3 Ways to Maximize Local SEO for Your Small Business

If you are a small business serving a local community, you may not see the relevance for SEO and content marketing. However, many of today’s consumers research online even if they plan to buy locally or use a service within their communities. Local SEO is essential to making your business stand out from other local competitors. Here are three ways you can maximize your return.

Understand Hummingbird and Other Updates

When Google made the big update to its algorithm known as Hummingbird, one of the results was more local search traffic. When someone enters a search term, more of the top listings will be local. For instance, if someone is looking for a “cheap restaurant,” their first results will most likely be places within their town or city or their region.

This change to local results also encourages websites to create content that has a local context. Instead of just writing a page about dentistry, you will want to talk about dentistry care in the city where you are located. People who live in that area and search for a dentist will then see your business listed.

Consider Mobility

Because many of these people are doing searches while they are out and about instead of sitting at a computer, they are using their mobile devices. Users will search for the cheap restaurant when they decide they are ready to eat even if they are out shopping or attending another appointment. What this means for your business is that you need to make sure you have a mobile website or app that will be user-friendly.

According to some studies, almost half of shoppers user their phones to do last-minute research on products or services within their area before they make a purchase.

Consider Local Marketing

Foursquare and other sites are capitalizing on the fact that people are doing online research for local companies. Even Pinterest has added a service called Place Pins where your content can be placed on a map so that users know where you are located. If a person is hunting for furniture stores and they like one of your pieces and find out you are local to them, they are more likely to do further research into buying from you.

While you may not have time to establish a presence on every social network, you need to do some research to find out where your potential customers are spending their time. Chances are pretty high that they will also use that site to help them make buying decisions. They can only learn about your business if you have an online presence.

Small businesses that cater primarily or exclusively to local customers can no longer say they don’t need an online presence. As more consumers own mobile devices, they will increase the amount of online research they do before making a buying decision. Your success depends on making your presence known before they make that decision and proving why they should choose you.

via Business 2 Community http://ift.tt/OygVbP