Local SEO is vital for numerous businesses that rely on brick and mortar shoppers but most owners have no idea this is the case. They still use the outdated advertising and marketing practices of the past. When you just do this, slowly but surely the number of customers you have goes down.

Why is that?

Local customers now use the internet to locate local businesses. This is true on mobile and on desktop.

Related: SEO Basics You Have No Excuse Not To Master

Just think about it. What do you do when you want to buy something? Isn’t it true that in most cases you look for local businesses with your computer or your smartphone? As a business owner, you have to understand this and you need to use the internet to bring in more customers.

While I did a lot of work for local SEO in Canberra campaigns, I quickly figured out the power of local SEO. And I have to admit that it got me mad. I was enraged to see that such an easy way to bring in more customers to a brick and mortar store is not taken into account.

The truth is that many parts of local SEO work even without a website. This is just one of the things many owners do not know.

How does local SEO attract customers to your brick and mortar business?

Here’s what you should know.

Highly Targeted Campaigns

Local SEO is always timely and highly targeted. People perform a local search with one of two purposes in mind:

• Find local businesses.
• Find services or products.

Local SEO practically puts the business in a better position in front of the target audience and promotes your services/products to local customers. Since the potential customer already needs what you sell, you have a much higher possibility of making a sale or drawing someone to the physical location of your store.

Very High Conversion Rates

This is, for many marketers, the number one reason why they use local SEO. The online directories show business names, addresses, phone numbers, and some extra information. In many of the local search results, the local directories actually dominate results.

Local searches lead to very high conversion rates. In fact, with some directories, the traffic they refer to a website converts at a rate of 50%, which is a LOT higher than with alternatives.

More People Use Smartphones Every Day

Some years ago, I did not own a smartphone because I knew I would get hooked. This is exactly what happened when I bought one. Now I use it every single day and, in most cases, whenever I look for something local.

There is a constant growth in the number of people that use mobile gadgets to locate local businesses. They use these devices while they move. Keep in mind that mobile digital media time now makes up 51% of the internet traffic share in the US. With local SEO, both mobile and PC internet access are covered.

Business Directory Competition Is Low

Perform a simple search for your competition in Google My Business. You will quickly notice that a large part of your competition is not there. This is because only around 44% of businesses actually claimed their GMB listings. In addition, most of the local businesses do not know much about online marketing in general.

With this setting in mind, we can easily conclude that right now the local SEO competition for your business is lower than it will be. Also, you get a head start, which is preferred in any aspect of business, including search engine optimization.

Most Local SEO Opportunities Are Completely Free

When you buy an ad, it is not cheap. When you claim a Google My Business listing or you register in relevant business directories, the application and listing are free.

Related: 5 Ways To Save Money On SEO For Your Business

Basically, you get to promote your business for free. Local SEO is oftentimes so much easier than regular search engine optimization and a whole lot cheaper.

Positive Reviews Truly Count

More and more people use the internet to look for information about products and services before buying. The highly successful local businesses always have a strong review profile.

When you increase the reputation of your company on the internet, people see that and are much more inclined to buy. Over 90% of consumers are much more likely to buy or trust a business when there are positive reviews present on the internet.

Final Thoughts

If you have a business with an office or a brick and mortar store, you need to use local SEO. This is not a question of a want. It is actually something that is mandatory if you want to keep growing and hold on to your customers. If you do not use local SEO now, you will have problems in the future.

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