Join us as we explore the essential pillars of local search engine optimization. Local SEO is an adjunct discipline of SEO, focusing on the local rather than the national. National SEO couldn't be more different from local SEO, from keyword research to content optimization.
Find out what it takes to launch a comprehensive local SEO effort and find out what services are most suitable for businesses looking for an SEO vendor/professional who wants to offer a bespoke set of services for local SEO.
This local SEO course focuses on the essentials. It breaks down every segment of the inbound marketing effort, emphasizing smaller locales with fewer searches and fiercer competition. Each lesson comes with a test to determine your proficiency with the topic.
Course Description:
What do you do when locating an eatery or a nearby auto repair shop? You conduct your search online!
Local search optimization is about positioning a business so local customers can easily find it. It's a simple proposition, but with the complexity of search and existing competition, getting from point A to point B requires work.
Nearly eighty percent of consumers look up different local business information online at least once per week. Therefore, digital and physical businesses must ensure that consumers can find them online! The path forward is local search engine optimization or local SEO.
Local SEO is vital for companies that serve a particular city or region. And it will likely grow in significance in the future. So even if you are already employing an organic SEO strategy, increasing your local visibility is worthwhile.
Local search is a significant driver of in-store traffic, sales, and leads for local businesses, in addition to increasing brand awareness. This course will cover essential processes and concepts in local SEO so you can employ local SEO on your website or conduct business as an SEO vendor or professional serving other businesses.
Course Content
Lesson 1: What is Local Search Engine Optimization?
Lesson 2: Google Business Profile Best Practices
Lesson 3: Exploring Link Building
Lesson 4: How to Perform Outreach for Local SEO
Lesson 5: The Foundations of Local SEO Content
Lesson 6: Engaging in Competitive Research
Lesson 7: Social SEO
Lesson 8: Researching a Blog Post
Lesson 9: Social Feedback, Testimonials, and Reviews
Lesson 10: Online Reputation Management
What's the Value of Local SEO?
When competing with national chains like Amazon and Walmart for prime real estate on Google's search results pages, a local business owner may wonder if it's worth the effort and expense to optimize their Google presence. While this may be true for the primary organic results, it is not the case for local search.
Local search engine optimization (SEO) helps you reach out to customers in your immediate area, whether you operate a storefront or provide services to a specific region. Since 81% of customers use Google to research neighborhood businesses, that's crucial information.
Expanded Visibility
Local search engine optimization (SEO) includes a wide range of tactics that can boost your online profile and raise your profile in local search results.
A critical aspect of local SEO is citation building. This activity ensures that your company's name, physical address (complete with zip code), and phone number appear in various online directories, social media profiles, and review sites.
A company will be more visible to the right people (those interested in its specific product or service in their local area) at the right time (when they are actively searching for that type of business) if you do this in as many different places as possible.
More Traffic
Whether you run a coffee shop, a dry cleaner, or a hardware store, increasing your storefront's visibility in the neighborhood can boost foot traffic.
The more people who visit your establishment, especially if you've made significant investments in things like specialized machinery or the layout of your space, or if your products are best experienced in person, the more of an impression you'll make on potential customers and the more money you'll make off them.
Make the Most of the Spike in In-Store Purchases
Consumers shopping habits have shifted significantly in recent years. Among the most notable is that customers nowadays give
A growing body of evidence suggests that consumers would instead support a small, regionally focused enterprise than a more prominent, nationally recognized brand or experience.
Of those polled, 56 percent said they prefer to shop at independent businesses and actively look for goods made in the area.
Seventy-six percent of consumers have also expressed interest in doing more in-person, neighborhood purchases in the next year, signaling an opening for locally owned, independent retailers. Local search engine optimization's primary value is that it helps you connect with customers in your area precisely when they are searching for your offerings. You can take advantage of this change in consumer habits to expand your company's reach.
Targeted Visitors
For a small company, time spent on unqualified leads or customers unlikely to buy or schedule service is wasted, and money is lost.
With the help of local SEO, your company will only be visible to search users in your immediate area, cutting down on wasted time and energy and attracting only qualified leads.
Since 59% of Google searchers use the engine to gather information before making an in-store purchase, this can be a considerable boon in directing your efforts toward the most likely customers.
More Maps Action
If you take the time to optimize your Google Business Profile, you might see a boost in traffic from Google Maps. With Google Maps' primary function being to aid in the discovery of local businesses and the preparation of travel, it stands to reason that an increase in phone calls and foot traffic would result from such an increase.
Thought Leadership Potential
Content marketing and link building are essential for achieving prominence and relevance, two of the foundational tenets of local SEO rankings. The same action can also aid in building your credibility as an industry authority.
When creating local content, it's only natural to focus on things that are relevant to and interesting to the people in your immediate vicinity. Besides bolstering your credibility as an industry authority, this can also bring customers even closer to your company, strengthening relationships, fostering brand loyalty, and boosting customer engagement.