No matter what the economy looks like or what pandemic we’re facing, every business wants more leads. Optimizing your customer acquisition process is crucial to grow your business and keep leads coming in.
An easy and effective way to help you automate that process is with local SEO. The right consultant can help you increase your overall reach online and offline and help you bring in more sales.
Let’s assume you already have a website that serves as the hub of your services, the way you introduce people to your business and services. Your website is there for you to use – you should be taking advantage of every opportunity you get to show it off to potential customers.
Website SEO, also known as search engine optimization, is a crucial strategy to help your website rank at the top of Google’s list of relevant searches. But, even more importantly, you want to rank for local searches. This means appealing to people that are specifically looking for services in your specific geographical location.
Any competent SEO consultant can help you optimize your website and online marketing efforts for local efforts. Nearly 90% of local-based searches are done using a cell phone, and those searches typically end in a phone call or a visit to those businesses within 24 hours of the search.
You don’t want to miss out on those prospects or lose out to your competitors.
Maybe you’re wondering if you even need keyword research. Though writing blog posts and posting relevant content about your specific niche will get you some leads, so instead, turn to an SEO consultant who can do some keyword research and show you exactly what keywords you should be targeting on your main website pages, how many times you should mention that particular word or phrase, and how to spin your website’s content so that you comply with Google’s latest rules and algorithms.
For local SEO, you must also rank for those searched-for terms, plus your city name added. Simply trying to guess what people might be searching for is a sure-fire way to lose out on money and prospects. The best way to tune into the right keywords is using tried and tested tools.
An SEO consultant, will likely already have a list of resources you can use to prove which keywords are working for your area and industry.
Optimization isn’t possible without a proper strategy to back it up. Your ideal SEO consultant will help you create a step-by-step approach to help you maximize your reach organically.
This strategy will include a list of what type of content and which keywords to focus on in your blog if you have one, how to clean up your services and internal pages that need to be optimized, and what action items you should do to help you increase your ROI.
Your consultant will consider your goals and what is currently working and put them into a plan that matches your budget, time, and expectations.
Aren’t you sure of the process of how to get started with SEO consulting services? There are a few things you can do to prepare so that you set yourself up for success.
Besides an attractive website, the first thing you need is the drive to grow. If you’re a local business and feel like you’re living month to month and are worried about making ends meet, local SEO is likely the one thing that can save your business.
Remember, people who search local, buy local! So it’s worth it for you to optimize your business, so you show up on those searches. Now that you’re motivated to grow, you’ll want to find the right consultant that will drive the right kind of traffic.
This means finding someone who specializes in SEO and has experience in a variety of industries. Though you might encounter business consultants who know how to talk, you want someone who has walked the walk too!
Book a call with an SEO specialist or agency that can consult and talk about potential strategies specific to your business needs. They’ll help you set realistic expectations. SEO takes time, and it could be months before you see results; if you’re talking to an “expert” who can promise instant results, move on.
The best SEO consultant will have tools in place to audit your current efforts and analyze the low-hanging fruit and give you informative analytics. If they don’t mention ROI or results tracking of any kind, they likely have no idea what they are doing.
Though you might encounter a few smooth talkers who win you over, what matters at the end of the day is the results! That’s the main thing you should care about when you’re looking to scale your business.
