7 Advantages of Using Local SEO for Your Business Website

Studies show that about 46% of all searches on Google are looking for local information. Many of the consumers doing these local searches will visit a local store within the next day.

Local SEO is an essential part of marketing when you have a brick-and-mortar shop for your business. It allows you to connect more with your target audience and increase the visibility of your business.

Do you want to learn more about the advantages of using local SEO strategies? Keep reading this guide for the top seven benefits of using local search engine optimization.

1. Better Online Visibility

One of the primary reasons you need local SEO as one of your digital marketing strategies is that it will give your business better online visibility. In today’s world, people want to get relevant information as quickly as possible.

Because of this, most people searching on Google will never look past the top five or 10 results for their search. If your business doesn’t rank in these positions, you will likely not get much traffic.

Many people looking for your exact products or services may not know you exist if you don’t rank within the first few positions on Google.

When you use local techniques for your SEO strategy, it helps you rank organically in the top results. This means your business will be more visible and more likely to be seen by your target audience.

2. Relevant Website Traffic

Using a local SEO marketing strategy will also provide you with much more relevant traffic to your website. While you may think all website traffic is beneficial for your SEO, this is not always the case.

For example, you may get a lot of people to visit your website, but if they are not interested in what you are selling, they will leave your website immediately. This increases your bounce rate, which can negatively impact your rankings.

However, local SEO allows you to target local customers looking for your services. When they visit your website, they will be more likely to visit your storefront and make a purchase! Having this relevant traffic will be much more beneficial!

3. Loyal Local Customers

When you prioritize local SEO, you will also create a loyal base of local customers. Local SEO makes it easier for your customers to find your business and easier to stop by and visit your location.

If you provide them with a great experience, they will continue to use your services as a loyal customer.

This can also help you build a community. Your business can connect with other locals that understand the importance of supporting the local economy. These may lead to more referrals and better business relationships.

4. Save on Ad Spending

When you are trying to rank for popular keywords, you will often spend a lot of money just to get a few clicks on your website. However, local SEO makes it easier to get organic traffic.

Not only is organic traffic much more valuable than traffic from ads, but it will also help you save on ad spending. Rather than paying for keywords to improve your visibility, you can organically build your rankings and gain more value than you would from a paid ad.

5. Better Conversion Rates

Local SEO can also help you improve your conversion rates and increase your sales. When you have more relevant traffic to your website, you reach people that are actually interested in what you have to offer.

This will result in more people making a conversion on your website or coming to your store prepared to make a purchase. If you need help growing your business and increasing your conversions and sales, local SEO is a necessary marketing strategy to try.

Plus the more traffic you have to your website, the more sales you are likely to have.

6. Gain More Reviews

Having reviews for your business is a necessary aspect of marketing. It provides customers with more information about your online reputation and can encourage people to choose your business over a competitor’s.

In fact, 91% of consumers from the ages of 18 to 34 trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Local SEO can help you gain more local reviews. This is because local SEO helps you attract more local customers. When you provide them with a great experience, you can give them an opportunity to provide feedback.

The more local reviews you have, the higher you will rank on Google as well.

7. Stand Out From Competitors

Finally, local SEO helps you stand out from your competitors. When you have many similar stores in the area that all sell the same thing, each store needs to compete for the same customers.

Most people looking for your products or services will choose the company that has a higher ranking on Google, as it allows the potential customer to learn more about the products and services available before visiting the actual store.

While local SEO may not provide you with increased foot traffic to your business, it will greatly increase the online traffic to your site and can help you attract more business.

Find the Best Local SEO Service Provider Today

Local SEO is a necessary strategy for businesses with a physical storefront. It can help you grow your business, connect with your customers, and more!

If you are looking for the best ways to boost local SEO for your business, Big Bold Thinkers can help! We provide digital marketing services and that can help your business stay at the forefront of digital innovation.

Subscribe to our blog today for more information on the importance of SEO services for business or contact our team to learn more about our SEO options.

Important Google Search Trends You Need to Pay Attention to

Up to 46% of all Google searches are local. Knowing about the hottest search trends will help your small business a competitive edge.

Around 93% of all online activities begin with a search engine. Minding certain trends will help your business’s website rank higher in SERPs (search engine results pages). In turn, this increases your website’s visibility to consumers.

Your business’s web presence reflects your brand. You deserve an online presence that makes your brand look professional, trustworthy, and of high quality.

Here are some hot Google search trends you should pay attention to.

Emphasis on User Experience

The days of designing a website solely based on how crawlers will read it are over. Now, Google prioritizes user experience over other factors.

Mobile responsive designs are becoming especially important. After all, mobile traffic is increasing, and if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on conversions and sales.

Focus on making your website faster and easier to use. That way, users will be able to intuitively navigate your website without issues, and it’ll boost your SEO ranking. Plus, having a fast website improves your brand image.

