What Is Local SEO & Why Local Search Is Important

Want a local audience to find your business online? Then you need to understand local SEO. Here's how to make local search work for you.

Local search engine optimization is a branch of SEO that focuses on optimizing a website to be found in local search results.

Local search encompasses all those nifty search terms that scream local, such as:

• Salons near me
• Best Dentist near me
• Builders in [Belfast or Liverpool or whatever location you're situated]
• Doctors in [Belfast etc]

In a nutshell, local SEO is a strategic process that focuses on emphasizing the optimization efforts of local brick-and-mortar businesses.

Content, on-page optimizations, and link building all with a focused, localized intent are part of these efforts.

The focus changes, however, when it comes to acquiring localised links.

The focus changes to make sure all potential local signals across Google’s local search landscape are consistent and correct.

If they are not, or you accidentally provide different information for the same business, you could potentially experience situations where your local results display something different than what was intended. Not a good idea and this is where your competitors who do it right have the upper hand.

Why Local Search Is Important

• 50% of people who did a local search on their phone went to a physical store within 1 day. "pretty awesome if you can get it right" "Mobile searches account for up to 70% of searches now depending on the industry but well get into that in another article.
• 34% who did their search on a computer or tablet did the same.
• 18% of local mobile searches lead to a sale within one day. So let's do the maths there, say 1000 people searched today for Fencing near me that meant today 180 of them will buy from whom they found. Is that you they are buying from or your competitor??
• 50% of searchers on their mobile phones who conduct local searchers are looking for things like a local business address. This is why your online reputation and details are vital as people are looking for what you do but if your not found how can you offer them your services.
• 1 in 3 searches on a smartphone was conducted just before arriving at a store.

What Are the Important Parts of Local SEO?

When it comes to local SEO, it isn’t all that different from organic SEO – keyword research, content, links, and on-page technical SEO. It just has a local focus.

These elements are important to get right for your website and its industry overall in order to outperform the competition in the SERPs.

When optimizing for local search, however, these parts contain more of a local focus that focuses on searches people are performing in the immediate area surrounding the business (e.g., local city names).

Keyword Research

Keyword research for local SEO has not changed all that much, although some aspects are a little bit different.

Now, statistics show that people have more access to devices like smartphones, Amazon Echo, and Google Home. These devices pave the way for voice search to be one of the primary avenues of executing local searches. It won't happen naturally you need to make sure your optimised for voice searches.

It’s easier to say “find a doctor near me” or “find a plumber near me” for most people than it is to type. Thus, it isn’t surprising to see a rise in local queries based on conversational voice search.

If your industry is service-oriented, try out keyword variations that include questions.

This is an excellent way to target keywords that have local intent, thus improving your chances of converting more clients, intent marketing has a high conversion rate than say stimulative marketing (eg Facebook, social media, etc).

If your industry is a local brick-and-mortar, service-related business, like a restaurant or a Solicitor or Salon, try keyword variations that have a conversational tone and focus.

You may be surprised by the search volume you can achieve when you do keyword research in this way.

The Importance of Content to Your Local SEO Efforts

Content with a local focus has significant importance on local SEO efforts.

Depending on your industry, content with local focus, depth, breadth, and knowledge tends to do well.

However, just writing long-form content won’t necessarily always produce the best results.

It all depends on the nature of the results of your query, and whether this content fits the user intent behind the query the best. It’s not about whether it has the highest word count for the query.

Writing custom local content with all of these factors will help you achieve the quality content Google wants to return for certain local results.

What should you not do when it comes to content?

Wikipedia-type content is the worst type of content you could write.

You know the kind. The kind that quotes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or city guides data that is available everywhere on Wikipedia.

The reason why this is the worst type of content is that not only is the content usually thin, the value that it brings, and the value of the research put into the content is usually just as thin.

Thin content adds little value to your SEO efforts.

Local SEO Links

For local SEO, links are a little bit different than organic SEO.

First, you must consider Google’s Webmaster Guidelines when acquiring all links. You don’t want your link acquisition efforts to result in a penalty or being put on the naughty step from Google.

If you build links that violate any of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, Google will eventually detect them. The next thing you know, your entire website could disappear from the organic search results. Not cool at all :-(.

A Brief Primer on Local SEO Link Categories

In local SEO, there are various link categories that make up a quality local SEO link profile. These include:

• Citation / NAP sites.
• Local directory websites.
• Industry-related local sites.
• Local partner sites.
• The local chamber of commerce sites.
• Local newspaper sites.

This all seems very complicated, I know but so is hanging a door or fitting a window if you don't know how too. Thankfully we have plenty of experts here at Media City NI to help you through the minefield that is local SEO and general Digital marketing.

Contact us for a price for Design, Print, Web development & SEO