Whether you are a small business owner looking to boost your website traffic or an established one, it’s important to understand what local business SEO services mean. Search engine optimization is an essential part of local business marketing. Consumers rely on reviews to help them decide which businesses to patronize. According to a BrightLocal study, ninety percent of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business. More importantly, seventy-four percent of consumers say they trust online reviews more than personal recommendations. Consequently, the more reviews you have, the more trust you’ll gain from website visitors.
Google My Business (GMB) is one of the most important elements of local SEO. Businesses without a GMB profile will find it harder to appear in local search results. Having a GMB profile increases the chance of people visiting your storefront by providing relevant information. This information appears in a clean information card. Adding a GMB profile can increase the visibility of your business on search engines and improve foot traffic to your location.
Local citations help Google rank websites with local information. These mentions are based on a business’s NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) and website. Citations help local businesses surface in searches, and the best local SEO services will actively manage these citations to keep data accurate and growing. To help manage these citations, Whitespark offers a local listing management service that also analyzes competitors and recommends where to list your business. The company also builds citations and monitors their growth. Screaming Frog can analyze up to 500 URLs for free, and it also offers a paid version that allows unlimited analysis for $200/year.
