Most people’s first port of call when searching for a business or service, such as a restaurant, is to ask a search engine. In most instances, the search will be on Google, which accounts for 88% of all internet searches. 

The top results are often location-based, which means that if you aren’t on top of your local SEO, you’re going to be missing out on a lot of search traffic. 

What is local SEO?

This type of search engine optimization is used to raise the visibility of businesses in search engine results with a geographic element. For example, if someone is looking for ‘dog groomers near me’ or ‘dog groomers in Basingstoke’ then Google will return local results.

Up to 50% of daily searched on Google are local searches. 

Benefits

The benefits of optimizing your business for local SEO are huge. They include: 

• Increased qualified traffic to your website/store – people are already looking for your type of business in the area
• Reaching customers who are at a late stage of the buying journey
• Provide a very effective marketing option for businesses. Many of the tools needed to perform well in local SEO are free from Google (including Google My Business)

In order to improve your rankings, you can engage with an SEO agency or freelancer, or, if you have the skills, take it in house. 

Infographic design by Local Search Specialists local SEO infographic