There was a time when people gave little thought to local SEO, and many saw it as nothing more than a novelty. But things have changed immensely over the last few years, and as new players are competing for the ever shrinking piece of prime real estate sitting atop Google’s search results, local SEO is becoming more important than ever. As a matter of fact, local SEO is often a much more efficient and attainable way for local businesses to get attention. In this article, we’re going to touch on some businesses that can particularly benefit from using local SEO strategies.

Medical Services

Any health specialist that serves a local community should be all over local SEO. Other than building powerful and well designed websites that provide great user experience and are mobile friendly, health professionals should do everything in their power to provide relevant and fresh material to push their sites to the top of rankings. They should also make sure that their business information is up to date on sites like Yelp and local directories specific to healthcare professionals such as ZocDoc.

Law Practices

Most of the time, when people are looking for legal advice, they are looking for somebody in proximity. This is why it is important for lawyers and law practices to make their presence felt on the local SEO front. One of the easiest things a law firm can do to increase their local presence online is create a Google “My Business” page. Second, you should make sure that your homepage and website are optimized for relevant keywords. Online reviews are also very important when it comes to SEO, and better rated lawyers and law offices will usually be given priority.

Hospitality Business

Another major sector that is affected by local search is the hospitality business. Bars and restaurants need to do everything in their power to have a sound local strategy in place. Bars and restaurants usually serve a local area, which is why local SEO should be of capital importance to them. Again, customer reviews are extremely important in this case, and Google will rarely display establishments that have a poor rating on the first page, so make sure that the service and quality is on point before even thinking about setting up a local SEO strategy.

Plumbing

Plumbers are also another group who have a close relationship with their community. Plumbers almost exclusively stay local, which makes local SEO a great avenue to advertise their service. In addition to providing good service, plumbers should also take advantage of their experience to provide valuable advice. The good news is that there is an almost infinite number of subjects plumbers can explore when it comes to content ideas, and establishing a good blog is a great way to improve your visibility on local search results.

Pet Care

Veterinarians and other professionals who are involved in healthcare almost completely concentrate their services in their local community. Pet grooming, walking, sitting, supplies and veterinarians are common searches among people looking for pet related services. The potential for highly valuable content in this area is almost infinite and good pet related blogs tend to do very well with search engines. Reviews are also key in this area, so make sure you encourage your visitors to leave reviews.

Conclusion

Local SEO is still unexploited by many people. This should be great news since it means that there are still opportunities for new businesses to make their mark and improve their visibility with local searches. If you’re involved in any of the businesses above, you should start developing a local SEO strategy today and see what local search can do for you.