Two Essential Ways to Leverage Local SEO to Grow Your Business [With Examples]

When is the last time you opened the Yellow Pages to find a business in your area? Not in a great while, likely.

Each new business finding its way to the web denotes a need to index and catalog a listing, which is why we now have and review websites such as Yelp, Google Business, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local.

The local business websites aren’t only there to help the consumer. Businesses can claim ownership of the listings and begin implementing local search engine optimization strategies to increase their rankings, reviews, and brand awareness.

Leveraging local SEO provides quick wins for growing your business.

Here are two strategies (and examples) to get you started.

Blogging with Local in Mind
Blogging, if you hadn’t known, is one of the easiest ways to increase search rankings because it allows you to continually publish fresh information related to your products, services, community, and industry.

Without content, the website is merely acting as a static business card.

As the team behind 29 Prime says:

“The reason that content is one of the most important pieces is because your site visitors have come to look for a particular piece of information, a specific image, or experience.”

Blogging can take a laser beam focus when it comes to these topics, too.

A focus on local events, news, community members, and competition will begin appearing in search engines whenever an individual within the community seeks information related to the topic. In many ways, your business blog becomes a news source for the community and through this effort you will build brand awareness.

For example:

Carlos Hernandez is a local foodie within the Tampa, FL area operating CarlosEats.com. His coverage of local food events have earned him many top placements for information related to these topics and through this local blogging he has been able to transition to writing for a local newspaper.

Encouraging the Locals to Review

How important are online reviews?

Well, according to a survey conducted by ZenDesk, nearly 90% of individuals say that online reviews influence their buying decision.

Think about that for a moment.

9 out of 10 people that consider your business will have done research online before they ever decide to follow through with the purchase.

When you see a positive set of reviews for a business and then verify with friends and family, it basically makes up your mind.

For example:

Taco Bus is a food truck that serves authentic Mexican food. They are a big hit around the USF college area to the point they have hundreds of great reviews. Ask anyone in the area and their business is one of the first to be mentioned when seeking Mexican food. They successfully leveraged their local presence by encouraging customers to go online, leave reviews, and tell others.

For businesses, gaining a mass of positive reviews is absolutely critical to success. A single negative (1 star) review could mean thousands of lost dollars in revenue. To make matters worse – a lack of reviews could equally dissuade individuals from seeking your business because it makes them unsure as to the legitimacy of your operation.

To gain the greatest benefit in this area of local SEO, you should encourage the locals to review your business on a regular basis.
• If you operate a physical location, set up a tablet for people to leave reviews on the spot
• If you’re operating predominately online, create follow-up messages asking for reviews

The use of email, social media, direct contact, print media, and person-to-person contact will be what you need to build these reviews. It may be a trickle in the beginning, but the number will grow as others begin to see your local listings.

3 Marketing Techniques You Probably Aren’t Using

The importance of marketing is something that no young business professional should ever overlook. In today’s world, there’s simply no way to rise above the competition with employing proper marketing principles on a consistent basis. The thing is, most people already know about and are actively utilizing some of the more common techniques in marketing like print and radio advertising, social media marketing and general PR. Given the competition in the marketplace, this may not be enough for you to get ahead.

Adding unique marketing techniques to your business plan is a great way to attract more attention and can dramatically affect your ability to turn a profit, regardless of industry. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box, as marketing is far more an art than a science.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Vain
Everyone is familiar with vanity plates. Perhaps you even have one on your personal vehicle. The concept doesn’t just end at license plates, however. This is something that you can utilize to reinforce your brand without spending a great deal of money at all. You can use license plates with your company name. You may even use a vanity phone number like 1-800-DENTIST (you can search for available numbers at customtollfree.com). Believe it or not, “vanity marketing” can actually lend an air of professionalism to any business, as it solidifies them as an entity.

Publish a Local “Zine”
This is a great marketing technique for young, hip companies that are trying to build up a following within their local community. “Zines” (think DIY magazine) were extremely popular among the music and arts scenes of major cities in America throughout the 90s, but unfortunately took a dive once the digital age took over. Lately, however, there’s been a resurgence not only for bands and artists, but for small businesses of all kinds. A monthly Zine will allow you to not only publish information about your company, but also about happenings in the community. Think of it as a hip, physical version of an e-newsletter, and as long as you’re okay with the DIY aesthetic, you can print and staple them right in your own office.

Offer a Locals Discount
For brick and mortar businesses (or any business that works primarily with local clients and/or customers), your local following is your lifeblood. Offering a discount that only the locals will be aware of is a great way to get them through the door on a regular basis, but it doesn’t have to end there. People love unique discounts and will actually go out of their way to obtain them at times. For example, let’s say you were a retail shop owner and were to offer a 5% discount to any customers who bike instead of drive over. Environmentalists will be thrilled by such a concept, and something like this will no doubt keep them coming back.

Marketing isn’t always as cut and dry as what they teach you in college. Use your head, and you’re sure to come up with even more unique ways to get your name out there, even if you’re a relatively new company in an area rife with competition.