Local SEO Services Guide

Local SEO is seeing a steady growth in demand as local competition across different industries intensifies. Businesses nowadays are expected to be more accessible for customers online, organically driving foot traffic and revenue. If executed successfully, local SEO can turn growing businesses and underdogs into local staples.

In today’s digitally-driven market, consumers have become increasingly reliant on local search results to find nearby businesses they need. Whether they’re out of town or are looking for new places, customers base their decision to visit a store on their online visibility in local map listings or directories. 

Small businesses, brick-and-mortar stores, and local service providers now see the value of prioritizing local SEO strategies alongside mobile optimization. Regardless of industry, geographic location, or business size, investing in local SEO can give brands the advantage they need to generate tangible results and return on investment.

Local SEO agencies are committed service providers that can help businesses plan and execute effective local SEO strategies to help improve visibility on local search engine results. They offer comprehensive services aimed at helping brands boost organic traffic and conversions.

This detailed hiring guide will go through everything businesses need to know before hiring the ideal local SEO service provider. Read more about the benefits, key metrics to watch out for, and common team composition to help you match with the right partner. 

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What is Local SEO?

Local search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a business’ website to perform well on local search engine results and attract more customers. Its goal is to help search engines understand the location of your business and what it offers, allowing them to suggest your business for relevant search queries.  

See, when consumers search for local products or services, Google considers three main factors — relevance, distance, and prominence. 

Local SEO strategies need to balance many different elements including, local backlinks, localized content, online reviews, and Google My Business (GMB) optimization. These elements help search engines know when to show your business, ensuring it appears prominently when potential customers are looking for related products or services in the geographic area. 

By optimizing local search engine performance, businesses can improve their visibility and attract more foot traffic to their physical location. The higher the business appears on relevant searches, the more it appears credible to consumers looking for related products or services.

Local SEO Services by Country

Local SEO Services by City

5 Benefits of Local SEO Services

When investing, business owners want to know the benefits to weigh the pros vs the costs. While local SEO doesn’t bring immediate results, it brings long-lasting benefits when executed successfully. Here are the main advantages of local SEO:

1. Drives foot traffic: For brick-and-mortar businesses, foot traffic is everything. When customers search for products or services. Google shows them the most relevant businesses. Customers will most likely check out the place with more information — the menu, its phone number, the directions to get there, and more. Local SEO ensures customers are able to find your business, leading to more foot traffic and possibly sales.
   
2. Generates more quality leads: Local SEO is all about targeting the right customers looking for local businesses or services. Businesses that focus their SEO strategies on ranking generic keywords face tougher competition, making it more difficult to attract quality leads. Prioritizing specific keywords and local SEO strategies helps draw more potential customers.
   
3. Improves website authority: Another factor that influences customers when deciding which business to check out is their authority and credibility. Part of local SEO is link building and earning relevant local citations from trusted sources. These backlinks are essential to building your brand’s trustworthiness.
   
4. Enhances brand reputation: Aside from marketing, local SEO helps with public relations, particularly with reputation management. The quality of local citations earned, positive reviews collected, and SEO-optimized content published all contribute to establishing your business as a trusted local leader. 
   
5. Boost competitiveness: Despite the growth in demand for local SEO, a lot of businesses still aren’t convinced that it’s the right investment for them. Local SEO provides the competitive advantage businesses need to compete with rivals. It gives the leverage they need to lower customer acquisition costs and nurture revenue growth.
   

What Services Do Local SEO Firms Offer?

Local SEO is complicated and simple at the same time. There are a lot of moving components and skills required and there’s no set formula to achieve the best results. It requires time, effort, and consistency, and that’s where local SEO firms can make a difference. 

If you’re planning to hire a dedicated local SEO agency soon, here are some services you can expect from them:

• Keyword Research
• Local SEO Audit & Analysis
• Local Citation Building
• Content Development & Creation
• Google My Business (GMB) Optimization
  
• Technical SEO
• Reputation Management

Keyword Research

Keywords are the cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy, especially for local SEO. Keyword research refers to the meticulous process of analyzing and discovering the right search terms that prospective customers use when searching for relevant products or services. It aims to understand customers’ search intent and what language they use. Since consumer behavior and market trends constantly change, it’s essential to regularly conduct thorough keyword research.

Local SEO Audit & Analysis

Data is critical to planning and developing an effective local SEO strategy. Basically, local SEO audit and analysis services refer to the process of evaluating the website’s current search engine state. It seeks to uncover areas needing improvement and unseen opportunities that can improve the website’s overall performance. The process also involves assessing the strategies of competing businesses and gaining deeper insights into local market conditions.

Local Citation Building

In local SEO, citation refers to any mention of the business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on different local sources such as third-party websites, directories, and even social media. Quality citations help search engines verify the credibility, relevance, and legitimacy of your business in the local market. Local citation building involves listing the business on relevant directories like Clutch, Yelp, and Google Business Profiles, monitoring citations, and correcting discrepancies to ensure customers see accurate information.

Content Development & Creation

Compelling content plays a major role in any SEO strategy. In local SEO, content should be tailored to engage with local audiences and establish business authority in the marketplace. Experienced local SEO agencies have dedicated professionals who know how to plan, develop, and distribute SEO-optimized content that attracts customers. They can produce anything from blog posts, thought leader articles, videos, and infographics. 

Google My Business (GMB) Optimization

Google My Business is a tool used by many companies and organizations to manage their online presence on Google, the biggest search engine. Creating a Business Profile on GMP lets Google know more about your business, allowing it to feature it on Google Maps and helping it appear more on search results. GMP optimization involves ensuring accurate business information, adding high-quality images of your business, and regularly updating your profile. The work also includes responding to Google reviews, both good and bad, in order to establish a perception of trustworthiness and accountability.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing websites to make it easier for search engines to index and crawl. It involves different facets such as user experience, mobile-friendliness, and site architecture. Effective technical SEO ensures the website is able to keep up with the ever-changing search engine algorithms. When executed correctly, technical SEO contributes to customer satisfaction and engagement.

Reputation Management

Reputation management is a technically part of public relations but it’s also extremely crucial for local SEO. It refers to the process of proactively monitoring, nurturing, and influencing a business’ online reputation. It involves tracking online reviews, responding to customer ratings, and publishing positive content that sheds light on the business. Reputation management also focuses on responding to negative reviews and helping resolve issues to showcase how the business cares for customer service.

How to Assess Local SEO Services

Keeping a close eye on key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical to progress, ensuring efforts are aligned with business goals and needs. Data gathered when assessing the performance of local SEO agencies can help improve efforts and address issues. Here are a few key metrics to look out for:

• Keyword ranking: The ranking of target local keywords is vital for the success of the overall local SEO strategy. It’s a decisive metric that indicates how well the website appears on relevant search queries and how it drives organic traffic.
  
• Organic traffic: One of the primary goals of SEO is to generate organic traffic from search results. It’s important to closely monitor the traffic coming from both web and mobile searches.
  
• Conversion rate: Traffic is all for nothing if it doesn’t convert browsers into customers. Measuring the conversion rate of your website is important to optimizing website CTAs, design, and technical SEO.
  
• Backlinks: The quality, relevance, and quantity of backlinks impact the authority and visibility of your website. Earning good backlinks sends a signal to search engines such as Google about the significance of your business.
  
• Local citations: Just like with backlinks, monitoring the quality, quantity, and relevance of local citations is important to enhancing website visibility. 
  
• Technical SEO performance: Speed is key to maintaining browsers’ interest. When evaluating local SEO services, it’s important to consider how fast the website loads, how mobile-friendly it is, and how seamless it flows.
  

Who Makes up a Local SEO Team

Local SEO requires a broad set of skills, expertise, and organizational abilities. If you plan to work with a local SEO team, here are some professionals you can expect to collaborate with:

• SEO Manager: The head that oversees the entire team and SEO efforts. They coordinate the team and ensure strategies align with business goals. 
  
• Local SEO Specialist: They are primarily responsible for planning and executing local SEO strategies. Their expertise includes managing citations, researching relevant keywords, and optimizing GMB profiles.
  
• Link Building Specialist: This professional is responsible for developing link-building strategies to acquire relevant and quality backlinks from trusted local websites. 
  
• Technical SEO Specialist: They are in charge of optimizing the technical aspects of a website — everything from site speed to crawl errors. They possess the necessary knowledge of key SEO tools, URLs, and structured data.
  
• Content Writer: This team member is focused on creating high-quality and compelling content to engage browsers. They work closely with the local SEO specialist to plan content calendars and ensure content includes relevant keywords.
  

What to Look For When Hiring Local SEO Services

Ultimately, the success of your local SEO project depends on your partner. The right service provider can ensure smooth working collaboration, streamlined communication, and healthy feedback sharing. 

Matching with the ideal local SEO firm requires due diligence from your end. It’s up to you to identify what services you need, outline your goals, and evaluate potential partners for your project.

The screening and selection process can be overwhelming, especially considering the number of firms vying for your project and the factors to consider. The best approach to narrowing your options is by creating a priority list that’s tailored to your needs, goals, and preferences. The list will help you decide on a set of criteria that can guide your search. Here are the main variables that you need to focus on and look out for:

Criteria for Hiring Local SEO Services

Browsing through Clutch’s B2B directories can help you find reliable companies. Remember to read more about their profiles and client reviews to gain deeper insights into their qualifications and work. Learning more about their past projects will help you determine whether they can deliver on their promises and if they’re the right fit for your needs.

When you finally nail down your top 2-3 firms, the next step is to reach out and schedule an interview or consultation to get to know them better. The interview process will help you make an informed decision and determine which agency meets your priorities best. It sets the tone for your partnership, giving you confidence so it’s important to ask all the necessary questions.

10 Questions To Ask Before Hiring Local SEO Services

1. What do you know about our local market or target audience?
   
2. How do you conduct keyword research for local SEO?
   
3. Can you walk us through your process of developing a strategy for local SEO?
   
4. How do you stay updated with the dynamic local market trends?
   
5. Do you use specific local SEO tools for your services?
   
6. What tools do you use for communication?
   
7. How often will you report progress and metrics?
   
8. What is your approach to earning quality local citations?
   
9. Do you offer other marketing services?
10. What will you need from our end for the partnership?
    

Lastly, do your due diligence and learn more about local SEO services so you’re familiar with how it works and what to expect. Your understanding of the project will make it easier for you to identify when vendors are overselling or are promising unrealistic results. 

Gain an Edge With Local SEO

Local SEO can help your business grow and stand out in the marketplace. Just the thought of appearing on top of search engine results is already exciting, imagine the other opportunities you welcome by executing effective local SEO strategies.

Leverage the insights you gained in this hiring guide if you’re planning to hire a dedicated local SEO firm anytime soon. It’s okay to be picky, especially if they don’t check everything in your priority list and criteria. Each local SEO agency has its own strengths and weaknesses; what matters most is matching with the one that complements your business. 

Check out Clutch’s directory for the leading local SEO agencies to find reliable and proven service providers. Clutch can help you filter through the options and team up with the right firm for your project.

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