It seems as though business owners think they should focus more on Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, and Bing local. It still amazes me when a business owner tells me that they have a Facebook page and a YouTube channel so they do not need a website. Let’s look at numbers – there are approximately 11 million business pages on Facebook compared to 1 million place pages on Google being claimed every month. Don’t get me wrong Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest are all great, but they should be used as tools used to drive people to your website.

Here are some important reasons why you should be in love with Local SEO:

Better Presence

More than ever before Google is giving more real estate to local results. Focusing on just traditional Search Engine Optimization or Pay-Per-Click means you are losing out on some valuable real estate. Utilize all methods to become the online authority for your niche in your local area.

Legitimacy

Many people searching online view local results as being more credible than traditional organic results. This is because of the map, address verification, customer reviews, images, and videos that people will see on a Google+ Local page. Now when a prospect not only sees you listed in local results, but also sees you listed in organic results, sees one of your videos on the 1^st page of Google, and then sees your listing on other websites showing on the 1^st page they will see you as being a very credible business. There is a much better chance that they will visit your website and be calling you.

Mobile

Smartphone’s are the new yellow pages. Searches on mobile devices are growing every month.

Local map listings are excellent for small businesses who want to be found by people on-the-go and with high intent to purchase. Sticking to a traditional SEO strategy may keep you out of the mobile game altogether.

Higher Conversion

It is great to get a lot of traffic. However, if that traffic does not convert into a phone call, walk-in, or sale than what good is that traffic. You will see your conversion rate greatly improve because the conversion rates of people searching on local terms tend to be higher than national terms.

Easier to Rank

Local SEO is considered to be the low-hanging fruit for small businesses struggling to improve their online presence. It is definitely feasible that you will see your business grow by leveraging the Internet. You can start by claiming, verifying, optimizing, and building your presence on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. People prefer to do business with local businesses, so it is essential to capitalize on this opportunity. Be sure to ask your customers for reviews.

I come across many small business owners that want to do more online but are unsure of how to. Local SEO is the obvious starting point for any small business. Just remember if you are not on the 1^st page of Google then those prospects will be choosing your competition.

The most effective (and affordable) Content Management System on the market today is WordPress. WordPress is not only easy to learn and use; it also very search engine friendly and displays nicely on a mobile device. Using a web designer that utilizes WordPress to develop is the best option for any size business. It will require a few hours of learning and tinkering but the end result will be complete control of your website and that is empowering.

WordPress comes with several design options. WordPress uses themes to create the look and feel for your website. It helps frame and layout. There are two kinds of themes. There are free and premium themes that run anywhere from $25-$120. Most small businesses will fork out the extra money for a premium theme simply because it eliminates the “cookie-cutter” format and allows for increased customization to help make your small business website look clean, professional and trustworthy. As a WordPress developer, I never use a theme straight out of the box, regardless of it being free or premium.

Even if you decide to hire a agency or website design shop to develop your WordPress website, the costs associated will be much less than if they develop the website from scratch. In fact, most Web design companies will prefer to use WordPress anyway and will be able to quickly customize your website; shaving weeks of the timing to launch the new site.

The reality is if your company provides unique products or services, you should be blogging.

Of course, the overall return on investment on a blog will vary from business to business. However, there are 6 fundamental benefits to blogging that should not be overlooked:

1) Gain Visibility as a Thought Leader

Each thoughtful post on your blog is a public demonstration of your thought leadership, personal integrity, humor, and professional insights. You don’t have to refute one of Einstein’s theories to get respect. For example, a summary of recent trends in your industry, or a reaction to a recent news article can be extremely effective blog posts. Think of the questions or problems that your business most often hear in which your products or services provides the solution for. People search for those topics.

2) Engage Customers in a Dialogue

If you blog using a solid blogging engine, readers will have the option to comment on each article. Folks who comment on your blog may be sales leads, or they may just challenge or support your views. Either way, comments beget comments, and you will soon be at the center of an industry-relevant dialogue with customers and partners.

3) Every Blog Article is an SEO Opportunity

The much-discussed “long tail” of search refers to highly specialized, low-traffic search terms that represent a significant amount of total searches. Translation: lots and lots of people are searching online for lots and lots of random things. You can’t realistically optimize your site for every long tail search term, but you can certainly write blog posts targeting niche keyword phrases that are likely to draw highly qualified prospects. For example, blog a reaction to a speaker in your vertical at a local tech conference. You may not draw much natural search traffic, but there is a good chance your blog will rank well very soon for searches like “vertical + conference + speaker + city”, and those visitors may be highly interested in your reaction to the speech.

4) Blogs Are Link Bait

Very few websites or bloggers will link to the “products and services” page on a corporate website. People don’t link to corporate advertisements. On the other hand, a good blog article is an industry-specific insight or a thoughtful critique. Blog articles garner links because they are interesting, informative, and not overly corporate or sales-focused. The benefit to you is that more links means better search engine rankings and more site traffic, which translates into more sales leads.

5) Humanize Your Brand

Blogs offer an opportunity for a company to present its insightful, helpful, thoughtful side. Through a blog, prospects will get a sense of your company’s people, culture, and vision. Blogs are an opportunity to provide a less antiseptic view of your company that is more personal and less “corporate”. Blogs can humanize your brand.

6) In Google, Fresher Content = Better Website

Google will periodically crawl websites looking for new and updated content. In general, it is better to have Google crawl your site as often as possible. Sites that get crawled more often have more frequent updates and more authority. Blogging consistently ensures there will be fresh content on your site.

Despite these reasons why companies should be blogging, the same 2 objections surface time and time again:

1) I Don’t Have Time to Blog

The truth is you don’t have time *not* to blog.  You probably already write blog articles, you just don’t call them that. Blogs are the new email newsletters. Most anything that could go in your newsletter can go in your blog. You can still send the content out via email, and readers can subscribe to your blog to get posts via email. Portions of white papers can also make excellent blog articles. But a blog is better than a newsletter or a white paper because readers can join the debate and be positioned to respond to other “calls to action” you may place adjacent to or within posts. In addition, readers will be able to navigate your blog to read older articles that would otherwise be in a deleted newsletter or white paper. Best of all, each blog article you post will provide lasting benefit because it is a web page that can be optimized, indexed, and drawing natural search traffic for you ad infinitum.

In addition, quality blogging engines can support multiple authors, so more than one leader in your organization can post articles. This takes the pressure off any one individual.  And remember that a good blog post might just draw a parallel between two or three recent articles, or suggest an explanation for a puzzling industry phenomenon. A good article doesn’t have to be a PhD thesis.

2) What if My Customers Actually Find Out What I’m Thinking? 

Some professionals don’t like the idea of blogging because it means relinquishing control over some elements of the corporate brand. A blog is less formal than a press release or an official marketing message, and the comments left by readers cannot be predicted. The point here is… too bad! In today’s world, consumers have access to thousands of opinions about your brand, and thousands of articles, commentaries, product reviews, etc. that will certainly impact the buying decision. The idea that you can control exactly how your brand will be perceived or keep consumers in the dark is outdated. The truth is your best option is to engage customers in an honest, open dialogue. Be confident that transparency is the best policy, and customers will reward your candor.