2020 October 09 Archive - EXEIdeas – Let's Your Mind Rock

With the advances of technology like placing an order online or purchasing an item over the internet, it can be challenging to bring people in your brick-and-mortar store. You may have already done various promotional activities, yet the number of people visiting your physical store is far from the envisioned results. Fortunately, these days you can do Local SEO can help you out in this dilemma. It can help you improve your organic rankings in search engines, increase your foot traffic and bring in potential buyers to augment your sales conversion.Definition Of Local SEO:Local Search Engine Optimization or Local SEO is a strategy for your business to make it visible in local search results. It works by adding geographic information to a search engine listing. Local SEO pertains to the strategies you do to help your local audience lead to your physical store.This tactic allows you to be more easily found based on the customer’s location tactic and better rankings in search engines. The evolution of smartphones and the ability to know precisely where a user is located have made Local SEO one of effective marketing strategies. That is crucial, especially for businesses that only have a physical store and do not do any online transactions.Importance Of Doing Local SEO To Help Your Business:Local SEO is now regarded to be always included in your list of marketing strategies. It can do as much, especially for your physical store. Here are some reasons why you should always consider doing Local SEO.1.) More Visibility Online, More Local Traffic:If you are starting with your Local SEO campaign, you might have come across online business citations or any online mention of your business’s name. It includes your business name, physical address, and your phone number or your NAP.Online business citation is essential because it allows people to find you when they look for you online. Your business will become visible for internet users looking for your local place or your local address. To take advantage of this, you need to build citations on sites like Google and Facebook. It would be better to have an optimized and compelling profile on relevant online directories like TripAdvisor or Yelp. Having a presence in these online platforms will help your business become visible online. With your details, it would be easier for people to locate your brick-and-mortar store. That means that the more effort you put online, the more local traffic you can get for your store.2.) Staying Relevant And Competitive:If a local customer wants to find something in the neighborhood or local town, they can go to search engines and launch a search with “near me” included in the phrase. Doing this will result in all listings near the customer’s location to show up. All the local stores that have made online business citations will appear in the search engine result pages or SERP making it easier for customers to decide what store they will visit.Failing to do local SEO, you would not be included in this particular list. You will not be shown with your potential customers, and you will not stay relevant to your target market. You will not gain visibility in your neighborhood or local place. Your business will miss an opportunity, giving an edge to your competitors.3.) Build Long-Term Relationship:Not all of your customers are from your area. Some come from distant places and only come to your store when they are near your location. These types of customers should be included in your target audience when you do your Local SEO.Some customers rely on mobile or web searches to find a particular store nearest to them that caters to what they are looking to purchase a product or a service. These customers are still considered local in your target audience. Once they have an idea of your physical store and they had a positive experience in your store, they will most likely come back. That will be your opportunity to build a long-term relationship with your customer.4.) Increase Sales Conversion Rate:Placing your phone number on all possible local listings can do so much for your business. If someone searches for a product or service that you offer and your phone number appear on the search result, they can quickly call your store.In this way, they can contact you and inquire about your offers. Since they are already interested in whatever product or service you have or offer, it will be easier for you to close a deal with them. By just making sure your contact details appear on search engines, you can successfully convert a simple query into a sale or purchase.5.) Gather More Local Reviews:Gaining more local customers means more opportunity to gather more local reviews. Finding a local store with a superb business process or good customer service is usually treated like a gem by most local customers. These customers love to recommend exceptional businesses with excellent services or processes to their family, friends, or other people in their locality. That also means you have effective promotions for your brand without spending anything or making any marketing efforts.6.) Gives You Advertising SavingsAround 80% of searches done on mobile devices often look for a “near me” option for whatever product or service they are searching for online. If you have optimized well your Local SEO tactics, you will do good in these searches. Your business will become more visible, and there will be a significant number of traffic in your store.Having this will give you the chance to save up on your advertising savings. You can refrain from paid social media campaigns or placing local ads on newspapers or radio stations. Local SEO is even more significant as more people are now using smartphones and relying heavily on technology and the internet to find things they are looking for online. You can also gain referral marketing without spending on your marketing budget.Final Thoughts:Optimizing your store’s digital footprint can help your business rank high in search engine results. It can improve your online presence and visibility, which can lead potential customers to your physical stores. Doing Local SEO is a must for your business, especially if you have a physical store. It is affordable yet can give an optimum result that will help your business grow tremendously.About the Author:Maricar Morga worked as a marketing professional for almost a decade and handled concerts, events, and community service-related activities. Leaving her corporate job for good to pursue her dreams, she has now ventured in the path of content writing and currently writes for Softvire New Zealand – the leading software e-Commerce company in New Zealand. A Harry Potter fan, she loves to watch animated series and movies during her spare time.Find Me On Twitter