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As Google has become focused on making its SERP more personalized, a major component of that personalization is a user’s location.

Knowing exactly where the searcher is located allows search engines to be specific in the results that they deliver.

This makes it imperative that your businesses show up where your prospective customers are looking for you, which is where local SEO serves as a major tool at your business’ disposal.

Local SEO helps you attract potential customers to discover your business through organic search by optimizing your website and other digital properties for the specific city/state/region that you’re doing business in.

Local SEO allows you as the business owner to increase your reach and visibility beyond word-of-mouth, while also being the source of truth for your business information both online and offline.

According to a recent survey from Brightlocal, 88% of shoppers indicated that they would trust an online business review as much as they would a personal recommendation from friends or family. If shoppers are trusting reviews online as much as the closest people in their lives, you want to be there with your best (5-star reviews) foot forward!

Google is also notorious for placing the local business with the highest quantity of reviews at the top of its Local Map Pack, which generates the majority of the engagement on the search results page (calls, website visits, driving directions, etc).

More and more shoppers are using search engines during each phase of the customer journey, which ends up either influencing or cementing their purchase decisions.

In fact, mobile searches for “open,” “now,” and “near me,” have increased 200% in just the last year!

There’s no more efficient way for your business to generate relevant, quality leads, and soon it will be an absolute necessity for businesses to have a local SEO strategy as part of their overall business plan.

Infographic Source: BCC Interactive

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Author: Ravi Verma

He is a digital marketer and creator of Freaky SEO. He enjoys working with words, numbers and the complexities of search engines and their working. You can connect with him on Linkedin or tweet @ digitalverma. Do you have excellent ideas to share with netizens? Come write for us.