Once upon a time, local search engine optimization (SEO) was reserved primarily for small businesses such as boutiques. Today, though, things have changed, and the importance of local SEO cannot be overstated. Below, you’ll discover some important reasons why these strategies are crucial for the success of your home improvement company and how to get the best possible results.
Though local SEO wasn’t a big deal until Google’s well-known “Pigeon” algorithm update in 2014, it has since become a vital component in service-based industries’ marketing campaigns. In fact, further updates show that newer local businesses tend to get special attention when compared to larger, older companies that put very little into their local SEO. Google’s goal as a company, after all, is to serve its users – the people who do the searching. Google also wants in on the action when a new company goes “viral” so to speak, so it works hard to give small business owners some potential by increasing their online visibility.
Since Google is successful due to its dominance in the search engine industry, it only gained that dominance by being the best at what it does. Part of this involves providing each user with personalized content based on things like previous searches and, more recently, their locations. End users who are logged into their accounts when they search see results based on where they are and what they’ve searched in the past. Google collects data about which results the end users prefer, then further fine-tunes its results. This means that local SEO for your home improvement company grows more important by the day.
Millions of new websites appear across the World Wide Web each year, and there’s a good chance that many of these sites are also home improvement businesses – or businesses that provide similar services. Remaining visible and ensuring that you stay relevant in the crowd will become less about overall SEO and more about reaching out to a smaller niche audience close to home. Local SEO is one of the most efficient ways to reach out to your exact audience, and it’s easier to do than you might think.
There are plenty of professionals out there who can help you with your local SEO efforts, and for the most part, they all involve the same series of steps. The first part of optimizing for your local area is to ensure your business listing is accurate, then claiming it on sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other local directories of relevance. Then, you will need to ensure your content and links are relevant at the local level by including the name of the areas where you provide home improvement services – cities, counties, or even specific neighborhoods. Finally, it’s important to collect local reviews by encouraging your clients to post about you on Yelp and other similar sites. This will further drive success.
Local SEO will benefit your home improvement business in many ways, but at the end of the day, its primary goal involves helping your company remain visible and relevant within an industry that continues to grow with every passing year. After all, if the people in your audience don’t know you exist, it will be difficult (if not impossible) to grow your company.