Local SEO Google My Business

The importance of local SEO

Local SEO has turned into one of the most relevant and useful business strategies in the modern world. With that said, the competition has grown significantly in the last few years and the pandemic has accelerated the process of a digital way of life.

Give that there are more competitors in most industries, the need to ensure optimal results with online marketing is huge. Reaching the highest ranks with any given keyword is harder than ever before, but local SEO is a great way to see a boost in your rank.

Why is local SEO so important?

Think of the most popular keyword you want to rank for. Example "Naperville Local SEO"

Then, think about a niche that is heavily saturated. Now imagine hundreds or even thousands of business ventures fighting for a spot on the first-page results on Google. The search results display no more than seven organic listings at any given time.

This means that out of thousands of business ventures competing for a spot, only 7 will be found on the first page. With that said, the results shown are not going to be the same for everyone. A website may rank high on the search results for someone, but it will be shown in a different spot and a different page for someone else.

Regardless of this particular factor, only the pages that are generating the larger amount of interest are going to be the ones that have a chance to appear on the search results. Just remember that the more you narrow the search down in terms of the radius, the easier it will be to achieve the results you want.

The factors that help you achieve great local SEO

There are many aspects of SEO that need to be taken into account when you are looking to rank your business. Some of them will prove to be more useful than others, but they are all relevant for this purpose.

We are going to discuss some of them and give you the reasons why they are so important and useful for your business. It is also important to note that the level of involvement with each of these factors will depend on what you are selling and what audience you are targeting.

Content marketing

There are many factors that come into play when someone is looking to rank their business high on local SEO results. The most common thing that is used for this purpose is content marketing. When you hear people say content is still king, this is a very accurate statement in many ways.

Content marketing is a process that makes use of quality content that implements specific keywords that are usually used by your target audience to find your services. Given the fact that content marketing is so effective, competitors are also working hard to create content, but only those that come up with fresh, unique, and truly useful content will see the benefits in SEO.

The quality of the publications that you make on your website is going to be extremely important. It needs to be optimized for local SEO, while maintaining optimal keyword balance to ensure that Google favors the content.

Ranking content is always a difficult thing, but consistent quality is always going to ensure that this process is easier. You also need to guarantee that your content is not copied from other sources.

The combination of original content and quality content is going to be the best way for you to see organic growth. Any business could spend a fortune on advertisement if they have the capital, but the idea is for organic growth to become a stable and reliable part of your business.

The biggest challenge for most business owners is that they do not have the time or the experience to produce SEO-optimized content. Once you find yourself in that position, you need to consider the importance of investing in the best help.

Hiring professional content writers is one of the best decisions you can make to achieve organic growth. The more content your business publishes on the web, the higher your chances of ranking at a visible spot on search engines.

Also, remember that your content can become a great strategy to build trust and loyalty with your visitors. Keep in mind that there is one phenomenon happening with consumers. They are no longer impressed by discounts or special offers. The reason for this is that every business offers those things now.

The way to stand out is to generate quality content that is free of charge. If this content gives your visitors and potential customers any value, they are more likely to start developing a sense of loyalty to your business.

Once they see that they can rely on the content you create, they will consider you as the best option to buy any product or service you offer. With that said, content marketing is also going to play a huge role in your local SEO reach. This is always going to be the case if you are targeting the most relevant local keywords in your niche.

The value of Google My Business

There are many directories online that help business owners promote their products and services. With that said, many of those directories have very little, if any influence in the search results on major engines.

That is not the case with Google My Business. This is the most relevant directory available online today. This is mainly the case due to the direct link it has to the Google search engine. Just as it happens with Youtube, which is also owned by Google, local search results are going to be displayed on the first page of Google.

When a business is listed on Google My Business, the visibility of that particular business is heavily increased on the web. This also increases your chances of being displayed on the local 3-pack when someone searches for local services.

GMB is also a great place for people to find out crucial information about your services. This is why it is important for a business to optimize their GMB content in order to maximize exposure and conversions.

Always remember that one of the biggest strengths of Google My Business is that it plays an integral role in the entire Google ecosystem. This means that everything that is powered by Google is going to be prioritized by their search engine.

While it is a good idea to work on rankling your content in other engines, the predominant use of Google for searches is undeniable. This is the reason why you need to emphasize your efforts on those particular results.

One important factor to consider is that Google My Business is still relatively young and this means that many business owners are still not using it. This is why it is mart to make sure that your business is included in the Google My Business directory.

Some interesting statistics about digital marketing and GMB

· According to studies, over 97% of consumers will learn about a local company on the web and not via offline advertisement.

· At least 91% of consumers are using search engines for the purpose of finding products and services.

· Around 64% of all consumers online have used Google my Business for the purpose of finding contact details for a business they want to hire.

· Thanks to GMB, business ventures are seeing more conversions due to a larger amount of traffic.

The importance of reviews to boost appeal

We are living in the 5-star era and now everything is publicly rated by consumers. This has created a completely new set of opportunities for business owners worldwide. The main thing to keep in mind with all of this is that a business needs to work hard to ensure that customers are satisfied with the results and they provide great feedback.

Once your Google My Business page starts getting more positive feedback, you can use this to your advantage in order to boost appeal and credibility. There is no easier and more effective strategy to get potential customers to trust your services.

With that said, it is important to note that reputation management is essential in this process. Many customers are not automatically encouraged to leave feedback. This means that you need to encourage them to do this if you want to have more reviews on your GMB page.

Don’t neglect social media

Your website should always be the core of your digital marketing strategies. With that said, you should also consider the value and importance of keeping up with your social media efforts.

This is going to be an essential part of your business for many reasons. One of them is that social media has shown to be the most reliable way for you to build trust. This is mainly the case thanks to the live streaming features that allow you to get closer to your audience.

With that said, you also need to maintain a high level of engagement with social media posts. This process is going to play a major role in the kind of results you are able to get. Staying active and relevant on social media is important because your competitors are also making an effort to stand out.

There are several social media platforms that can prove to be useful for a business. Before defining which one to work on, you should determine their value to your business based on your niche. Once you do this, the process of choosing the best networks becomes easier.

Once you start promoting your service on any given platform, you also need to learn when and how to post. Mastering those strategies is going to be a great way to boost your reach while you are marketing your services.

Evolve with the market

One of the biggest mistakes made by many business owners is that they fail to adapt to the changes. It’s very important that companies are aware of those changes and the current trends so that they can continuously upgrade their efforts.

This is going to be more important online than it has ever been offline due to the changing nature of digital marketing.

The importance of hiring the right kind of help

One of the biggest challenges for business owners today is to juggle their time between handling customers and while working on their promotional efforts. This is the main reason why we recommend that any business looking to succeed with digital marketing hire experts.

This is important is due to the constant changes and that are happening in the world of digital marketing. Some business owners try to do everything on their own in order to save some money in the process. The problem is that those savings are going to be useless as their business struggles to find customers.

This is the reason why investing in a reliable digital marketing service is so important. No one understands the details and the ins and outs more than those who are dedicated to this process. Investing in their help is going to be a time saver and it will help you generate more income in the long run.

Some investments should be considered a necessity and this is one of those cases. It’s essential to keep this in mind in order to achieve the best results. The most successful business owners will often agree that you need to spend money to make money.

The true secret to success lies in

"Being found" organically, which will continue to grow leads for free. When it comes to digital marketing, it is essential to avoid doing this on your own. There is simply not enough time for someone to run a business while also running their marketing campaigns.

Final thoughts