As a local business owner, you may feel there’s little point in investing time and money to optimize your Google presence when you’re up against the likes of Walmart and Amazon for top-tier rankings. That might be true when it comes to the main organic listings but it’s not the case for local search.

Whether you have a physical bricks-and-mortar location or serve a particular geographical area, local SEO allows you to better connect with people in your neighborhood, town, or city. That’s important given that 81% of consumers now turn to Google to evaluate local businesses.