During class one day I found myself thinking, “is SEO really needed for a business with a solely local customer base?” I imagined a mom and pop bakery in a small town, that never does advertising, but always has a consistent stream of customers because they’ve been in the business for so long. Do they need SEO too? After a quick search, the resounding answer was “YES!” I wanted to explore and share some of the reasons that even local small businesses still need to be aware of and thinking about SEO.
As we know, the overall goal of SEO is to increase a website’s visibility in search results, and local SEO aims specifically to increase this visibility within a specific location or radius. SEO for a small local business ultimately isn’t that helpful if it puts you on the SERP for people 1,000 miles away. Local SEO and visibility within a specific local area is crucial because these are the consumers who are most likely to engage with your content and your business in the first place. According to Forbes, Google favors local content because of the extra value that it has for users. This can give you a leg up on larger corporations who aren’t specific to your area.
One benefit of conducting local SEO according to the Collective Alternative is that it can make it easier for your customers to share your business with their friends, which can contribute to future growth.The same article also discussed how appearing in local searches consistently can build up an image of being trustworthy and reliable within the local community. Even if this doesn’t immediately result in more sales, it can play a role in establishing long-term success.
Local SEO is also a way of saving money, which is crucial for small businesses that might be tight on cash. Instead of paying for your site to be at the top of the SERP, good SEO can boost your natural ranking and potentially place you at the top. A great way of doing this is creating content that is not only relevant to your business, but also relevant locally. This content can boost SERP ratings while also engaging with local consumers in a meaningful way. You can also improve your local SEO by having backlinks from other local businesses.
The US Chamber of Commerce reports that “86% of people discover local businesses through maps, highlighting the significance of local SEO in connecting businesses with their target audience. ” Even if you think that your business is well established in the community, it is crucial that it is also well established in online searches so that those who have missed it can find you.
The Forbes article also mentioned another perk of local SEO- it is measurable! Tools like Google Analytics show you who is visiting your site, where they click within the site, and how they got there in the first place. This is great information for small businesses to have and can help further direct and guide their marketing efforts, whether that is continued digital efforts or more traditional advertising.
As an established small business, you are likely already on consumers radar, but by doing local SEO, you are now on the local digital landscape. Now your visibility is more than just looking out the window as you drive by, it is just a search away.
3 Responses
I love your focus on small scale SEO, its such an underrealized area that deserves attention
Any SEO is needed, and in my opinion, especially local. While not as large as a global SEO, local is just as important due to being right next door.
During my research, I also found the importance of Local SEO, and found it is very important for businesses, and relatively simple to set up. Great insight!