Fun fact: One of the biggest Google search term trends is that searches for the term “for me” have significantly increased. This reflects how users are focusing more on their own needs, which means your website must be user responsive.

Think Local SEO

Due to quarantine and social distancing, many trending searches are local. For instance, searches with the phrase “near me” have increased dramatically. This means claiming your Google My Business listing is more important than ever.

Be sure to use relevant keywords in your Google My Business listing. Performing keyword research will give you more insight into which keywords to use. This ensures that your listing will show up more often in local searches.

In fact, your Google listing is becoming more crucial than ever to ranking high in 2021.

Updated Google My Business Listings

Filling out your GMB listing with consistent contact information and keywords is necessary, but it’s not enough on its own. Now, Google factors quality and engagement into the listings that get displayed as results.

Google prioritizes active GMB listings over others. That means Google looks for listings that post consistent updates and photos. Also, Google pays attention to your reviews as well as your responses to them.

Nix stock photos in favour of fun, high-quality photos. They give people a better idea of your products, services, and overall brand.

Get Hip to the Hottest Search Trends

Google accounts for 94% of total organic traffic. Organic traffic is easier to convert into sales, which is why learning about these search trends makes a difference.

In fact, 43% of e-commerce traffic comes from organic Google searches. Minding these trends will help your business stay relevant, but only a professional knows how to finetune your strategy for success.

Boost your business and contact us to ask about our digital marketing services. It’ll drive your revenue through the roof.

White Hat SEO vs. Black Hat SEO: What’s the Difference?

White hat vs black hat SEO—wondering what the difference is? Wonder no more. We’ve written you the perfect guide to answer all of your questions about acceptable SEO practices.

We’ll teach you about the different types of SEO techniques that earn you a high search rank without incurring penalties. And, we’ll share some examples of unacceptable black hat SEO techniques so you can avoid them.

Lastly, we’ll explain how hiring white label local SEO services can help. Find out what services an SEO agency or SEO expert in Dubai can provide and if it’s a good idea to outsource your SEO.

Read on to learn all about it.

How Does SEO Work?

First and foremost, the reason SEO exists is that search companies strive to provide their users with the most relevant results possible. As such, these companies’ criteria for determining content relevance are constantly evolving.

That is the algorithms that tell a search engine how to rank search results are updated every few months. This is done to make page ranking more accurate, which makes the search engine more helpful to its users.

Thus, there are optimization techniques you can use to provide the awesome content that search engines want their users to see.

What is White Hat SEO?

Creating the type of content we just mentioned, helpful, relevant, high-quality—that’s the essence of white hat SEO. Remember: Google wants to lead users to the best content.

White hat or white label SEO just means offering great content on a great website. This is an acceptable way to rank high on search engines.

White Hat SEO Techniques

White hat SEO techniques focus on two things: quality/relevance of the content and the useability of the website. They ensure the website:

  • Is conveniently and intuitively organized
  • Is responsive
  • Includes links that work and make sense
  • Includes helpfully structured HTML

They also ensure that page content:

  • Is well-written and without grammar errors
  • Is competent
  • Is relevant to a popular keyword
  • Uses keywords and links helpfully and naturally

Basically, white hat SEO is centered on making sites and content that people want to see.

What is Black Hat SEO?

Another reason search engine algorithms are updated is to discourage cheaters. You see, rather than providing helpful content that will naturally rank high, some people try to manipulate the system.

They try to find out what the algorithms look for so they can trick search engines into thinking their content is great. This is called black hat SEO.

Does Black Hat SEO Work?

Black hat SEO absolutely doesn’t work. Take keyword stuffing for example.

Search engines used to rank a page high simply because it had a lot of relevant keywords. The result was a lot of webpages that stuffed mediocre content with relevant keywords to rank high.

It worked, but only for a short time. As soon as Google caught on, they updated their algorithm to penalize keyword stuffing. Then, those pages ranked so low, they were never heard from again.

This perfectly illustrates what happens when you use black hat SEO. Namely:

  1. If it works, it will only work until the next update
  2. If you’re caught, the penalties can be severe

Using black hat SEO might penalize more than the search rank of the offending page. It could get your whole domain blacklisted off of Google.

Black Hat SEO Techniques

Black Hat SEO techniques include:

  • Unnatural, irrelevant use of keywords or links
  • Automated content is written by chatbots
  • Link schemes
  • Dishonest redirects
  • Phishing for user information
  • Attempts to infect users with spyware, viruses, or other malware

Black hat SEO is basically an attempt to rank high other than by creating useful pages like you’re supposed to. Usually, it means trying to trick the search engines or page visitors.

Do You Need White Label Local SEO Services?

White hat SEO can be done on your own. But it gets done a lot better when you hire white label local SEO services.

A reputable SEO agency in Dubai will improve your search rank the right way. And they’ll avoid all black hat SEO techniques so you don’t get penalized.

If you do choose to do SEO by yourself, be careful to follow the guidelines above. If you’d rather leave it to the experts, contact us here so we can get started.