Semalt Recommendations On How To Get Customers To Take Advantage Of Local SEO



Nowadays, various groups have been created in social networks to favour shopping in local businesses over department stores. You may have marketed your business in one of these groups, or your customers may have recommended it. But, do you know that you can apply local SEO tactics to get customers from your geographic environment?

Today I am going to give you some tips on how to attract potential customers through Internet research without having a website.

Moreover, in this day's content, I will also tell you about the best SEO tool you absolutely must have: the SEO Personal Dashboard.

What is local SEO and how can it help you get customers?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and can be translated as the search results that appear organically in the web search engine i.e. those that are not paid. Local SEO refers to the process of "optimizing" your online presence to attract more customers from relevant local searches.

According to the numbers, over 46% of searches are local, meaning we search for businesses close to our location. But also, nearly 60% of local businesses have not claimed their activity on Google My Business. For starters, that means companies that have done so are much more likely to show up in search engine results. But, in 2020, Google decided to bet on these local searches, so I recommend that you refer your business file today.

Indeed, it makes a lot of sense because, for example, if I'm looking for a decorating company for my business, I'm interested in seeing the ones in my city, not the ones that are 500 km away. The same is happening with other types of businesses. Therefore, I hope you see the possibilities that this type of SEO gives you for your business.

Do I need a website for local SEO?

You can do local SEO and get leads without having a website for your business. But in the long run, and depending on what industry your business is focused on, it's advisable to have it.

Consider that the vast majority of business searches are done via the Internet, and among them, the highest percentage is via mobile. Therefore, if you don't have a website but your competition does, you are doing them a favour because "you are invisible" on the internet. On the other hand, making a well-positioned website appear requires an investment: economical when renting it to a company; or of your time, because you will have to learn "the basics", generate quality content, study metrics, etc.

I'm not going to tell you whether you should build a website or not, or how to make it work. I just want you to know that while it is possible to profit from local SEO without a website, having it can have its advantages (beyond selling your products or services directly without having direct contact with the customer).

In addition, with new high-performance SEO tools such as the DSD, the way to successfully promote your website is already open to you.

How to benefit from local SEO without having a website?

Local SEO plays a very important role in the positioning strategy of a brand or a company, having objectives such as:
How could this be achieved? Well, follow the advice that I am going to give you below.

Yes, I am aware that many service companies do not have their own websites. And, no, for what I come to offer you today, it is not necessary. If you have it, so much the better. But if not, you can still do local SEO.

Get customers with Google My Business

I'll give you a very simple example. It is 2 pm and you are looking for a place to eat. You do a Google search and the nearest bars / restaurants appear. Would it make sense to show you the ones 40 minutes away by car? Exactly, the search engine assumes that if you're looking for a place to eat, you want it nearby because you want to go there now.

Well, now imagine that with your business. When a potential customer searches, local SEO brings up the results closest to his / her location first.

But for that, it is necessary that you add your business file to Google My Business. Also, in a complementary way, but to multiply the results, I advise you to also add it to Google Maps.

The first results, as I told you before, are places close to you. But remember that only a little over 40% of businesses have an active listing in My Business, so the search engine prioritizes them. In addition, inside these, it is easier for you to see which ones are also active in Google Maps. Most users will look directly at the map because it is much more visual and intuitive.

And something vital at this point is that the name, address and phone number are spelt correctly and always the same.

Now I am going to tell you about some points of your business case, but keep in mind that you have to fill in all the possibilities.

Add a brief description

We have always believed that a good salesperson is one who is a good talker. But no one will hear you talking on your Google My Business listing. They will read.

And believe me, the less you write to say the more, the better. In addition, the length of the description is limited. So, you have to convince your potential client with a limited number of characters. Therefore, write down the information that is your business claim... and bluntly.

Pictures

Think "a picture is worth more than 1000 words". If the images you add to your file are dark, cloudy, pixelated, etc. it cannot but only harm you. Of course, in the case of some businesses it is more complicated, so if you are going to put photos of your office, premises, etc., try to take care of the sparkle so that they look good.

You don't need to hire a professional photographer, far from it. Nowadays, the cameras of our mobiles take very good photos. Plus, you can always edit them before adding them to your ad. And again, you have a lot of free image editors online.

Opinion

For search engines, customer reviews or testimonials are important when developing the ranking of results. But in addition, these opinions "weigh" more if they come from:
And while the second point is harder to come by, the fact is that few small businesses have real reviews on their Google My Business listings. And getting them is as easy as asking your customers for them. You can take the moment a customer signs job compliance and expresses how happy they are and tell them that you would be very grateful if they wrote a short review on Google.

Note that reviews, besides helping you rank higher, are almost a deciding factor when it comes to attracting customers.

Working hours

Remember to include your hours of operation, and update them if you have special hours at certain times or if you close a few days for holidays. Not addressing this point can be very negative when it comes to getting customers. Imagine someone searching and your business shows up, he / she approaches your address... and your shop is closed even though the hours of operation indicate it should be open. I don't think I need to explain more.

Social networks

Have you thought about opening a social media profile or business page? Currently, many local businesses are taking advantage. You don't have to post 10 times a week, it all depends on your type of business. Sometimes 1 weekly publication is enough. But, again, you can create a photo album as a catalogue or post works that have already been done.

And here, as in the Google My Business tab, be careful with the:
You can actually benefit from the material you already have. This way, you also give consistency to your online presence.

Check your stats

Google My Business and social media pages have a statistics section that shows you the feedback you have from customers or potential customers who interact with your virtual environment.

Be sure to check them out, as they can give you a lot of information. For example, you can see:
It provides you with the hours your business has the most influx and how long those visits last (this is done with the location of users).

Therefore, the information contained in these statistics can be very useful for your business.

Conclusion

Today, I told you how to take advantage of the Google My Business tab to get potential customers. But remember, then you have to work to convert them into customers and, if possible, retain them. I must also tell you that the results will not be seen overnight. Also remember that to successfully market your business, using better SEO tools like the SEO Personal Dashboard is the perfect solution.

Semalt can help you manage the work of your business.