What is local digital marketing / local SEO & why is it important for business?
Digital marketing involves increasing the presence of your business online.
Local digital marketing is highly relevant to businesses that service the local area and are looking for local customers.
Here are some examples of digital marketing methods:
- SEO (including local SEO)
- Pay per click advertising through search engines.
- Social media advertising paid and organic.
- Content marketing, including blogs, newsletters & email marketing.
- Digital PR.
The benefits of increased visibility through the use of digital marketing include greater brand awareness, a wider (and global) audience, more enquiries, and ultimately more sales.
Local businesses can benefit from local SEO by ensuring that their target market find them when they are performing searches that are relevant to their products or services and their catchment area.
Local SEO is all about improving your online presence to increase visibility in search engines, like Google, for local searches.
If you are reliant upon local trade, or local footfall, improving your local SEO could be pivotal to your future success and can help to ensure that you outperform your competition.
How is local digital marketing relevant to the changing landscape?
The increased use of mobile and digital was already an important factor before 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, buying habits have changed with far more research being done and more purchases being made online.
It is now more important than ever for local businesses to be seen and to be found online, so they are not missing out on opportunities and losing out to their rivals.
Investing time and money in local digital marketing will ensure that you are still accessible to your customers and that your competition is not overtaking you.
Read on for some tips on how to improve the marketing for your local business.
5 Local marketing tips for small businesses
Local SEO
1) Create a basic website
If you don’t already have a website, consider investing in one.
At Search Buddy, we can help you with website design and development by creating a relatively inexpensive website to target local services, with local content and keywords.
Contact us today on email at contact@search-buddy.com or phone 0113 467 5392
2) Add localised landing pages
If you already have a website, ensure that you have local landing pages with localised keywords and content.
For example, if you were a Plumber based in Leeds, make sure that you have pages for the services specific to the local area that you are targeting. Eg boiler repairs in West Yorkshire.
Do some research to find out which relevant keywords generate the most search volume, and make sure your local landing page is optimised for this term(s)
3) Create a Google My Business listing
More user searches are becoming geographically specific, so having a listing, linked to your website with the services you offer in the location that is being searched for, is pretty crucial.
Not only do these listings improve your local presence on Google, and on Google Maps, but they also provide a facility for gathering customer reviews, which help to sell your products/services when they are being compared against a competitor.
Make sure the listing is up to date with your correct address and opening hours, add a description for your business, include any relevant business information and even add images or videos.
You can create your account here: https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/business/
4) Gather 5* reviews for your Google My Business listing from your loyal customers.
If you have customers that would be willing to leave you positive reviews on your GMB listing, ask them if they’ll do you a favour. If they need a nudge consider offering an incentive in return, like a discount off their next order.
This helps with your online presence from an SEO perspective, but it also helps your potential consumers buying decision by having real life examples of other customers experiences with your business.
If the consumer is struggling to decide between you and your competition, that could be the extra incentive they need to help them to make the right decision!
5) Ensure you have a listing on local business directories, such as Yelp.
Research shows that Yelp appears in the top 5 search results for 92% of Google user queries that include a location and a business category.
If you have invested time and money in your SEO and you’re already on page 1 for relevant local searches, having the right directories list your business will take up more space on page 1, leaving less room for your competition!
If you need help with your SEO, or want to learn more about SEO, read more about our SEO Agency in Leeds
Other Marketing Tips
Promote your business on local social media groups.
Join local social media groups on platforms such as Facebook. This gives you the opportunity to promote your business locally to the right audience. It also allows customers who are on social media to refer friends, family, and other contacts to your business page.
Run a paid advertising campaign on Facebook
Use paid advertising on Facebook to target your ideal customer.
Facebook is a relatively cheap way of getting clicks to your website with broad targeting options.
The benefit of Facebook is that you can target by local area very easily.
Run a paid advertising campaign on Google
Use paid advertising on Google to target local searches.
When users search the keywords and locations you are targeting, running Google Ads campaigns will allow you to appear right at the top of Google, ahead of the top organic search results.
Let us help you to create a profitable Google Ads campaigns. Read more about our PPC Services
Support the local community!
Get involved with the local community to show your support.
Sponsor a local sports team, do some work for a charity. Make sure you are seen to be a big help to the local community.
Search Buddy. The local Digital Marketing Agency
At Search Buddy we are focussed on helping local businesses to grow.
As a digital marketing agency in Leeds, we are passionate about seeing Leeds businesses thrive, and we use all of our experience to make that a reality for our clients.
Get in touch to find out more we’d be delighted to pop in for a no obligation consultation.
The benefits of using a Local Digital Marketing Agency
There are many benefits of using a local agency for your digital marketing, including:
- More competitive pricing due to less travel for meetings.
- More face-to-face meetings, allowing for more productive time spent.
- Understanding of your local area, which in some cases means local customers and footfall.
- Relevant and shared contacts, including local suppliers and local human resources.
And on top of all this, you’ll feel great about supporting a local business!
46% of searches are local
46% of Google searches are for a local business or a local service.
62% will ignore you
62% of consumers will disregard a business if they can’t find the information they are looking for online.
97% start online
97% of consumers start their search for a local business online.
Only 44% have a listing
Surprisingly however, only 44% of businesses have claimed their Google My Business listing.
78% go on to purchase
78% of people who search locally make a purchase afterwards, be it online or in store.
56% use online & offline
56% of consumers shop both online and offline, showing the importance of online information, helping to lead to store/business visits.
