Local SEO: What Is It and Why You Should Care

One of the biggest points of interest for local businesses is how they can effectively boost their rankings in local search results. This should come as no surprise for most people. We’ve all used our phone to find a local business while we’re out and about, and it’s one of the best ways for a brick and mortar business to drive foot traffic, get their phone ringing, and increase sales.

Google has reported that as much of 70% of searches for local businesses and/or services end up on the map, not the organic search section of Google. Even more intriguing is the fact that there’s no clear cut way to make it to the top of the local search page. It isn’t as straight forward as optimizing your website to make it to page 1 of the organic section, and Google Maps is constantly evolving and changing how they rank businesses on the map.

Traditionally, having a Google listing was a great way for mom and pop businesses to be found on Google without having a website or a domain with high authority. It put more emphasis on local results, so if a customer was searching for your services near your location, you’d be sure to pop up. This is still the case, however it’s become more and more competitive over the last few years.

About 2 years ago, Google reduced the number of local listings on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) from 7 down to 3. To make the plot even thicker, this year they’ve begun experimenting with paid Ads in the local search section. This has left small business owners scrambling for position, trying everything they can to gain that competitive advantage and crack the top 3.

We wrote an eBook that is meant to deliver that competitive edge you’re looking for to dominate local search results. Bear in mind these are all best practices, and by no means do they guarantee top 3 rankings. In fact, depending on the size of your market, gaining top 3 can range from easy as pie to near impossible. That being said, this body is a collection of resources from some of the best and brightest in the local SEO space, and if you follow these, you’ll certainly improve your ranking in local search.

You can download our eBook on Local SEO here for free. It will provide comprehensive coverage of tips and best practices on how you can boost your rankings in local search results and drive web traffic, foot traffic and phone calls to your local business. We hope you enjoy it!