local SEO Campaign

The intimidation surrounding local SEO campaigns aside, it is much easier and straightforward to start your campaign. The only things you need are time and effort.

The first step is to ensure your local citation is correct and every listing online carries the accurate information about your business. You can claim your local profile on review sites and local directories relevant for your business. The most important pieces of information are your name, business address, and phone number details.

Once your information is in place, you should now start the process of relationship building and content optimization. The best way to do this is through the keyword approach where you do a search for your relevant keywords and infuse them in your content. For example, if your online ad listing is targeted at customers doing search for car dealers and parts stores, your keyword selection must be appropriate and the content must make a mention of the city your business is in, the neighborhood, or the region.

Putting together local SEO and directory listings can help boost your business and enhance the visibility of your products and services.

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