LOCAL SEO VS GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Ever thought about the various ways that local SEO and Google My Business could benefit your business? Want to know which method is most effective? If so, the below information will help.

With many businesses growing in various geographical areas, there is a need for clients to have easy accessibility to them. For online small business in just one location or a business in various locations, it is important that searchers get an idea of the availability of either the product or service with respect to where they are. Thus, there is a need to create the right strategic awareness and carry out local SEO in order to serve as an opportunity and an avenue to link the desired businesses to customers who are in need, and pertaining to their locations. This article covers the generic insights on local SEO, Google My Business, their benefits, and which one is best for your business.

WHAT IS LOCAL SEO?

As said earlier, local SEO can simply be described as a marketing strategy that enables online businesses to connect to their customers within a given geographical zone, and at the point when they are searching for it on search engines.

A great portion of search engine users prefer to have more local searches pertaining to their needs. And to avoid giving very vague responses and information, search engines have formulated an easier process in a bid to instantly link searchers to businesses that would further provide what they’re looking for.

There’s a difference between general searches on search engines and the local searches. When a general informative search is going on, it is usually for gathering information about a topic, and hence the search engine knows best to provide websites relating to the information the searcher is looking for. Whereas a local search usually has a specific intent attached to it, followed by a location, (example: cake shops near me) and so the search engines can identify that it is a local search, and can bring up relevant businesses relating to that particular area, and the particular intent of that search.
For business owners online, local SEO serves as a maximum opportunity to direct a ton of customers that would access their business at the click of a button.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOCAL SEO AND ORGANIC SEO?

Though similar, local SEO and organic SEO offer distinct approaches towards achieving results. Why is this so? — this happens solely because of the degree of the intent. For organic SEO that mainly revolves around maximising website traffic, the website may or may not involve a location. This pushes organic SEO to have a different approach when trying to make the top pages on the search engine. Whereas for a local SEO, the degree of the intent is what guarantees its distinctiveness because the search is more particular, and so, another approach must be taken to get traffic towards the business site — or perhaps, for potential customers to locate the business owner’s shop or outlet.

Furthermore, local SEO does not revolve solely around getting those clicks to a website for maximum traffic but focuses more on getting a business owner’s product or services to the right eyes who are in urgent need of them. Local SEO focuses on selling what you have to offer at the very moment, pacifying the searcher, and delivering instant results with your business on the spot, as compared to taking the approach of an organic SEO.

METHODS OF LOCAL SEO

There are many local SEO tools that are available to maximise the benefits of local SEO as well as local SEO services. The major aim of a business owner embracing the benefits of local SEO is to get his/her business displayed on the search engine result pages (SERP’s), or what is called the ‘local pack’ of a search engine. It is the beginning of a search engine result page that displays various suggestions of businesses when a searcher is making a local search. For a search engine like Google, the local pack is just a display of three different business listings, and a show more option, which are otherwise considered as citations.

What are citations? Citations are described as the description of a business that shows its name, address, telephone number, and also its website address, all in one place together, most especially when a search is conducted on a search engine. This is what gives a broader view of what type of businesses are at a provided location, and exactly what they have to offer. Citations usually come in two forms: structured and unstructured form. The unstructured form is usually gotten from websites without the business owner compiling the details. These are usually done for very big businesses, whereas the structured form of citations is assembled by business owners with tools that give the privileges of doing so, such as Google My Business. This is what leads to the later portion of this article.

BENEFITS OF LOCAL SEO

One major benefit of local SEO is that many customers are constantly referring to search engines in order to get what they’re looking for and to look for the right businesses that could offer just that — more importantly, businesses conveniently located around them. And so if a business owner can be able to properly maximize the benefits of using local SEO, it is guaranteed that he/she will have faster sale rates.
Another great benefit of local SEO generates from the depreciation of other forms of advertising, such as the print form of business marketing which at a point was the leading option on the charts. This is occurring because of the constant advancement in technology in this century, which makes it a lot easier for people to simply conduct searches on their phones. More importantly, with local SEO, your business could be at the top of the search lists.

Another great advantage is that local searches come at a very crucial point of need from the searchers, and if local SEO can be maximally put into place, it positions businesses to get fresh customers.
It is also potent to note that local SEO has been proven to be one of the most effective forms of advisement when it comes to taking your business to a maximum level. It is never a wasted form of awareness. The reason being that your information isn’t forced on customers, they genuinely come at their keen ease and at the point of their needs. It is important to realise that online reputations give your business an outstanding rank, and this will basically make customers believe in the authenticity of your business, provided it has a good presentation.

The benefits of local SEO are endless as it creates multiple opportunities for local business. These opportunities are guaranteed to keep customers coming and to provide an avenue for your business to have long lasting and better standings.

WHAT IS GOOGLE MY BUSINESS?

As the name implies, Google My Business is a local SEO tool that enables business owners to input the data of their business in the form of a structured citing. It summarises all the important details about a business and provides it on the advent of a search in relation to it, and even more conveniently, search places and Google Map searches. It provides more visibility for you and your audience guaranteed to get you new customers, anytime, any day and allows the business owner to put in all the necessary details as a business profile including the time your business opens and closes, and many more amazing features. It allows for liberality and if your profile is properly presented and accurate, it increases your opportunity of being ranked high.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF GOOGLE MY BUSINESS?

One of the amazing benefits of Google My Business is that it’s entirely free, meaning it is very possible to get incredible search results on your business at absolutely no cost. This is a wonderful opportunity presented by Google in order to present better search results to searchers — and that search just might be your business.
Another important benefit is the one that reviews can bring. Getting positive feedback from your customers can further advance your rankings and lead to more potential clicks on your business. This is because people believe what they see and if your business reviews are compelling and attractive, they will be moved to want to do business with you.

An advantage of using Google My Business is that ironically, many are yet to realise its importance and advantages. This creates a wide-open avenue for yours to be ranked high in the top of local searches, giving your business a level of peculiarity.

LOCAL SEO VS GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

Local SEO tools and services offer benefits to all local businesses out there, so does Google My Business. Any path you decide to take in giving your business the desired traffic solely depends on you and your preference and budget; your crucial needs and all other factors will come into place.

However, one thing remains constant — there is an urging need to provide and give searchers in all localities the best option of products and services from various businesses. Yours might just be the one someone out there is looking for.