Search engine optimisation (SEO) is essentially the use of various different techniques, such as link building, in order to move your website higher up on the search engine website pages. However, if you are someone with a business location, then you will need to utilise local SEO. Why? Well, if you have a hair salon situated in London, it is very unlikely that you will be catering to those situated in Liverpool. So, you need to make sure your marketing is targeted at those in your region. 

But, what is the difference between local SEO and national SEO? Essentially all of the same principles apply. However, there are a couple of unique elements. For instance, you will need to claim local platforms on profiles such as Google. Your local listing will then show for all localised results. In addition to this, when selecting keywords you will tend to incorporate the city next to the keyword; either before or after.

Unfortunately there are a lot of companies who are still neglecting the use of local SEO. This is definitely at their own risk. You will have the ability to achieve a higher ranking if you go for local search engine optimisation. This is because the competition is a lot less. Just imagine how many hair dressers you would be competing with if you were using your marketing on a national scale. Now contrast this to how many you would be competing with when just taking London into account. You can now see the massive difference. All you need to do is use your keyword program of choice, such as Google Adwords, in order to see how the competition for local SEO is a lot less yet the searches are still relatively high. 

Another benefit is the fact that you will be able to lower your advertisement costs via going down this route. Using local keywords allows you to lessen your marketing costs. Otherwise you would be attracting a lot of clicks, thus costing you a lot of money, however most of these clicks would be irrelevant because the people clicking on the ad would not be in a position to take advantage of your location. 

In addition to this, it is also worth taking into account the fact that your connection with your customers will enhance dramatically. Why? Well, social media plays a huge role when it comes to localised SEO. This presents you with the perfect opportunity to talk to your consumers and to build up a loyal bond with them. You don’t merely need to send out updates on your products and services, you can also build up relationships via talking about topics that are relevant to your line of work or by dealing with any customer queries. 

And finally, there are many instances whereby local searching proves to be much more beneficial. For instance, when people move from one region to another they may want a specific type of food that was sold in their previous location. If you don’t localise your SEO then they will never be able to find you. Instead, your consumer will be generating all of the profit that could have been yours.