How to benefit from Local SEO in 6 easy steps

Have you heard about local search engine optimization SEO? Well, if you are a small business owner, you may have. Local SEO is getting more and more important for any local business.  According to the latest stats, about 50% of clients searching for a local service or store via their smartphones visit the local business within a day. 34% who search on their laptop or desktop computer do the same. It’s notable that 18% of the local mobile searches lead to a purchase within a few hours. Actually, 76% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase.

Obviously, it is pretty important for any local store owner or service provider to have decent, online presence and a website fully optimized for local search. This means, when a customer is searching locally, your website will appear on the first page of search results. Otherwise, your services will just stay unnoticed on the second or third page.

Below, are 6 easy ways that may help any local business owner make a huge step forward when it comes to local search.

• Actively use your Google + account. Write posts, follow local users and get followed by them. Share pictures of your latest work. Post relevant comments on local topics. Let the locals see that you are a real, active business. Create pages for your business on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks. Be active, and generously share your thoughts and achievements. Link your social profile to your site. Social signals matter much when it comes to Google search ranking.

• There are more than 100 decent free business directories, and you need to register there your business, website, social networks, address, products, and services. This will give your website really great exposure. Will tell people and search engines that you are a real and responsible business. This will definitely boost your ranking. Do not forget that 90% of the people are checking the results that appear only on the first page.

• So, put in some additional effort in making your business appear on the first page of Google search results.  Create a Youtube channel. It is easy. Start making short videos and post them. No worries - you don’t need to be a Hollywood director! Just stream useful and helpful information related to your services. For example record and stream the result of your latest work. Videos contrasting “before” and “after” will greatly impress your clients. In the videos, the description includes descriptions of your business, phone number, address, link to your website. Spread the video through your social networks, and copy it to Vimeo and Dailymotion.

• The press release is only for big companies! Well, not really. There are plenty of affordable ways for a small business owner to release content and achieve great exposure. When done properly, a press release can be a great investment for any small business owner. Just come up with an interesting and intriguing headline, as well as topic. Mention your name in the body of the text. A press release can bring more traffic to your website and sometimes can even get noticed by local media and syndicated by the search engines.

• In you local area, there is a huge free of charge resource you can use to your advantage. There should be numerous blogs, media, public related websites, radio stations. Under any content, piece of news or article, there is an option for commenting. Spend some time to write some comments under popular news or articles.

• Get involved in discussions. This will start making your name popular among the local community. Just avoid over commenting and posting thin content. Because your profile might get banned. A proven tactic is to post comments a few times a week, but regularly. Check for forums and register yourself. Some of them may not allow you to put a business name and phone number. However, they allow registration and comments via your social network profiles - Twitter, Google+,  About.me. So, you will be able to comment with your business name. This can actually bring traffic to your website.

Local search optimization is a really great tool for a small or medium business to find its place under the sun. Remember, 60% of American adults use tablets or smartphones to search for local products and services. 90% of them will check the websites that appear only on the first page of Google. Only 10% will check the second page. 30% of mobile online searches are made just before a visit to the store. So, local search optimization is a must.