Local SEO sounds cool and all but can it really help you scale your business in 2020?
The quick answers to these questions are Yes and Absolutely.
Now the more in-depth answer depends on what your business needs.
Do you sell offline?
Are you looking to double the customers that walk in your store, office, workplace?
Then Local SEO is what you must focus on.
And you must do it NOW before your competitors acquire all of your hot leads.
Why hot you ask?
Because Local SEO is the best way to catch people looking to BUY now and narrow their choices only to your exact products and services.
You can’t miss these easy sales and in today’s post, we’ll go over not only how you can collect them but also what you need to do to guarantee your prospects come to you and not someone else.
Ready? Then let’s begin with…
3 Ways an SEO Consultant Can Help Grow Your Business
In good times and in bad times every business wants more leads.
That’s why automating and constantly optimizing your customer acquisition process is so crucial to your business growth.
Local SEO is an easy and extremely effective way to do it.
SEO Consultants can easily help you increase your reach and bring in more sales.
So here are 3 simple examples of how an SEO Consultant can help grow your business:
#1 Website SEO Optimization for Optimal Local Reach
I’ll assume you already have a website that serves as your tool to introduce people to your business and services.
If that’s the case then you need to shove your website in people’s faces on every occasion you get.
Website SEO (search engine optimization) is an easy way to rank your website on top of Google’s relevant to your business searches.
And more importantly to rank your website for Local Searches.
That means people that are specifically looking for services in your area.
Professional SEO Consultants will optimize your website for Local Searches without any problems.
And keep in mind that 88% of local-based queries done using a mobile phone end in either a call or visit to the business within 24 hours.
You wouldn’t want to miss these hot prospects.
#2 SEO Strategy Development
Of course, no real optimization is possible without a proper strategy behind it.
Your ideal SEO Consultant will create a step-by-step strategy that will maximize your organic reach.
The strategy normally consists of what to post in your blog (if you have one), what pages need urgent optimization, and what activities will bring the biggest ROI if done right now.
Then he’ll get all of that and put it into a specialized strategy depending on your budget, time, and goals.
More on the technical stuff and what to expect when working with your SEO Consultant further down the post.
#3 Keyword Research and Implementation
Why do you need keyword research exactly?
Well, many people think that just writing blog posts about their niche is going to get them the leads they desire.
And even though it will bring in some leads… the results will be far from optimal.
After your SEO Consultant is done with your keyword research, you’ll know exactly what keywords to target in your main pages, how many times to use each one, and how to spin your content so it matches with google’s latest engine rules.
Of course for Local SEO you must rank for the typical terms plus your city added to them.
But if you try to guess the right keywords (as many businesses do), you might end up empty handed.
The best way to ensure your keyword research success is to use Proven SEO Tools like Ubersuggest.
Try it out now and see the traffic you’ve been missing out on.
If you like the numbers just continue reading this post to learn how to find the SEO Consultant that will guarantee your best ranking.
How to Get Started With Local SEO Consulting
Let’s dive into the process of getting started with your SEO Consultant Services.
First, you’ll need to prepare some materials.
No need to mention that a website is mandatory…
The next thing is the drive to grow big… I’m talking real BIG.
If you’re a local business trying to make ends meet then Local SEO is the thing that’s going to save your inevitable business death.
Remember that…
72% of users who did a local-based search visited a store within 5 miles.
Now that your motivation is higher than ever, you need to find the consultant that will drive the traffic your business desperately needs.
How do you do that?
You focus on finding an SEO Consultant that is known to bring results in this field.
And more importantly… someone that specializes mainly in SEO.
Because you’ll find many business consulting gurus that will promise results in everything while they haven’t done crap in the past.
That’s what you DON’T want for your business.
An easy way to guarantee results is to work with a proven agency that helps businesses close to your size.
An instant recommendation is NP Digital as it is the best SEO Marketing Agency on the planet.
This exact blog is ranked on the first page of google for thousands of marketing terms and it uses the same exact strategies NP Digital will use for your business.
Book a call with a professional consultant now and get a strategy built specifically for your business.
Again, before enrolling in a long-term contract, you need to make sure you’re at the right place.
Having a website is a MUST and also don’t expect instant results.
At the very least SEO needs a week to be scanned by google’s engine.
But the best practice is to wait a couple of months while monitoring the results.
Your SEO Consultant will do that for you.
Just ask for a weekly/monthly report of the analytics behind the content you put out.
And speaking about analytics and tracking, let’s get into the ROI (return on investment) of hiring a Local SEO Consultant.
Measuring the ROI of Local SEO Consulting Services
Everyone can use big words but the only thing that matters at the end of the day is RESULTS.
That’s the one thing you should care about when you’re trying to scale your business.
