Ever since the advent of online marketing, people have considered search engine optimisation (SEO) one of the most effective strategies to market one’s business. Although experts have different opinions of what SEO is, fundamentally, it’s a strategy that allows you to put your business in front of other establishments whenever consumers search for a keyword or key phrase related to your company. Considering the number of people using search engines every day, it’s easy to understand why being seen online can make or break a business.
Furthermore, with the current state of the world, traditional advertising has become slightly less effective, making SEO particularly important to local businesses post COVID. But it’s worth noting that SEO isn’t as clear-cut as many people assume it is. SEO comes in different forms, and local SEO is perhaps one of the best types for local businesses, but what is it exactly?
A Brief Overview Of Local SEO
Although the internet has given businesses the ability to deliver products and services to consumers from one side of the planet to the other, some services simply cannot work if the client isn’t in the company’s current location. For instance, a restaurant can’t possibly deliver food to a customer from another country. That’s why if a person wants to eat sushi, instead of searching for a sushi place in general, they’ll have to indicate their location as well.
That’s the core of local SEO—it allows you to be discovered by people when they search for both a type of business and a specific location. If your Italian food business operates in London, for example, you can be seen by people if they search for ‘Italian restaurants in London,’ but not when they search for ‘Italian restaurants.’ In other words, you can accurately target individuals with local SEO.
Although there are several other benefits of local SEO to businesses, such a strategy can be tricky to master. That’s why there are agencies such as The Brains local SEO services that can integrate local SEO into a business’ marketing strategy.
Now you might be wondering, why should you hire local SEO services for your business if you can do it yourself? Below are a few reasons that may answer that question.
-
Local SEO Agencies Know The Area
When developing an effective SEO strategy, one must consider several things. In the case of local SEO, you must consider the customs and traditions in your area. Naturally, it’ll take time to adjust the strategy you already know for it to become a strategy that works specifically for your geographic location. But that isn’t so for local SEO agencies.
Such agencies already know the area well. They have a deep understanding of the people there, and they know their traditions and customs. Hence, they most likely already have a prebuilt SEO strategy that suits the area. While the agency would have to tweak the strategy here and there, their existing knowledge would give them a head start.
Furthermore, if you established your business in the area just recently, hiring a local SEO agency can be highly beneficial as it saves you a lot of time understanding the local market.
-
They Are Knowledgeable About The Local Keywords
If you’ve tried using SEO for your business before, you’re probably aware of the importance of keywords. These are terms that people enter in a search engine when they want to look for something. If you want your business seen by people searching online, you’d want to target those words. For example, if you operate a restaurant, you want to rank for the keyword ‘restaurant.’
Take note, however, that keywords can take many forms depending on their geographic locations. For example, in certain countries, the term ‘resto’ refers to a restaurant. So if a person is looking for a restaurant worth checking out in the area, they’ll most likely search for ‘best resto.’
That’s what experts call a local keyword, and it’s essential to use this type of keyword in your local SEO strategy since it allows you to target your desired audience with more accuracy. Unfortunately, if you hire an SEO agency from a different area, chances are they won’t be aware of the local keywords, so it’s best to hire local SEO agencies instead.
-
You Can Request Face-To-Face Consultations
Regardless of what type of business you operate, you should know the importance of communication in an organisation. It fosters your relationship with your employees, which in turn improves their productivity and efficiency. You can do so by conducting meetings every now and then. If you were to hire an SEO agency, you’d want to do the same with their staff.
Given the world’s current situation, however, you can only go so far as to conduct meetings through video conferencing tools, but this only applies to when you’re working with an agency from far away. Suppose you hired a local SEO agency—that would be a different story. With them, you can conduct face-to-face consultations and meetings, and believe it or not, that alone is enough reason to choose a local SEO agency over a remote agency. Here’s why:
- Tone and body language play a huge part in establishing loyalty among employees. Hence, face-to-face meetings tend to better build loyalty than video conference meetings, where the aforementioned elements are lost.
- A recent study shows that employees and decision-makers generate more ideas in a face-to-face meeting than in a virtual meeting.
- People are more focused in face-to-face meetings than in virtual meetings.
In conclusion, a local SEO agency encourages more intimate communication between your business and their staff, which in turn brings other benefits to the table. After all, while video conferencing is effective to some extent, nothing beats face-to-face interactions.
-
Their Connections Can Be Of Great Value
As a businessperson, you should know how meaningful connections are. They allow you to exchange information more quickly, and you can get more referrals through them.
With that said, you want to build as many connections with other businesses as possible, but it’s not going to be easy. That’s why hiring a local SEO agency would be highly beneficial for your business. Since they’ve most likely been operating in the area for a long time, it’s safe to assume that their agency has made countless connections with other businesses.
By hiring such an agency, you’re effectively establishing a connection with brands they’re associated with, which can go a long way in establishing your credibility in the area.
Final Words
SEO agencies exist to help businesses establish an online presence. While there are countless strategies out there, everyone would agree that some are effective and some are not. Local SEO agencies, in particular, are extremely valuable for local businesses, and this guide should help you understand their potential benefits to your business if you ever hire one.
Top4 is a digital marketing agency with a focus on building strong brands that generate lasting revenue and customer loyalty with more than 20 years of experience and our Unique Location-Based Marketing Platform. You want new customers locally or globally, our team of web experts will find them for you. Powered by world-class technology It’s simple by being on Top4 and using our services we get you more customers.
We manage all of your digital marketing and social media presence with a focus on localizing content, managing online reviews, and reputation as well as for multi-location businesses and franchises. Whether you have one or 100 locations, we can manage them all for you with our platform.
To find out how we can help you with your Website + Marketing, using our unique location marketing platform called Top4, get in touch today www.top4marketing.com.au
Looking to build customer loyalty through social media? Don’t forget to add your business to Top4.com.au
List your business, create your own digital store to sell goods and services, and share posts on social media. Promote your business on Google instantly! Should you need help with local digital marketing then view our new Google Marketing Platform and services Top4 Marketing
Get Found On Google Promote Your Website, Reach local customers today!
Our Digital Marketing Agency Services Across All Industries Include Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Google Marketing, Website Design, Corporate Web Development, and local location-based marketing using our own Google Marketing Platform!
Engage A Social Media Agency For Only 1/3 The Cost Of Employing A Social Media Manager…LET’S TALK!
Source: alfredomedia
