Before going into the details of the uses of local SEO, it is important to assess if local SEO has any relevance and relationship with ROI. Here are few statistics that will drive home the point better:

• Local searches have higher potential of conversions. In fact, research points that almost 80% of local searches convert.
• The world’s most used search engine Google reports that almost 46% of all searches on Google are for a local business. An important indicator which says that if your business is not optimized for a local search, you are losing out on potential opportunities for sale and conversions. This fact gets further highlighted with the stats that claims that ‘near me’ searches have not simply doubled or tripled in the last few years – they have grown by more 500%! An astronomically empirical figure!

If this was not enough, further research states that almost half the users visit a physical store within 24 hours of a local search. And, from those users who use their smartphones to search for a local business, about 76% visit the store or office in a days’ time. There are many more such facts but the quintessence of local SEO services and its directly proportionate relationship with ROI is proved beyond doubt!

Local SEO techniques for enhanced ROI

1. Focus on the NAP – Name, Address and Phone Number details to begin with. Enter accurate and precise information. The details should prominently be featured on the home page. Replicate the NAP details on all reliable B2B sites. Use schema mark-up for easy interpretation by the search crawler.
2. Leave aside everything and use the Google My Business Listing to penetrate better into the local market. Doing this will allow you to post feeds, photos and updates on your profile. You can communicate your USP and open doors for your customers to reach out to you via phone, SMS or WhatsApp and also review your product and services for more mileage and reach. It is estimated that almost 56% of companies are not using this feature till date, a free tool from Google that was launched to drive increased local traffic.
3. Ensure that your business address is secured well on the Google maps. This helps users know your location instantly. This in turn helps prospective customers find you out faster and seamlessly.
4. Focus on search engine optimization for your online store or website. Working with a professional team ensures that all aspects of your digital presence will be monitored, evaluated and tweaked from time to time, as per changes made to the Google algorithm. SEO is nothing but a concerted effort by businesses to get to the topmost rank on a search engine result page that is focused on specific keywords.
5. Get meaningful links that have relevance in the local context. Research data suggests that links help in making your local business gain more visibility. However, it is essential to get worthy links – for example from sites that have lots of organic traffic; from credible and noted websites like the regional Chamber of commerce office.