What Is Local SEO?
Definition and Importance of Local SEO
Local SEO is the act of optimizing a business’s visibility in local search rankings. I.e targeting a local area. For any local business, looking to sell products or services in a specific region, local SEO is essential.
Imagine you go on your phone and you need an electrician. You search something on google like “electrician near me” or “electrician in ‘my city'”. The things that come up are your local search results. These can take the form of website rankings, or you may even see google my business profiles on google maps.
If you are a local business it is critical to consider local SEO as part of your SEO strategies.
Why Local SEO Is Vital for Local Businesses
If you are a physical business, rather than just online. Or even if you operate online but want to target a local area, it is clear that appearing higher on the search engine results would benefit your business. Many businesses have a physical store, or carry out a physical service. These kind of businesses are not so effective in SEO if your audience is on the other side of the country.
Recent statistics have shown that 46% of google searches have “local intent”. That means that 46% of people searching for something on google, are looking in their local area. On top of this 76% of the searchers that are looking for something local on their phone, actually visit a store that day.
You can see just from these points that local SEO will inevitably drive foot traffic, enquiries and sales for your business. Just by increasing your local online presence, you are growing your business.
How Local SEO Works
Local SEO is slightly different in terms of ranking factors to general SEO. For a local business, there are different focusses. These start with your google business profile. This is the profile google will show for local search results in maps.
Optimizing Google my business
To optimize your google my business, you need to ensure all your information is correct and up to date. Write an in depth SEO rich description for your business. Try to naturally include keywords and search terms. Also ensure that you get as many positive reviews as possible from past clients. Consider offering a discount or a free item linked to leaving a 5 star review.
Website Optimization & Landing Pages
Another consideration for search engines when ranking local SEO results is the website’s content and optimization. Having good and appropriate website content for the search terms you want is a big plus. Also technical SEO still plays a role here. In that site speed, security, schema markup etc also play a part in your ranking factors.
Also something to consider is your landing pages. If you are targeting a specific local keyword, you may want to create a page designated to do that. For example, for a company that sells flowers in their shop and online too. They may want to target their local area to rank for flower shops in Houston. Their local search ranking would benefit from creating a landing page specifically for that. And then filling it with SEO optimized content.
Local Citations, NAP & Business directories
As we mentioned local SEO uses slightly different ranking factors for local search results. A significant part of this is local citations & Business directories. These are websites in which you can list your business online, show online reviews, and add your NAP(Name, address & phone number).
These local directories act as a showing of local authority for search engines. Which is why when performing any comprehensive local SEO services, they will be a big part of your SEO strategies.
You can also implement link building strategies to build backlinks from local websites. Blogs about the city you are targeting, a service review website in your local area etc. These can help to build authority to promote your local services and drive organic traffic.
In conclusion
So now you should have a slightly better idea of how local search engine optimization works. This is really on a general level to get you thinking like a marketer. There is far more nuance and detail to cover, but this should be a good platform to build from.
By placing priority on your google my business optimization, website content and local citations, you can do a pretty reasonable local SEO job.
It is always important to track and measure your successes with local SEO. You can use any of the leading local SEO tools to see what works, and what doesn’t. The best way to learn is by doing.
