Your business wants to reach out to people in your immediate area. You don’t need search engine optimization because you don’t want or need customers from Kansas trying to find your Excavating business in Texas, right? Actually, SEO isn’t just for companies that want to reach a global audience. SEO is for any company that wants to be able to be found online. Not convinced? Here are ten benefits of local SEO.

1. Increases your search ranking. This may seem obvious, but few people really understand how important search engine page rankings really are. Consumers, when it comes to online search, are lazy. They want the best answer to their question and they want it on the first page. Jokes about how desperate a user must be to venture on the second page of the Google results are founded in reality; no one wants
to click onto the second, third, fourth pages.

2. Targets the right customers. SEO ensures that the right people find your webpage. One of the problems of any kind of marketing is making sure that the message reaches the ears of those most likely to act. That’s the entire purpose of SEO, to put your page in front of people who are likely to take action—because they are looking for a business like yours in their vicinity.

3. Makes your business easier to find. You’ve started a great business. No matter how great your idea is, you can’t expect customers and clients to just magically know about you. You have to help them find you. That’s what Local SEO does.

4. Makes your website more valuable. While content is only one part of SEO, it is one of the most important parts. Google is now, more than ever, focused on putting the most valuable content in front of its searchers. That means great Local SEO is content that your readers will actually find valuable. In the local context, that means information that relates directly to consumers in your area.

5. Draws in new customers. Again, a bit of a no-brainer, right? Fewer and fewer consumers are cracking open the yellow pages when they want to find something, even in their immediate area. That means that being highly ranked in the local search results. Whether someone has lived in your city for their entire lives or is brand new to the area, search engines are now the most popular way to find the goods and
services they need.

6. Helps you beat the competition. If there is another company in your city or town that offers the same products or services, you want to be above them in the search results. Why? Because consumers are more likely to click on the first link for a product or service they want than the second link. First is better. “If you’re not first, you’re last! “ – Ricky Bobby (Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby)

7. Improves your conversion rate. Local search results are one of the most streamlined and targeted kinds of search results. Searching “shoes stores in Kelowna” is going to bring you, first and foremost, shoe stores in Kelowna. That means that the people clicking on your link are more likely to be interested in what it is you have to offer.

8. Cements your brand. Again, this comes back to the content. Valuable, keyword-rich content is going to help you improve your brand’s image and message along with proper social media marketing practices. Content that helps readers understand what your business offers, cements your brand’s standing. Plus, the higher you are in the relevant search results, the more awareness there will be about your company and about what kinds of products or services you offer.

9. Great returns on your investment. SEO is a relatively inexpensive marketing tactic and brings great returns, once it has taken hold. It helps companies grow, improves their visibility, and is a great way to generate new business. Like any marketing technique, it is an investment and requires work and maintenance in order to really achieve what you want to achieve, but with the right content and
SEO strategies, you can easily jump to the top of local search results.

10. Complements other marketing tactics. One of the biggest benefits of local SEO is that it complements any and all other marketing tactics you might be employing. If you are also running a television advertisement or a social media campaign, great SEO makes it easy for consumers looking for your business, spurred by those advertisements, to find your business’s webpage and any relevant information they might need about you.