More than 50 percent of website traffic comes from search and 80 percent of consumers use search to find local information.

Local and organic SEO services are critical if you want your website to show up in the search results. Let’s look at the difference between the two types of SEO and how you can leverage each of them.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP) to show expert SEO results for small businesses. Best Company near me. Your Business At The Top of Google’s Organic Search Results. Organic Rankings on Google take time and a certain amount of knowledge to achieve. When you work with a Search Engine Optimization expert, they will work with your site, other sites and content marketing in order to increase your ranking on Google’s SERPs. Your Local Listing On a Online Review Site. Google also indexes local listings sites and online review sites which make these two factors of your business imperative. This competitor is most likely competing for the same keywords that you are. The reason that you are ahead of them could be one of dozens of factors. That’s why it’s important to always monitor your SEO. A Blog That Talks About Your Industry. Blogs play an important part in Search Engine Optimization and Organic Ranking since Google takes the freshness of your content marketing into consideration. It makes sense since they are trying to make sure their users are getting the best, most up-to-date and relevant information. See something different about this listing? This competition has optimized their site very well for search engines using a mark-up language that will provide additional links in their search results. Fortunately for you, 34% of people will click on the very first organic search result, however most never leave the first page. So although this competitor is far down, they will still be considered.

How Organic SEO Works

The organic search results (SERPs) are the ones you normally see when you search for something in Google or another search engine. These pages are the ones that Google thinks are the most relevant to what you’re looking for but they’re not necessarily local to you. The site could be located anywhere in the world.

The organic results tend to be more informational than local results. They’re effective for targeting people in the early stages of the buying process when they’re still gathering information. Your organic SEO efforts should focus on educational content so you can start building a relationship with your audience early.

Local Listings Example for Local SEO

How to Leverage Local SEO for Small Business

The local search results are the ones you see at the top of the results when you search for something local like a specific business or by including phrases like “near me” in your search.

On Google, these results show up in the local 3-pack at the top of the results. These are Google’s choices for the 3 most relevant local results for the search. You’ll also see a map with the business’ location and usually one or more customer reviews.

When someone does a local search, they tend to be a lot closer to the point of buying. They’re looking for a place nearby that they can get what they need so you want your business to rank in those top results. Setting up a Google My Business profile with your contact details and taking advantage of review sites like Yelp.com will help build your local profile. This helps boost your local SEO ranking.

Putting the Two Types of SEO Together

Some people think of local SEO as the opposite of organic but they’re two sides of the same coin. Local SEO for small business is important if you serve a particular region but you still want your website to rank in the organic results as well.

This lets you reach your target audience early in the sales process when they’re still researching and learning about what you have to offer. You can use a lead capture system on your website to get those visitors onto your email list and continue to give them helpful information.

As they get closer to the point of buying something, you’ll hopefully have built trust and a good reputation in their minds. When that time comes and they search for a local business, they’ll be much more likely to choose your company if you’re ranked in the top local search results.

Organic SEO Services – Do It Yourself or Get Help?

SEO isn’t that complicated but it does take time and effort to do it well. And Google and the other search engines are constantly tweaking their algorithms to improve the results so it’s an ongoing learning process to stay ahead of the latest changes.

If you don’t want to spend a lot of time managing the details and studying the latest changes in the SEO world, Marketing Magnitude can help. We offer a range of local and organic SEO services to help your website rank higher and bring in more business. Get your free online marketing analysis today to find out what you’re already doing well and where you’ve got opportunities to improve.