As you may have noticed by now, your search engine looks different from how it looked last year. There’s a new section that appears above the usual search results. Have you ever wondered what that is? Let us tell you; it goes by the name of local search marketing.
What is Local Search Marketing
It is a variant of search engine optimization, which is devised to develop and sustain your company’s ubiquity and local online presence. Local keywords make up 20% of online search. An even higher number of searches have a local intention. It implies that 3 billion Google searches contain local keywords each month. After the updated settings by Google, local search results precede the organic website listings in the search result page. This can take a lot of click traffic away from the organic search results. That’s why it’s crucial to adapt your business to implement the Local SM settings.
A local SM engagement consists of the following activities:
- Claiming, and confirming local listings.
- Handling listings for various locations.
- Optimizing local rankings for raised local traffic.
- Discarding duplicate listings.
- Increasing and managing reviews.
- Submitting the company to further local directories.
- Setting up analytics tracking to correctly trace local activity.
- Improving your local listings.
Why is Local SM Important?
Seventy percent of people who are online are browsing for local services and products. With smartphone usage swelling daily, further reinforce the importance of local search is further bolstered. It is a critical phase of SEO services for all local businesses. It works for big B2B companies who might not be too focused on the local scene too. It acts as a crucial customer contact point. The reason is, customers, potential employees, vendors and partners might want to know how to reach their office. An unpleasant experience can leave a bad impression and quickly corrode brand affection. Additionally, defective data is widespread in online directories and local search engines and online directories. This can infuriate the customers, and your business might end up losing valuable potential customers to your rivals.
Here is a list of the diverse sorts of local search and the top local search sites you need to submit your listings to.
- Search Engines: Google, Yahoo and Bing.
- Audit Sites: UrbanSpoon, Yelp, and Zagat.
- Yellow Page Directories: Superpages, Insider Pages.
- Community Directories: Localeze, CitySearch.
- Professional listings: Acxiom, InfoGroup/InfoUSA.
However, local SM is more than solely presenting your postings. You have to guarantee that your local postings are verified, optimized and accurate.
How To Find The Right Local SM Company?
Choosing the right Local SM firm from the countless ones operating can be a hard task for many. However, you can make the troublesome affair of choosing very simple byy remembering these following 4 tips.
#Decide your needs
Before you contact a firm, make a list of the things your business needs to achieve. Once you note down the different needs of your business, make them the focus of your conversation with the firm’s representatives. It’s also wise to mention a measure of success of your local SM efforts (50% sales boosted or 60% lead generated) and inform the agency.
#Take Advantage Of the Free Consultations And Look For the Best Candidate
Almost all local SM companies will offer you a free consultation. During this time they will analyse your business and come up with a proposal. Evaluate their performance and look at two or more firms after that. In the end, compare and decide on the firm that did it best.
#Ask For References
Ask your local SM agency to provide references of their previous successes with businesses like yours. This will clear up your mind and let you know what to expect of them.
#Learn Their Story
Question the SEO firm about their establishment, best and worst customer experiences, and how they took care of it, and how they’ve enhanced throughout the years. As you listen to stories you may totally change your choice.
If you’re seriously considering taking up local SM for the benefit of your consumers, now is the time to act. Don’t waste anymore time and start your local SM activities today!
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