So no matter how friendly and easy-going your Consultant may be, you must always track his progress and whether he brings real profits to your business.
The last thing you want is to waste months of money and time on a leaking bucket that’s bound to break at some point.
Using tools that track all of your data is crucial.
Here’s a complete list of the best free SEO tools you can use or let your consultant use for you.
Also, you’ll need to be fully transparent with your Local SEO Consultant.
Any time something feels wrong, you go ahead and ask him so he can take a look and fix it if need be.
Keeping secrets to yourself is an easy way to fail in the long run even though it may feel easier at the current moment.
So be 100% truthful about what you want and build a relationship on trust and straightforward communication.
That’s the best way to work long-term and get the best results possible for your business.
4 Point Checklist For Finding the Right Local SEO Consultant
And now to get into the fun stuff…
An exact step-by-step process on how to find the right Local SEO Consultant for your exact business.
#1 Clear Your Mind About What You Need
I suggest you sit down and list everything you know about your business, niche, and goals before going into a call with a professional.
Even though you might think you can figure it out on the spot, you’ll always miss important details.
Just sit down for 5-10 minutes and write it down so you can be prepared for the call.
Especially for SEO Consultant Services, you need to clear out these questions:
What’s the main geographic area you want to target?
What are the main products or services you want to offer or present online?
Do you plan on activating other social mediums like paid advertising, social media accounts, email marketing?
Once you have these, you can move on to the next step.
#2 Finding The Right Expert For You
Your best match depends solely on your specific needs.
Do you only need Local SEO Consulting?
Do you even know what’s best for your online presence?
Most local businesses are unaware of the real power of social media…
So if that’s the case with you, the best approach would be to find a marketing agency that offers SEO Services combined with other online advertising skills.
Again, a quick suggestion is NP Digital, as it is the best marketing agency for SEO in the world.
Once you get on a call with a consultant that leads a team in such a big, result-generating agency, he’ll be able to look at your business and suggest the best and most efficient methods to grow your online presence.
And remember, you don’t need blank followers.
Having 1 million Instagram followers that don’t buy is like having 0 people at your store.
Don’t mistake followers with real customers.
A real professional consultant will give you the exact steps that will increase your sales together with your online presence.
But how to determine who’s a real expert and who’s not?
That’s simple.
Jump on a call with the first agency/consultant you think fits your best fit.
Have a call with him and look for:
- Communication Skills
- Previous Results
- Intuitive Future Thinking
Great Communication Skills are essential if you want to have a long-term positive relationship with your consultant.
Your mission on the call is to see if he can explain and break down hard terminology into simple to follow steps.
If he’s trying to sound smart by using terms you don’t know and he doesn’t bother to explain them to you, then he’s not your perfect fit.
After all, you want to know what’s going on inside your business.
Previous Results are obviously important. You can’t trust empty claims.
A good consultant will have a proven track record of helping people in your exact situation.
And last but not least Intuitive Future Thinking.
Sometimes you might encounter some “robots” that only know their own thing.
That doesn’t mean they are bad at it but it surely means that they’ll not be able to adapt to your business scaling ideas in the future.
So the contract will be bound to fail before you even sign it.
An easy way to check if the person on the other side is intuitive would be to ask him questions outside of his specialty.
You can’t expect him to know all the answers, so don’t look for the “correct” answer but rather look for the way he handles the conversation.
If he’s open to brainstorming with you even on something he’s not an exact expert in…
And if he’s open about it, making sure you know he’s not perfect in the field but he’s able to come up with real ideas on his own, then he’s a good fit.
On the other hand, if he ignores your questions and sticks to his “homework” then he’s that exact type of species I call “heartless robots”.
You don’t want to outsource an intuitive task like the SEO ranking of your website to a guy that can’t think outside of his box.
Once you find someone that fits these criteria and you feel can help you grow your business, it’s time to…
#3 Sign A Contract
I know that may sound scary for people that haven’t signed online contracts before but I assure you that the process is as simple as tying your shoes.
A respected marketing agency will have a contract starting process that you just have to follow to get started successfully.
The terms are made so they benefit you and what you already discussed on the indoctrination call you made.
#4 Measure and Track Results
As mentioned previously you’ve got to be open for a long-term relationship that benefits your business.
Tracking your ROI with SEO tools is crucial, you should sign up for some of them right now.
I hope that guide helped you clear your mind at least a little.
The one thing you should remember is that anything is possible.
Your business can grow bigger than you’ve ever imagined, so don’t limit your scale to what you think is possible.
Let a professional who has done this exact process before, do it for you as well.
Have you optimized your Local SEO before? Have you hired professional help to do it for you? Share your experience in the comments below:
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