Digital Marketing for Local Businesses
When was the last time you searched for a type of business on your phone while out and about? There’s a good chance it was in the past week. You will have seen paid ads and map widgets on your Google results, all built on the assumption you’re looking for an open business nearby and offering you a choice. That’s local digital marketing – local SEO and a Google Maps ad campaign – and what you may not have realised is it’s handled completely differently to traditional search.
Promoting Local Businesses Online
With the shift to ‘mobile first’ indexing complete, Google realised they had access to more useful data than they had before – locational data. That immediately begs the question: What’s most important to find in a search like ‘barbers Lancaster’? There are a few possible answers:
- The nearest
- The best reviews
- Price
- Whether or not they’re open
Reviews and price are important factors with any business you go looking for, but the other two are uniquely important for local search. Different search users might prioritise them in different orders, but these are important factors.
That’s how local search was born. Since then, it’s been refined many times, and it’s made the Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business, and formerly Google Local) an important tool for businesses wanting an extra edge. If your business has locations people can visit for your services, maintaining a Google Business Profile can be very valuable. As well as refreshing photos, replying to reviews, and checking that all information is up to date, consider making posts in advance of any events you have coming up at that location. Activity on the profile is taken as a positive sign.
Some Google Business Profiles also drive significant phone traffic to the business, and while you can’t track everyone who goes there following the search, you can track how many people hit a button for directions to find you from their search.
Another huge benefit can come from getting involved with your local community; especially now that most local newspapers are part of much bigger news organisations, getting a link in the paper can be a powerful tool to improve your standing in local search.
PPC and Local Search
Limiting search campaigns to tightly-specified areas is a tool that paid marketing has had for a long time. With the introduction of Google Maps ads, they’re no longer the only item in the PPC toolkit for local search.
Each time your Maps ad displays, your location is guaranteed to show up on the searcher’s screen with a pin in it. Sometimes that could even be enough on its own, pointing out your location without the user even clicking on it (and therefore without it costing you money for the click). More often, though, they’ll see your listing and tap on the pin for details.
This is another good reason to keep your Google Business Profile optimised.
Bringing In the Wider Perspective
Every tip above is useful for bringing local users through to your site. Part of digital marketing, though, is making the most of the traffic you get – and there’s still no substitute for strong content when you’re doing that.A well-designed website for a local business has content written for your target audience in the area. This content should make it clear what problems you can solve for them. It should show you understand their issues and that you want to help.When selecting keywords for this content, make sure they’re relevant to the business, but also make sure they match what locals will search for. At First Digital Media, here in Lancaster, we know that there’s more value to ranking for ‘SEO agency in Lancaster’ than for ‘SEO agency in Lancashire’. The same may not be true where you are, or in your industry – and yes, you can set out to rank for both, but you should prioritise the more valuable of the two.It should go without saying, but the more competition there is locally in your industry, the more work it will take to get ahead and stay ahead.If you’d like to learn more about succeeding in local search, contact us today for a free consultation or fill out the form. We’ll reach out to you as soon as we can.
Contact First Digital Media
If you’re not sure your strategy is the best for your business, contact our team at First Digital Media. We can provide a full review and recommendations to help you put your digital marketing First. Call us on 01524 544346 or fill out our online contact form.
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