What is Local SEO, and How Does It Work?

Local SEO is a type of search engine marketing that involves optimizing your business website and online profiles for local search. It’s a method for ranking your website for geo-specific searches so your site gets found by users searching for local businesses like yours.

If you’re a wedding photographer in Seattle, and a user searches for “Seattle wedding photographer”, you want to rank for this keyword in the Google search results so you can grab this user’s attention and, hopefully, turn them into a new client.

But ranking in local search doesn’t always happen naturally.

You need a local SEO strategy that’s based on what your target audience is looking for, which keywords seem like the best fit for your site, and what methods your competitors are using to outrank you. Then, you can employ a variety of local SEO tactics to rise above the competition and attract new local customers to you.

Why Is Local SEO Important?

According to Google , searches for “open now near me” have grown globally by over 400% year over year. This means that customers are actively using the search engine not only to shop online, but also to find what they are looking for locally. Local SEO helps extend who is seeing your business when searching on Google, finding out where you are located, looking at your hours, reading reviews and then making the trip into your store.

Local SEO is important because, unlike online-only stores, your brick-and-mortar location serves a specific area, and people in that area are interested in discovering their shopping options. Taking the time to maximize your local SEO efforts means reaching more potential customers who are close by and want to stop by to see what you have.

How Google Determines Local Ranking

Google keeps its organic search ranking algorithms a closely guarded secret but is much more open about what it takes to rank in local results.

The three main categories of local ranking factors, according to Google, are:

• Relevance.
• Distance.
• and Prominence

“Relevance refers to how well a local Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.

Add complete and detailed business information to help Google better understand your business and match your profile to relevant searches,” Google states in its help resource on how to improve your local ranking.

Google defines distance as “how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search. If a user doesn’t specify a location in their search, we’ll calculate distance based on what we do know about their location.”

And prominence in this context refers to how well-known Google considers that business to be. This is perhaps the most complex of the local ranking factor categories, as search algorithms try to factor offline prominence into the equation, as well.

According to Whitespark’s ‘2021 Local Search Ranking Factors ’ survey, these are what local SEO experts believe are the top Local Pack ranking factors:

• GBP primary category.
• Keywords in the listing title.
• Proximity of the business address to the searcher’s location.
• Physical address in the city of search.
• Additional GMB categories.
• High numerical star ratings.
• Completeness of GBP listing.
• Quality and authority of inbound links to the associated domain.
• Keywords in native Google reviews.

What is a good local SEO strategy?

Lay a strong foundation with initial optimizations, then put systems in place to automate as much as you can going forward.

For example, reviews are important but getting more of them doesn’t have to be a chore. You can do simple things to encourage customers to leave them, such as placing cards like these on tables if you run a restaurant:

This is what I like to call passive local SEO. As long as you’re delighting your customers, your online reputation will grow on autopilot and rankings should improve.

Keep this idea in mind as you go through the rest of this?guide

Local SEO?tools

Let’s bring things to a close with a few local SEO tools you may find useful.

Google Business Manager

Google Business Manager , formerly Google My Business, is how you manage your Google Business Profile. Signing up for it is completely free and is something every local business owner should use.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console ?is a free tool for monitoring your website’s search performance. It tells you how much search traffic you’re getting, where it’s going, and what keywords it’s coming from.

Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker

Rank Tracker ?lets you track up to 10,000 keyword rankings for “regular” organic search by country, state, city, and even ZIP/postal code.

Ahrefs Link Intersect

Our?Link Intersect tool ?lets you find websites that link to multiple competitors. This is useful for finding relevant local and industry-specific citations.

Grid My Business

Grid My Business ?shows map pack ranking positions for a keyword in the area around your business. It’s freemium and is useful for understanding if and where local searchers are likely to see your business.

Yext

Yext ?is a tool for syncing and managing business information across multiple listings. It’s useful for keeping citations consistent, although you can do this manually.

Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner ?is a free keyword research tool from Google. It’s a useful source of search volume ranges at the local?level.

What are local SEO services?

The top local SEO services that you might be considering outsourcing to an agency partner or consultant include:

• Website localization?
• Local content creation
• Local link building
• Google Business Profile setup and optimization
• Google Business Profile Posts management
• Google Business spam fighting
• Building local citations
• Managing local citations
• Reputation management?
• Monitoring local search rankings
• Local search audit
• Keyword research

1. Localizing Your Website

Localizing your website is the process of incorporating the name of your city, county, state, or region naturally throughout your site content, including the footer and contact page, as well as in key parts of your website’s metadata (such as page titles, H1 headers, and meta descriptions).?

This process tells search engines a lot about which local search results your website should appear in. This is important as it helps to establish the relevance of your website for local search results.

Multi-business locations shouldn’t localize the main site for a specific location. Instead, individual location pages (or store pages) should be created. These pages are then localized for their own surrounding area. Each location page should also use the location keyword in its URL structure.

2. Local Content Creation

To further develop your site’s localization standing and improve on-page optimization, creating useful, relevant, and locally focused content on a regular basis is a must. Good quality content can also attract inbound links, which further boosts online visibility and business prominence.?

One way to do this is to create content hubs to sit around your location pages. This means creating content related to the local area, such as listing upcoming local events, collating a director of local businesses, and sharing local news and views.?

If you run an estate agency, for example, you could create a ‘moving guide’ content hub for your local area to help any clients planning a move. Here you could share a range of helpful content such as a list of local medical centers, the best local restaurants, how to navigate public transport, the top 5 gyms, a guide to flexible office spaces, and local holiday events.?

3. Local Link Building

Obtaining local links ?is an important part of local SEO. A longstanding?local SEO ranking factor , links also help your site to be more visible online and provide new discovery routes for local consumers.?

Link building for a local business will often involve outreach, engagement, and participation with?the local community . Local links can come from a wide range of sources, including local media outlets, local chambers of commerce and business groups, directory sites, community groups, and even other local businesses.

Related:?How to Master Local Link Building ?– Free Online Course

Identifying potential sites to?get a local link ?and reaching out to prospects is time-consuming. However, a good local SEO agency or consultant should have a range of local link building tactics up their sleeve, whether that be by creating useful content, sponsoring an event, contributing to the community, or helping out with a local charity.

Link building also ups the prominence of your business and can add credibility and authority to your brand.

4. Google Business Profile Setup and Optimization

Google Business Profile information is used to populate local search results, the Local Pack, and Maps so claiming your business listing and keeping it fully optimized is a core aspect of any local SEO strategy. Google Business Profile signals feature heavily in the top 15 most influential?local SEO ranking signals , with importance also increasing year on year.?

Profile setup is also key to the wider success of your local business, with Google?data ?confirming that:

• Local consumers are 2.7% more likely to view your business as reputable if the Google Business Profile is complete
• 50% more likely to make a purchase and?
• 70% more likely to visit your location.

Many of the features built into the?Google Business Profile ?(including?Q&As ,?Google Posts , and?Google Reviews )?provide the local search user with useful information before they even consider visiting your website.?

This information is visible directly from the local search results page so can influence a search user’s opinion of the business and inform what they know about products and services even if they don’t click through to visit the local business website.

5. Google Business Profile Posts Management

Google Business Posts ?are the local search version of social media updates. These short updates offer a way to share news, events, offers, and company announcements with local consumers.?

Using Posts means:

• Local search users have more information about your business
• They can easily access product announcements and special offers directly from local search
• You can engage local consumers with timely information and locally themed content
• You can promote your special offers, sales, and discounts within the local search results
• Offer a better customer experience with easy access to the most up-to-date information about your business
• Share engaging images and videos to capture the search user’s attention

You can see how Posts appear in the local SERP below. There they are in the bottom right: