There are 2 types of people who build websites:
- Craftspersons who care about how a website looks & feels.
- Businesspersons who want a website to deliver results!
I’m a businessperson.
What Do You Mean By Results?
Results = sales.
Sales = results.
How Do Websites Deliver Results?
If you are a local business, your website is one small piece of a sales funnel that might include:
- Lead Generation:
– Website
– Social Media
– Blogging
– Paid ads
– Public Relations
– Email blasts - Sales Closing, Delivery, Ongoing Customer Engagement:
– Phone calls
– Emails
– Sales follow-ups
– CRM
– Email blasts
– Customer service
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is when you get in front of somebody who is looking to buy your product today.
Google.com is the most recognized portal for local SEO, but if your SEO efforts stop there, you are missing lots of low-cost opportunities for revenue.
Businesses that are great candidates for Local SEO include:
- Barber shops
- Tackle shops
- Salons
- Massage services
- Taxi services
- In-person WordPress Training 🙂
- Hardware stores
- Accountants
- Bookkeepers
- Restaurants
- Jewelry stores
- Car repair
- Local banks
- etc.
Basically, any time you say, “I wish I could meet in person with someone who sold/does X,” – that’s a candidate for local SEO.
(BTW, Hudson Hardware is the BEST!!!!)
Local SEO usually includes reviews, maps, photos, hours, menus, prices, etc. – things that help you decide where to go in the moment.
Local SEO is generally less valuable for service businesses that serve a category of the market such as custom mail-order tackle shops, craft businesses that are on Etsy, businesses that mainly sell on Ebay or Amazon, etc.
National or regional brands are also not as well-served by local SEO strategies, except where they follow successful national SEO & marketing campaigns.
So Who Does Local SEO Near Me?
It’s tough to find a reputable local SEO freelancer. I know, because I’ve tried. My customers have tried.
Some of my WordPress customers are local SEO pros, and they are booked from here to eternity and command prices that will require you to take on a second mortgage!
A good local SEO expert is gold.
Honestly, I don’t know where to find a good local SEO expert. That’s the sad part for y’all. But it’s also an opportunity for me!
I Am Learning Local SEO Deeply.
I’m done building sites and then leaving them to the wind. In fact, I was done with that years ago!
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a lot of knowlege about local SEO, but I never did a local SEO deep dive.
This last weekend, I began my local SEO re-education.
I am throwing out my SEO assumptions and am taking local SEO courses online.
Already I’ve begun to rethink my social media strategy and have connected some dots to improve my local SEO with my freelancer coach business and with my local WordPress training business.
As I learn more in the coming weeks, I’ll bring this newfound knowledge to my small business customers.
Local SEO Is Inline With My Values
I’ve been doing a lot of workshopping & thinking about why I work.
Local SEO touches on the following values I hold close to the heart:
- Building deeper relationships. Local SEO is all about sales now! The more connected I get to small business owners’ sales process, the deeper my relationship with them becomes!
- Face-to-face conversations. (re)Building a sales process is a long process that requires a lot of conversation. I like to have long conversations in-person.
- Playful curiosity. I’m learning something that is new and interesting and with 1,000 different slides to dive down. Where I go and where I take this is up to me!
I’m always looking to forge deeper connections with local small business owners. Schedule a quick call with me to brainstorm some ways I might be able to help your small business.
