Local SEO is a very effective marketing strategy for the US businesses.
Hence, there’s a very tight competition among businesses trying to get on the first page of Google search results.
Local SEO for USA Businesses.
High Search Volume.
As of 2023, the US population surpassed 335 million.
And Google—along with Amazon, Apple, and Facebook—holds a monopoly power.
Google overwhelmingly dominates the general online search market, accounting for approximately 81% of all desktop search queries and 94% of all mobile search queries in the U.S.
According to recent data from Internet Live Stats in 2022, Google handles more than 99,000 searches per second, resulting in over 8.5 billion daily searches worldwide—with around 500 million searches coming from the United States.
Fierce Competition.
As almost every American uses Google to find answers and search for products or services, the competition among businesses trying to get on the first page of Google is fierce.
If you have a strong SEO strategy in place, expect to wait at least 3-6 months for your website to climb to the first page for relatively “easy” keywords.
For more competitive keywords, it can take one year or more to see your page on the first page of Google.
Cost of SEO in the US.
High competition means that you will have to invest more in your SEO strategy.
To hire an SEO agency or an SEO freelancer, expect to pay around $1000-$5000 per month for SEO services.
Unique Local Directories.
Citations are a very important aspect of local SEO.
In the United States, there are thousands of local directories unique for every city and state.
And you will have to be able to find the best ones to establish local relevance for your website.
Some of the most popular nationwide directories include Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Manta, Google Business, Apple Maps, Bing places for business, Foursquare, Merchant Circle, Brownbook, Yellow Pages, Local.com, Citysearch, Thumbtack, Kompass, Crunchbase, Chamber of Commerce, and Alignable.
Google Business Profile is the most important one, as it can drive a huge amount of leads to a local business on its own.
The Importance of Google Business Profile.
Google Business Profile is huge in the US.
Nearly half of all Google Business Profiles, or 49%, achieve more than 1,000 monthly views on Google Search.
And on average, a typical business receives 59 interactions per month from its Google Business listing.
So, when doing local SEO for the US businesses, Google Business should be at the forefront of your optimization strategy.
Changing Search Trends.
Voice search has started slowly taking over the world.
According to Google, approximately 27% of the global population uses voice search on mobile devices.
Furthermore, statistics from Voicebot indicate that 58.6% of consumers in the United States have tried using voice search, while only 41.4% have not yet used this technology.
The restaurant industry is the top industry for voice search usage (51%).
Other leading industries include grocery stores (41%), food delivery (35%), clothing stores (32%), and hotels or bed and breakfasts (30%).
Final Words.
In general, SEO strategy for a business in the United States is not that different from strategies that you would use in other countries.
And don’t be discouraged by the high competition.
It only means that there is a huge demand for your product or services.
And if you do everything right, you will see a great return on your investment.