Google says local SEO is important, so local SEO tactics have become the object of much talk recently. A company can no longer have just a web presence. Sites must be optimized to reflect the current algorithms that search engines are using to index data. These algorithms are constantly changing.
Good SEO practices require a mix of research and ongoing updates to ensure that a site maintains its status within search engines. Currently, the algorithms of Google and Bing are placing a heavy weight on locally optimized data, thus pushing local SEO into the forefront and making it "the" internet marketing buzzword of 2013. Much of the trend toward local SEO is a result of growing dependence on mobile technology.
Mobile customers are often looking for geo-targeted data, or data that is locally optimized. They want to find a store, make a purchase or contact someone and they need the information immediately. Before mobile technology became widespread, searchers often used the yellow pages to find the information they needed. Phonebooks are now considered antiques, items that are rare and difficult to find in most homes and businesses. Companies who treat mobile usage as a passing fad will inevitably lose business. The world is going mobile. Recent statistics estimate that there will be one mobile device in use for every person in the world by 2015.
Currently, more people are using mobile devices to get online than they are using PCs. 50 percent of local searches are performed on a mobile device. Of these searches, 61 percent of mobile users who find a business online will end up calling to inquire or make a purchase, 59 percent will end up stopping into the business and 50 percent will convert to a paying customer.If your company is not optimizing its site for mobile usage and updating to local SEO tactics, you are losing business. Mobile users are immediate. They expect pages to load quickly and be optimized for the data they are looking for Local SEO strategies provide these qualities for mobile users, that's why Google is placing so much relevance on local data. Google results are currently listing locally optimized data first, above other organic search listings. Research shows that local results give users a better end-user experience, thus the relevance in search. Local SEO data is tagged for geographically enhanced usage. With mobile users, location is automatically factored in, so even searches without local specific verbiage will return local results.
Local SEO should be a practice that your company is involved in. If you are not already playing the game, enlist the help of an internet marketing agency to provide results.