SEO or ‘Search Engine Optimization’ is the act of trying to ‘optimize’ a website for Google and other search engines.
This in turn should mean – if all goes to plan – that the website shows near the top of the page when someone searches for related terms.

While it’s rather complicated, the process effectively involves adding content to a website with important ‘keywords’ thrown in for good measure and it means building as many ‘inbound’ links as possible (links on other sites that send visitors to your content).

How SEO Benefits a Business?

In theory, SEO is immensely powerful. With a very low cost of set-up, SEO promises to greatly increase the number of people visiting your page which can translate to lots more sales, clicks, and subscribers.

Unlike advertising, you are only paying for the labor costs – and once you stop the benefits will still remain ensuring that traffic keeps flooding in for months or years afterward.

That’s the good stuff. That’s why so many companies invest so much money in SEO.

But there are problems as well…

Difficulties​ for International Business to Optimize for Local Search

For international companies selling products or services, SEO has become increasingly challenging.
The main issue has always been the sheer amount of competition. Do you want to get to the top of page one on Google for the term ‘IT support’? Sure… but then so do millions of other companies. And some of those companies include the likes of the ‘Geek Squad’ – with infinitely larger budgets and more clout. How can you possibly compete with the links of these businesses?
The unfortunate reality is that you probably can’t.
And it has only become much more complicated in recent times too. That’s because Google is constantly updating the ‘algorithm’ (formula) that its search works on. Their objective has been to try and ensure they are partnering users with only the very best content and only the most relevant content to their query. This is important of course because it means that people will keep using Google for their search.

What this also means is that getting Google to index your site and put it at the top has become increasingly complex. Inserting keywords – which has long been the hallmark of SEO – now must be done very subtly and using ‘LSI’ phrases (latent semantic indexing) to ensure there are lots of natural synonyms.

What’s more, it only takes for Google to change their algorithms and all your hard work can end up down the drain. What was once a legitimate way to get to the top of Google can suddenly get your site penalized.

And this is why more and more big businesses are moving to other forms of Internet marketing like social media marketing, content marketing and video marketing.

What is Local SEO?

But the great news for small, local businesses is that many of these concerns simply don’t apply to local SEO.

With local SEO, you are targeting keywords that include a local element. For instance, this might mean that instead of IT support, you are now offering ‘IT support Santa Monica’. What this in turn means is that you are now no longer competing with millions of other companies and instead are just competing with a few. The more you narrow down your area, the less competition there will be.

At the same time, you can very quickly index for these terms by using Google Maps and Local Business in order to make it clear that you are based in X area. Finding inbound links is also much easier as you’ll be able to contact local magazines and other local businesses in order to gain some immediate traction.

How Does Local SEO Help Local Businesses?

Google’s algorithm changes also tend to be less brutal for local businesses.

While Google Penguin and Panda devastated the SEO efforts of many larger companies, only the much smaller ‘Pigeon’ update had much impact on local SEO and this was far less painful.

What’s more, as local SEO is so much easier, you’ll find it’s much quicker to get back to your starting point even if you do encounter a setback.

Social media can be integrated seamlessly with local SEO too. Why not ask your customers to tweet if they enjoyed your services or products? By combining social media engagement with a strategic SEO package plan, you can strengthen your local presence and attract more customers searching for businesses in your area.
SEO Pricing Packages can help you optimize your online presence for local search terms, manage your online reputation through social media engagement, and even generate positive reviews that can boost your local SEO ranking.

How to Gain Rankings in Local SEO in 2024

Content Marketing or Creation for Local SEO in 2024

We have curated a few best resources and blogs for local SEO content creation.

• Content Planning for Local SEO
• Content Creation for Local SEO
• Types Of content for Local SEO
• Content Marketing Tips for Local SEO
• Content Marketing Trends for 2024
• Local SEO Content Aggregation

 Best Local SEO Tools

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Optimize For Local SEO and Increase Business ROI

For all these reasons then, local SEO remains just as powerful as ever. This is why SEO for small businesses makes a lot of sense still and especially for those with a slightly lower budget.
ColorWhistle offers SEO services for small businesses and non-profits at a heavily discounted rate. We want to help you to get your smaller brand noticed so that you can stand toe-to-toe with the big players in your industry. Get in touch today and we’ll provide a free quote and consultation!