One thing that I always read or hear from other people is that there is no competition in local search optimization, it’s easy to get a top ranking.  While that’s probably true for the ultra competitive market of dirt farming. A market that is actually competitive and the competition is already doing local search optimization it can be tricky. Most small business owners don’t have the time to do it right and wonder why they are not ranking well. It’s supposed to be easy right.

The search engines have so many variables that go into a top ranking. A few to consider are Citations, Category, Reviews and Ratings, Address, Keywords, Business Location, Phone Number, links, mentions and On-page Website Optimization. With all of these variables it can be frustrating to find which one is the most important.

Not to mention the fact that the local search universe is very liquid at the moment. All the major players keep adding functionality and services. With all the search engines and local search services are trying to provide the searcher with instant and reliable results the game can change very fast. One day your on top the next not to be seen. For a small business owner that is not a local SEO professional it can be very frustrating to navigate the ins and outs of local search marketing.

It one point it may have been pretty cut and dry but those days are long gone. With mobile users starting to make up a greater number of the local searchers small business owners need to beware that their websites could be creating problems for the mobile user. If their phone number is not formatted correctly a mobile user cannot just click and dial. From personal experience this drives me crazy when searching from my phone. A simple error like this example can cause a loss in potential customers. This is just one simple example of the many pitfalls a local business owner needs to beware of and why they should hire a local search marketer.

Not to mention all of the ways a true local search marketing professional can help. If a local business owner is in a competitive market it may be the only way to get listed in the top 10 results. There are just too many variables that can make a big difference in the local results. Most of the time a local business owner doesn't have the time or know enough about local search to be rank well in a competitive market. The good news is that if you are in a competitive market there are plenty of potential customers, all that is needed is the right local search optimization plan to turn them into website visitors.