Okay, so that’s not the most standard headline; we know. But we wanted to get your attention, because when you see a technical term like “mobile SEO,” it’s easy to check out mentally.

Don’t let it happen. We want to be sure you’re paying attention, because mobile SEO (that stands for search engine optimization, as you’ll recall) is very important for local businesses such as yours. Making sure your website, advertising approach, and other marketing aspects are optimized for mobile users gives you a huge advantage over your competitors, especially because such tools are still only used by a small percentage of local businesses.

We’ve said it 1,000 times, but it bears repeating: People are now accessing online information on smartphones and tablets in record numbers. You can’t just assume that your message is reaching your audience if you’re purely focused on people sitting in their dens on a desktop computer. The percentage of Americans with smartphones increases steadily every single day. Go get ’em!

When your website is optimized for mobile, you will convert many times more leads than will a competitor whose slow, hard-to-read site is all the comes up on a mobile search. When your location and operating hours are up to date on your Google+ Local listing, you stand a much greater chance of getting visitors searching for businesses that are open in your area.

The important thing to remember is that getting your mobile SEO right is imperative in converting the people in your community searching for what you provide while they’re on their mobile devices.