Local SEO Facts All Businesses Need To Know

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Local SEO Facts All Businesses Need To Know

Last Updated on February 26, 2022 by rida

It is no longer news that physical businesses are leveraging the internet to grow through local SEO. Similar to standard SEO, local SEO is the process of optimizing a website so that it is more visible on Google. The difference is that it only works for local customers and local searches. 

Big companies have always dominated the internet, but with local SEO, small businesses also can attract local audiences through the internet. Thanks to Google’s 2014 Pigeon update, which serves users with details about companies, services, and products in their immediate location. 

This update allowed small businesses to walk slowly and hesitantly into local SEO strategies.

Now local SEO has become a crucial part of the digital marketing strategy for businesses. Local SEO can generate local organic traffic and high converting leads when appropriately executed. In this article, we will be discussing some local SEO facts and statistics that all business owners need to know, especially those that are still skeptical about local SEO and are yet to leverage on it. 

46% of Google searches include local intent

Almost half of Google searches include a location in them. This goes to show how important local search marketing is for Google search. This is why small and medium-sized businesses must implement local SEO strategies so that they do not miss out on the possibility of ranking on 46% of Google searches. There are over 3.5 billion Google searches every day, and 1.6 billion of these have location intent. That’s a lot to be missing out on. 

Local searches have an 80% conversion rate.

This is indeed an eye-opening fact. But, again, this proves how local SEO strategy is essential to the success of a business. With an 80% conversion rate for local searches, there is no reason not to invest in local searches if you want to grow your business. So, if you leverage on local search, you will get people to visit your website organically, and you will convert 80% of them to paying customers. Sounds almost too good to be true. 

97% of Google users find local businesses through online searches

It is no longer news that most people now rely on the internet to find businesses, services, and products. You may not know, though, that most Google users search online to find businesses close to them. According to some reliable service, 54% of people do this search once a month, while 12% search online for a local business daily. 

More than 50% of local retailers are yet to claim their listing on Google My Business. 

Google My Business is another opportunity for businesses to get more local traffic through Google. However, surprisingly, only about 44% of companies have claimed their listing. If you also haven’t done it, then you are missing out on a great opportunity. Google My Business has become a crucial cog of local SEO and is an opportunity to hop on. 

  1. 1.5 billion locations are visited every month by Google users related to their online searches

People do not search for local businesses online and stop at that. They also use these local searches to compare services and products. Based on reviews and Google searches, it was revealed that searchers visit 1.5 billion physical locations per month based on their Google search. A recommendation by CareersBooster in a resume writing services discusses this further and claims that it is a proof of how important local SEO strategies are for local small businesses. 

28% of local searches lead to a purchase

It is proven that when users search for a local business online, they have the intention to make a purchase. So, almost one-third of local searches result in a purchase. The reason may be because the service or product that they want is not far away from them. If they are not ready to buy almost immediately, it is unlikely that they will be specific about a location around them. So, if you are going to implement local SEO strategies, you must also enhance your online profile so that you are able to attract high-converting and quality leads through Google searches. 

Conclusion 

Any small business owner in 2021 that is not taking advantage of local SEO is doing a great disservice to themselves and their business. Local SEO offers a world of possibilities and is one of the fastest ways to make more sales and grow your small business.