With the changes in consumer behavior, if your business isn’t ranked high on the search engines, you are missing out on a lot of potential leads. It’s become commonplace for homeowners to use their favorite search engine to find different products and services they need. They will type in “electricians near me” or other phrases like that to get a list of results. It’s become the new “phone book” in a sense. With so much information readily available at the click of a button, it’s no wonder why consumers have taken to using search engines in this manner. This is why you will find search engines very prominent in the top 15 most visited sites, with Google ranking at number 1 [1]. According to a study conducted by Forrester, as many as 74 percent of consumers have reported using a search engine during the research phase [2]. In this article, you will learn exactly why local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become so important and why it needs to be a key component in your digital marketing strategy.
Why Local SEO Is Important – 4 Definitive Reasons
1. Your Competition Is Using It
One of the main reasons you should be spending resources on your optimization efforts is due to your competition’s investment in it. Unfortunately, if you aren’t currently ranking high within the search engines for local buying keywords, you are missing out on leads and customers. If you aren’t ranking high for “electricians near me” or “electricians in [city],” you are missing out. Without investing in your local SEO efforts, you could quickly fall behind your competition.
2. Decreases Your Marketing Cost
Believe it or not, but SEO is something that you should be actively spending money on to decrease your total marketing expenditures. The cost to acquire a customer through other means is going to be considerably higher than with organic search engines. After all, you don’t have to pay for every single prospective customer who comes across your website. The purpose of local optimization is to get your electrician website to rank high within the search engines organically or naturally. Therefore, for every customer you are getting, you aren’t paying an incremental cost to acquire them. Whereas, with paid advertising sources, you are paying a specific price to either show the ad or to have someone click on it. You can probably tell; these costs can add up to a tremendous amount. Organic SEO can drive down your marketing costs and decrease the cost to acquire a single customer across the board.
3. Your Website Should Be A Sales Tool
As an electrician, leads are your lifeline. Your website should be your single best salesperson. However, if your website isn’t ranking well locally, you are likely not driving a lot of traffic to your site. There are a variety of ways to get prospective customers to your site. One of the best ways to do so is by getting your site ranking organically for those looking for your electrician services. By getting your local SEO in order and ranking higher, you will be able to convert your website into the proper lead generation asset that it should be for your business.
Local SEO doesn’t cost a lot to implement, and it can drive more leads to your business. If you aren’t currently investing in your SEO efforts, you should start now. Hiring a professional company to help get you started is a good idea. That way, everything gets implemented in the right way, ensuring you can get good results from your efforts.
4. Your Leads Are More Relevant
Organic traffic is known for its relevance & targeted nature. That alone should be enough to get you to start investing in SEO for your website. When your website or business ranks for any specific targeted keyword, you are going to get relevant visitors looking for what you have to offer. This is beneficial for a few different reasons.
When someone using Google knows exactly what they are looking for, they are a lot more likely to convert. A prospective customer looking for your electrician services is likely to be a lot more interested in working with you after finding you on Google than someone who has never heard of you. That is a much more relevant lead than someone who has a general interest in what you do. Therefore, it’s important to have your SEO in order and to rank well locally on search engines
5 Local Search Engine Optimization Tips for Electricians
1. Use the Right Keywords
Keyword research, a cornerstone of any SEO campaign, is important because it allows you to determine the right keywords for your local business website to rank in the organic search results. The internet allows you to reach your prospective customers, but if you want to do it right then, you have to use the right set of keywords. If you need help with any type of keyword research for your business, BrandName can help.
2. Build Citations:
Citations refer to any online mention of your business details on local online business directories like Yelp, DexKnows, or similar local business directories. Building citations through these directories will help your business get covered locally. Getting covered through the right local business directories is advantageous to your business because it helps to build credibility and needed trust regarding the reliability of your business.
3. Get A Google My Business Listing Setup
Google My Business is the lifeblood for anyone who is trying to reach out to local consumers with the intent of increasing their business presence online. Google allows businesses to get their information published on the Google Maps and results pages for specific search queries that include the local buying keywords. This in itself is the most simple yet powerful way to rank locally and get your business to appear first.
4. Building an Effective Website
Your website is going to be at the center of your search engine marketing efforts. If your site isn’t properly optimized for the work that you do, you are going to be missing out on a lot of customers who find you on the Google search results pages. An effective website isn’t just a website; it’s a site that is optimized for the work that you do. That will mean making sure that your site isn’t soft and light on the information it contains and that your site is structurally designed in a way that it works as a proper lead generation asset for your business.
5. Try Getting Customer Reviews
Reviews are essential to your local SEO efforts, and they can really help you out in terms of your online presence. If you are trying to rank high for key search engine terms, getting reviews should be one of your top priorities. Not only will they help you rank, but reviews also build trust and, of course, increase conversion rates as well. If you are a business, consider requesting your customers to share their feedback on yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook, and other local business directory sites.
Conclusion
Any business that wants to grow and generate leads for their business should be incorporating local SEO. With the proper optimization efforts, you can be sure to get a high-ranking website with organic search results and lead generation capability. Local SEO will benefit both your business and prospective customers, making it a worthwhile investment for your business.
References
[1] https://www.alexa.com/topsites
[2] https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=consumers+use+search+engines+to+make+buying+decisions