How Your Local Search Engine Optimization is Preventing You From Generating New Business Leads

Local search engine optimization is important to success, because four out of five searchers using Google are looking for a local business to contact. (Search Engine Watch) Therefore lead generation directly depends on your audience knowing you’re alocal option.

Unfortunately, many local businesses either don’t know how or don’t care to take local optimization seriously. But not caring or not knowing how to fix the problem are equally indefensible positions to take in a digital marketplace where more and more buyers are shopping more and more locally.

Putting off local search engine optimization means that Google doesn’t know who, what and often, where you are. And if Google doesn’t know, how will your customers?

Take a look at two of the biggest problems found when local search engine optimization isn’t made a priority.

1.  Confusion For Your Buyers

Search engines, like Google, and search directories, like Yelp, MerchantCircle and Yellowpages, take a business's local information and display it to users among local business search results. So, inconsistent business listings can turn into hundreds of directories with variations of your local business information. And with directories continually sharing different information with one another, this is a problem that will continue to spread.

2.  Poor (If Any) Local Placement

When Google knows your business name, address and phone number, it is able to place you among the local business options in search results. But Google pulls this information from directories to provide buyers with the local business information it believes to be most accurate. So if your business has inconsistent local listings, Google may list you as a business in an incorrect location and ultimately, in front of the wrong buyer.

What’s worse, if the buyer is left to figure out the correct local listing, they’re simply going to shop somewhere else.

Generating new business leads is the solution to any problem your business may face. But you cannot generate new business leads if you’re not placing your business in front of your local buyer. In order to be placed in front of your local buyers, you need to prioritize local search engine optimization.