Introduction To Local SEO

Welcome to this course lesson where we’ll be exploring:

• What is Local SEO and how is it different from traditional/organic SEO?
• Why should you care about Local SEO as a local service business?
• 3 very important Local SEO Ranking Factors (Proximity + Prominence + Relevance)

Part-1: What is Local SEO and How Is It Different From Traditional / Organic SEO?

Think about the last time when you wanted to try a new Mexican restaurant?

What did you do?

You probably took your cell phone out and Googled, ‘Mexican restaurants near me.’

Right?

Next you probably chose one of the restaurants near the top and enjoyed your evening.

The interesting thing here is that the steps you took, are similar to what a lot of people would do when looking for a service business.

Thus, if you own a service business, it makes sense you’d want to be near the top of the listings.

But just how do you do this?

The answer?  

Local SEO.

Using local SEO, you can ensure your website appears near the top of the search listings, for certain kinds of keywords that are associated with a specific location.

So, if you own a pest control business in Miami, using local SEO you can get your website near the top of the listings, should someone search ‘pest control Miami.’

The kinds of people typing in this keyword are actively looking to spend money with a pest control business.

And so it’s clear to see that if you can do this, you’ll experience an increase in the number of inbound leads.

The Difference between Local SEO and Organic SEO

Local SEO:

• Has a geographical component
• It’s the practice of building signals of relevance for a specific location.

In local SEO, search engines are seeking out relevant and trusted locations.

Local SEO has a geographical component which organic SEO does not necessarily have. Since it has a geographical component, it is all about building signals of relevance around that specific location; a brick-and-mortar business.

Organic SEO:

• Doesn’t have a geographical component always.
• Is the practice of building local signals of relevance for a business website.

In traditional organic SEO, search engines are looking for relevant and trusted content. 

Organic SEO can be influenced by location, but it is not attached to a brick and mortar business (actual location).

Local SEO and organic SEO do not always target the same position in the SERPs (search engine results page).

With organic SEO, the goal is simply to rank a business website as high as you can for certain keywords. 

With local SEO this can still hold true, but trying to “crack” into the local results is, more often than not, the main goal of any sound local SEO strategy. 

To see what I mean by local search results just do a quick search for “Pest Control + your current location.”

Now look for the map and listings with local recommended locations.

Part-2: Why Should You Care About Local SEO as a Local Service Business

As a local service business, if you are looking to:

• Put your business in front of more potential customers.
• Maximize your inbound leads.
• Increase your revenue.

You should be thinking about Local SEO as a traction channel.

Let’s look at a few Local SEO stats:

• 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information.

That’s almost half of the searches on Google are for local businesses and services. 

• 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else.

So, if you are not using Local SEO to market your local service business, your potential customers are not able to learn more about your business.

• “Near me” or “close by” type searches grew by more than 900% over two years. 

This shows people are using the internet more and more to find new local businesses around them for different services. And this trend is only going to go up in the future.

When people residing in your city or areas around you business location search for pest control and your business doesn’t show up…. It’s your LOSS.

• 92% of searchers will pick businesses on the first page of local search results. 
• 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps.
• 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information.
• 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. 
• 18% of location-based mobile searches result in a sale within one day. 

Local SEO not only helps with generating more visibility and leads, but also with building online reputation for your local service business.

Local SEO strategy includes generating more customer reviews and customer reviews build TRUST & credibility for your business.

This shows why your local service business has to be on page #1 (be it on organic searches or map pack) if you really want to see your phone ring. And, a proper Local SEO strategy help you achieve that.

We will show you how to actaully get started with Local SEO in this course.