The Value Of Local SEO
Your local high street really is changing. Online retailers have been mercilessly muscling in on local business traffic, reducing footfall and it’s become increasingly difficult for local businesses to get the customers they need; through their doors.
As a result, online real estate has become incredibly high value territory and local businesses have begun moving their attention to the top 10 positions on a Google local results page. Owning your space and competing on Google is imperative to get you in front of your local customers and keep you prepared for an ever-evolving, digitally-focussed future.
So What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO or Local Search Engine Optimisation, is the most effective approach to enable you to market your local business online, with the goal being, to rank as highly as possible for search terms relating to your business/product and ultimately increase sales and leads.
Keywords that shout ‘local’:
Digital marketing near me
Digital marketing agency brighton
Digital marketing brighton
Local digital agency
There are a number of different factors that influence Local SEO including: geographical location, Google My Business page optimisation, review signals, local links, keyword rich content etc.
However, it’s important to remember that Search Engine Optimisation of any kind is not something you perform once and then ‘forget about’. You must be continuously aware of the search environment, how your customers are using keywords and search queries differently and also keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing.
What’s The Financial Value of Local SEO?
Let’s understand the financial value of ranking highly for a keyword. Let’s imagine the keyword ‘digital marketing agency’ costs £3 per click for Paid Advertising placement and that keyword gets 200 searches per month.
As the number #1 Organic spot in Google receives approx 30% of that traffic, the clicks you would get in the first organic position would equate to around £180 if they had been generated from advertising.
In addition, if you were ranking for 4/5 other top keywords, that would cost close to £900 a month to cement if it had been generated from advertising.
We should also consider that with paid ads, sometimes users ignore them completely and go to the first organic results - another example of how valuable the top organic rankings can be.
So once you’re ranking well for keywords organically through Local SEO, you’re theoretically getting clicks for free!
Are My Customers Actually Searching Online?
95% of smartphone users have used their mobile to perform local searches. This can be anything from a cafe to Architectural services, local charities, recycling centres and beyond. If you don’t have an online presence, haven’t optimised your website or Google My Business page then it’s inevitable that you’re missing out on a huge amount of potential customers. What’s worse, is your competitors are the ones benefiting from your lack of local signals!
Will Local SEO Help My Website Get Found?
If you follow the right steps, stay consistent and ensure you put the time and effort doing it right, then the simple answer is, yes.
We have worked with a huge number of local businesses in Sussex and other parts of the UK who have followed our formula and seen their local rankings improve drastically.
We’re so confident in our process that if after 6 months you haven’t increased your leads, then we’ll work for free until we do.