Search Engine Optimization (SEO) increases your business’s visibility on the internet. It involves working around Google’s search algorithm to improve your website’s ranking. Better ranking on the search results makes the business more visible to prospective customers, improving the chances for turnover. This article highlights how much professional local SEO costs and if it is really worth it for your business.

How Much Does Local SEO Cost

Enhancing your search engine rankings within a specific geographical area requires time and creative input from professionals. Since the improved local search engine will mean better revenue gains for your business, you should invest in it. Professional local SEO services come at a premium, but the charges vary according to your needs.

Wondering how much local SEO services cost? Well, the amount you pay for a personalized online marketing campaign will depend on your package choice. Each plan will have targeted services that offer value in the long term for your business.

Most agencies have packages that determine the pricing for their services, including;

Automated Local SEO

Here, professionals use automated systems to help you remain consistent in searches. These systems continually submit business names, details, and geo-location tags to ensure your website appears consistently on client search reports. Automated SEO operations are easy to manage since they maintain your listings as long as you pay. Once you stop paying, your listing management stops, so you do not enjoy any long-term value. These packages are, however, cheaper than the rest, costing between $200 – $500 per year on average. These costs only apply to a single location but can vary across different platforms.

Small Scale SEO Campaigns

SEO experts offer small scale online marketing campaign services to startups and businesses. The campaign targets operations in a single location and improves your business’s visibility within the locality. Unlike automated services that maintain your website’s ranking, small scale local SEO campaigns seek to improve your ranking organically. A higher-ranking business may mean more customers and better revenue. In addition, you gain long-term value since the results are visible in the future. The average cost for such services ranges between $300 to $900 per month, with results varying from one locality to another.

Comprehensive SEO Campaigns

Most agencies prefer longer term operations to help promote the website and rank it favorably. Comprehensive SEO campaigns focus on both internal and external website maintenance. While the experts may use blogs and web posts to improve your ranking, they also take advantage of backlinks and citations from other web pages. As a result, the results are much more holistic and are easily noticeable since you can track your ROI through their custom reports. In addition, services like mobile SEO, online review management, and link and citation optimization improve your business’s ranking in the long term. However, these campaigns can be expensive since they often range between $900 to $2000 per month, but the cost can vary among agencies and platforms.

How Local SEO Gets Done / What Cost Will Depend On

Now that you understand local SEO costs and how campaigns work, you may wonder how you should budget. The amount of investment you have to set aside for SEO service depends on the following things:

Citations and Links

Citation management is a critical part of SEO optimization. Here, experts use two different approaches; citation claiming and backlinking to relevant web pages.

Citation claiming services include services like:

  • Business profile setup and optimization
  • Address matching
  • Social media page setups and reviews
  • Geo-location verification and check-ins

Backlinking involves importing your business’s citation information onto other web pages. In essence, you rank your business better using other quality websites. The focus is to lure prospective clients in using important information and make them customers. Backlinks help increase click-through rates to boost website visits and ranking.

Some of the information that SEO experts import include;

  • Business name
  • Business details, including: web address, phone number, and hours of operation
  • The different payment methods
  • Social media links
  • Active citation data management

Number of Locations

SEO results are not holistic; you need to target a specific locality to get the results you need. In most cases, businesses narrow down the target audience to a single location, making search engine optimization in that area easy. However, companies operating in multiple locations must pay more since experts will try to rank in different locations. This strategy will take more time, effort, and resources. In essence, local SEO services will cost more when your business operates in multiple locations.

Competition

Some locations and business niches are highly competitive compared to others. It is advisable to set aside and invest more money if your business operates in a highly competitive industry. Investing more means you create better content for your site and get relevant pages that build domain authority. Such improvements help outrank your competitors, which can translate into more customers and revenue over the long term.

Current Local SEO Presence

Your current state of local SEO visibility can determine the amount of work to be done. SEO experts first analyze your needs and current ranking state before they can take on your case. For ongoing work, the rates might be discounted, so you need to discuss this directly with your professional.

Local SEO services will be cheaper if you already rank within the highly competitive first page of the Google search engine. It will be easier for the professional to manage your ranking and get you higher up on the search results page. The more work SEO experts have to do, the more expensive it becomes for your business.

Why Is Local SEO Important?

Implementing SEO tactics helps your business garner visibility and rank well on the search engine results pages (SERPs). General SEO implements various keywords to help the business rank nationally. Local SEO, on the other hand, offers a more targeted approach to online marketing to target specific audiences within a certain geographical location.

