About 88 percent of consumers will either call or visit a business within 24 hours after making a local business search on a mobile device. In today’s digital world, just having a website is not enough anymore. To attract more customers, your business should be highly visible on the internet. This is where SEO comes in.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of improving your online site in order to increase its organic search visibility. Optimizing your website helps to improve the quantity and quality of website traffic, ultimately leading to more conversions. However, with more people searching online to find a local business, you may want to invest in local SEO. But why exactly does your small business need SEO in San Antonio?

Read on to find out.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is largely similar to regular SEO. However, local search engine optimization focuses on optimizing your business, product or service for location-specific search queries. Improving your rankings and visibility in local searches makes it easier for you to be discovered by a local audience. That way, potential customers who shop in your area can find you online as well as offline.

As a marketing technique, local SEO is powerful tool that often benefits local businesses that have a physical location or serve a particular geographic area. By optimizing your online presence for a local area, you are not only likely to stay relevant but also get more business from local searches.

Why is Local SEO Important?

Today, businesses can no longer ignore local search marketing. Fortunately, any business that serves local customers can benefit from improving its local search presence. Below is why SEO in San Antonio is important for local businesses.

It Makes You More Competitive

Investing in local SEO helps you stand out, effectively giving you a competitive edge over the local competition. When your business ranks better and is more visible in local search results, more people will be able to find you online and visit your business offline. In short, you will stand a better chance of capturing new leads.

People Want to Buy Local

More and more people are interested in supporting smaller local businesses. Establishing yourself as a local business enables you to attract potential customers who want to shop in your area. You will not only drive more online traffic your way but also show off your business to new customers. The good news is that you will draw-in both visitors and newcomers to your area.

Drives More Qualified Search Traffic

Local SEO puts you in front of a customer just at the time when they are searching for a product or service. Local searchers are usually pre-qualified by geography. As such, local searches have a higher intent and are more likely to convert. To ensure you do not miss out on business opportunities, you will want to make sure that you rank at the top of relevant local searches, something that local SEO can help you achieve.

Helps You Earn More Trust

There are several ways through which this marketing strategy can help you earn more trust. In addition to higher rankings, local SEO enables you to share more information about your business, something that can help you come across as trustworthy in the eyes of potential customers. This can inspire them to want to buy from you. Lastly, online reputation management will also enable you to build trust and credibility.

Helps You Get Quality Reviews

A good number of people look online for reviews before making a purchase decision. With local SEO, you can get reviews from customers in your targeted area. Many local listing directories allow previous customers to review businesses as well as their products or services. Having more positive than negative reviews will increase your visibility and help you attract more customers.

A Cost-Effective Way to Advertise Your Business

It takes time and effort to manage your business information online. However, once your business appears at the top of relevant search engine results, you can be sure you are doing things right. Compared to other forms of advertising, local SEO makes for a more cost-effective option. In fact, customers will be able to connect to your website at no cost.

How Local SEO Works

Now that you know what local SEO is and why it is important, you need to understand how it works. This will help you create a solid local SEO strategy for your business. Simply put, once a user enters a search query, the search engine will crawl numerous relevant pages and provide the best results for the query. If you have implemented proper local SEO strategies, there is a good chance your business will appear at the top of the search results.

When it comes to SEO in San Antonio, here are the areas to focus on to ensure you can be found for your products or services.

Google My Business Listing

Claiming and optimizing your GMB listing will help you gain local visibility and connect better with potential customers. Your GMB profile should include your business name, contact details, location, operating hours and business photos.

Local Keyword Targeting

Conducting thorough keyword research will enable you to identify the keywords that are relevant to local customers. You will also be able to create local content that includes the phrases your target audience is searching for, something that will help to improve your rankings in local searches.

NAP Consistency

Your business name, address and phone number should be accurate and consistent across the web. Look out for discrepancies, misspellings and duplicate listings as these may undermine your local SEO efforts. Also, update the information in case of any changes.

Optimize for Mobile

Roughly 61 percent of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly website. Creating a mobile-friendly website will help to improve user experience and attract more online visitors to your site.

Local Link Building

Take time to find the right links for your local campaign. To build your link profile, get links from authority websites in your target location. Quality and relevant backlinks will lead to higher search rankings, boost your credibility and help you improve local traffic.

Collect Local Reviews

Reviews authenticate your business and validate how good the products or services you offer are. Having plenty of positive reviews will enhance your reputation and increase your visibility in local search.

Local SEO Audits

Performing a local SEO audit regularly will help you gauge your business’ visibility and identify ways to further improve your site. That way, you can continuously work towards your goals.

Are you ready to take your SEO game to the next level? Curious Laiman Digital can help. We are a professional digital marketing agency that is committed to assisting businesses across San Antonio to strengthen their online presence. Schedule a call with Curious Laiman here.