The following is a guest post from Cory Young at BBC Interactive.
Search has become very localized. Think about it. Searches including “open”, “now”, and “near me” have increased 200% over the last year! Customers want goods & services quickly and locally. And as a local business owner, you want your product front and center as customers are searching for you. That’s where local SEO plays a key role.
According to Moz.com, SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. Local SEO takes it a step further by inserting your location within your SEO strategy. Local SEO includes things like localizing your content, your on-page optimization and assuring that your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistently available across the internet.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes who are searching for “bookstores near me”. First, Google will show you the “snack pack” then the proceeding top organic search results. As a business, you want to be listed in that “snack pack” or at the top of the proceeding organic search results, assuring that when customers are searching for you, they’re finding you with ease.
There are many more reasons why local SEO is so important. BCC Interactive has put together an engaging infographic, showing you 15 reasons why local SEO is more important than ever.