So, why is local SEO important for your business? Here are some reasons why:

Allows You to Put Relevant Business Information Online

When clients are interested in a service or product, they will desperately want to reach a good seller. In most cases, customers will be looking for sellers within their area since they can access them with ease. Local SEO allows you to place business information online, making connections between you and your client easier. The easier connection will turn most of your potential customers into clients, helping you generate revenue.

Increase Website Traffic

Getting clients onto your website can be a huge issue since there are thousands of websites with entertaining content online. Local SEO helps bring more interested parties onto your website, boosting traffic. Increasing the website’s visibility is directly linked to the growth of your brand into a household name and boosting sales on the local front. More website traffic popularizes your small business and promotes its products within your target geographical area.

Convert Online Searches from Potential Customers to Offline Purchases

Recent surveys indicate that most clients research their products online first before they can shop physically. Even with the online ordering systems, some clients still prefer to shop in brick-and-mortar store setups, but they start with an online search. Local SEO pushes potential clients to get all the necessary information about the product they want on your site. Ideally, your business appearing at the top catches the eye of potential customers and can help with conversion. Customers interested in your product will likely purchase the item from your store.

Local SEO Offers Free Business Advertising

The purpose of advertising is to familiarize your target audience with the business. Local SEO allows you to put your business information online and highlight the products and services you deal in. Such exposure online allows your business to be better known to your local audience. Business advertising comes alongside local SEO at no extra cost, effectively promoting brand growth.

Do I Need Local SEO?

The answer is IT DEPENDS on your business performance. Your SEO expert will check your current presence and determine the local SEO cost. Some ways to check your local SEO presence include:

Check insights report on your Google business listing – Such reporting offers performances for branded and non-branded search questions. You should compare respective performances to help with discovery to know if you are in good shape. Branded searches come from clients looking for a specific business. Non-branded searches result from clients searching for a type of business dealing in similar products like yours but do not have a specific business name in mind. Examples of non-branded searches are like “Roofing contractor in Charlotte, NC” or “electrician near me.” If the non-branded searches on your website are more than branded searches, it indicates you are in good shape already. This means you need minimal local SEO operations to promote your business.

Local business scan to check NAP (Name, Address, Phone #) consistencies – SEO experts help you scan your directories using different tools to evaluate performance. You can invest in local SEO services if only you have inconsistencies in your directory listing.

Does Local SEO Really Work?

YES, local SEO works if you have a good plan that you can execute operations along. SEO experts work around analytics to design a campaign strategy aimed at enhancing search visibility. From there, the experts put in work by creating quality profiles and website content for your pages. These help you rank better on the local search results.

Google Business Profile Local SEO

GBP (Google Business Profile) is your one-stop for managing enterprise information and planning how it will be presented in the search results. For you to get started with a GBP, you have to claim the business by creating an account. All details have to be specified since the information has to be verified. Working with local listings can improve impressions and clicks over the long term. You also enjoy reviews from clients to get insight into how they perceive the business.

SEO experts work on the three most important factors that Google Business profile uses to determine rankings, including;

  • Relevance – relatability of client search intent or needs with products and services business offers.
  • Prominence – Familiarity of business with its target audience. This could mean the number of reviews, local content, events, and quality links to your site.
  • Proximity – Relates to the ranking of the business within a specific geographical area.

Boost Your Business with Local SEO

The cost of local SEO depends on the specific services you need. SEO experts and agencies have different packages, each targeting varying customer interests that can help make things better. It is advisable that the package you choose reflects the results you want to achieve. For instance, you should only go for automated SEO services when your business operates in a less competitive niche. More competition means you should settle for the small scale or comprehensive SEO campaigns for better results. Although the latter will cost more, they offer better long-term results.

Boostability offers affordable white-label local SEO services to businesses looking for a way to improve their customers’ website visibility. Partner with our team to expand your product offering to help save valuable time and money. To begin, we can provide a free consultation and SEO analysis to get you started on the right track. Reach out to our team of professionals today to learn more about how SEO can help reach your business goals.

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Kyle is the former Partner Marketing Lead at Boostability. Since graduating from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Kyle has developed a passion for creating SEO and Digital Marketing content to help educate and inform readers, customers, and partners through various marketing channels. He has previously worked with clients directly on Boostability’s Client Management team and loves to help businesses succeed online. Outside of work, Kyle enjoys playing sports, skiing, trying new restaurants, and spending time with family.