Local SEO makes your business visible in local directories and local searches that show up to people searching for your type of business in your area. If you have a restaurant, retail store, medical store, grocery store, salon, or even a service business like plumbing or roofing, you’ll get a substantial amount of exposure through Local SEO.

When customers search terms related to your business, they’ll see your company if you’ve implemented an effective local SEO strategy, or hired experienced local SEO services. Google lists the top three local businesses based on many factors, but relevance is a big one. With proper local SEO, you’ll appear where local customers click the most.

At the heart of Local SEO is the Google Business listing. Once you’ve got a listing on Google My Business (GMB), you can continue improving your presence, for free if you’d like. While you can easily get your business listed on Google, the way to get true value out of your GMB listing is through local optimization. With a strong Local SEO strategy, you’ll put your business in the place where most searches click or call.

Local SEO, when performed properly, is a very powerful tool for driving leads, conversion, and retention. Leads are potential customers that may call you, send emails, or submit forms online. Conversions occur when leads result in, or convert to, sales. Retention refers to the continuous relationship with customers, driving repeat sales. A good retention strategy also results in reviews and ratings which can help drive new customers. In other words, Local SEO can natively help with Conversion Rate Optimization.

Compared to organic search, local searches have a more urgent intent, which means faster conversions and better sales. Most users searching for a business “near me” are looking for someone to call or visit right away, which is why Local SEO conversions are so accelerated.

What’s in your business listing? The basics are the address, phone number, email, and website, but there is so much more that can go into a Google My Business listing. Local SEO not only drives local leads to your business, it also encourages customer engagement, which creates long-term customers. There’s more to it than just driving traffic to your page, you also need to provide value to your visitors. The best way to do this is with relevant, conversational information. For example, if you’re running a pet salon, you should include a blog about grooming, products, tips, and guides. These will keep potential customers engaged with your message and brand. From there, it’s only a matter of time before customers start calling or visiting your store.

Local SEO’s benefits aren’t limited to specific business types. Any business that operates on a local level can improve their business with Local SEO services, no matter the products or services they’re selling. The more local presence you have, the easier it is for customers to find you with local search.

First, clearly determine the objectives you want to achieve with your SEO strategy. This includes areas of your current online exposure that need improvement. At Nimbus, we design a strategy from the ground up based on your specific circumstances. If you’re doing it yourself, you’ll need to do this as well, as this is a fundamental foundation of any successful optimization strategy.

A reputable SEO company collects this information to perform digital marketing analysis. They won’t take further steps or make a proposal without assessing the current conditions, your objectives, challenges, and other factors. Before making suggestions, the company should present its findings to you and tell you what areas of your business online exposure require improvement.

This step is very important to get cost-effective SEO services for your business. There’s no magic pill when it comes to SEO. That’s because each business is unique and has its own requirements or preferences. A good SEO company would help you with these objectives in an accountable manner.

SEO is a data-driven strategy that helps you with marketing and branding online. An SEO company should have the ability to gather data from your current business. You should only hire a company that’s able to perform an assessment that involves tracking and measuring your data. Without these sets of data, an SEO strategy is impossible to make. The SEO service should be able to collect and present you with current business site traffic, leads, communication, clicks, inquiries, and many more.

The company you hire should have the skills, tools, and experience to conduct an assessment. The data collected from this process is something you can discuss further with the provider to build an executable SEO strategy. Optimization requires a sustained effort where decisions should be made based on the data throughout the process. Without this process, it’s impossible to develop relevant SEO solutions that help you achieve your business goals.

You need to ensure that the SEO company has this ability before hiring the company. Contact the company for an initial consultation and find a reference for their ability through customer reviews or feedback.

Choosing an SEO company Los Angeles is a big decision so make sure to do your own “off-page” work. These refer to any elements outside the company’s sites that support their reputation and confirm their reliability. It’s like when you purchase goods or services, you need to check reviews of the SEO company before you actually hire them. You can research reviews about the company through different platforms.

Look for specific aspects of each review to better evaluate the company in question. These include service coverage, availability, methods, delivery, communication, results etc. These factors provide you with a more comprehensive consideration before you contact the SEO company for an initial consultation. This way, you can confirm many things about their services and how they can help you with SEO solutions for your business.

At this point, you can shorten the list to just a few possible companies. If you find no reviews about a company anywhere or figure out something suspicious, just exclude it from your list. Also, avoid companies that offer unreasonably cheap prices for their services as they’re simply scams.

There are two fundamental elements of an SEO company you can check for a better overview before calling them. First, you can request case studies through their site, by email, or by phone. Second, you can check their portfolio or request one if you can’t find any of them on your own. These would give you a better overview of the actual ability of the SEO company.

However, a reputable SEO company will allow you to gather references for their services. They may inform you of previous or current clients or simply connect you with them so you can gather information about the experience, results, and other things you want to know.

Before hiring an SEO company, be sure to take an initial consultation with them. This can help you recognize their strategies, methods, and a glimpse of how they’ll help you with their SEO solutions. You can also go over their case studies in this consultation but be sure to review ones relevant to your business needs. The initial consultation may also inform you of other non-technical aspects including credibility, integrity, communication, creativity, passion, etc.

However, these are all things the company should go over in-depth with you. A reputable SEO company in Los Angeles won’t confuse you with super technical terms. Instead, they’ll accommodate your requirements and answer your inquiries. List your questions in advance and make sure it covers everything you need to know about the SEO solution for your business. Resolve any of your doubts and make everything clear up front. It’s very important to find a company that can assist you in reaching your business’ goals.

SEO can be expensive, depending on how many services you select, so it’s important to figure out what your company really needs to get the best bang for your buck. Set your budget based on the services that will bring the most benefit to your company. While SEO companies offer packages you can choose from, it’s highly advisable to request a quoted price during the consultation. SEO companies may charge you differently than they would with a package. Even though it’s tempting to choose an affordable package, ensure that it covers what you actually need. SEO has become a competitive business and you get what you pay for.

Local SEO drives valuable leads for local businesses as well as increases your conversion rate with proper implementation. If your business is developing a local presence, it’s time to invest in local SEO. The key is to find a reputable local SEO professional for your SEO strategy. Nimbus Marketing is here to help you with all of your local SEO needs.