This is a common question, especially with businesses that know most of their customers. Businesses whose customers are mostly within ten miles often believe that online promotion is a waste of time. Even the smallest businesses that know their customers personally can benefit from Local SEO if they would benefit from new customers.

Some businesses eligible for a Google My Business listing may choose not to have one and if they do that then they will lose out on a lot of potential business. That is because without one they cannot show up in the “3-pack” search results. This is true even if they have the best website in the world.

Done correctly, Local SEO will put a business in front of customers when they are looking online for its products or services. It will do this whether or not they know of the business and therefore it is a very good way of gaining new customers.

Local Search Marketing and Local Search go hand in hand, with Local Search Marketing being a result of Local Search optimisation (Local SEO) efforts or buying online adverts. This article deals only with Local SEO and not paid advertising (PPC).

Online searches are those searches that users make millions of times a day all over the world, within the search engines. Sometimes these searches are for general information, and sometimes users are searching for specific products, services, or businesses.

SEO has a bad name due to the many companies and individuals selling SEO services, often using mass email campaigns and unsolicited calls. Let’s start by defining SEO and differentiating it from Local SEO.