What is Local SEO?

Does your business need SEO? Does it specifically need local SEO? If you’re not sure of the answer then read on to find out what is local SEO and what its benefits are. I’ll explain which factors go into ranking your business locally too. Plus, how you can improve your chances of ranking in the local economy.

What is Local SEO?

First, it’s good to establish what is SEO?, the umbrella topic local SEO falls under. SEO is about helping Search Engines (SEs) understand your website, the content you’ve added to it and whether they should present it to searchers who are using their services. Local SEO encompasses the same goal but the focus is on reaching those local to your business.

What are the benefits of Local SEO?

Local SEO may be a tactic you want to pursue if:

• Your service area has a specific geographic limit.
• The business is a brick and mortar store.
• You simply want to target a particular location.

Here’s why it’s beneficial for these types of businesses.

Improve Local Visibility

A key goal of SEO is improving your website’s visibility in SEs. Local SEO improves that visibility at a local level. When a customer is searching for a product or service that SEs flag as being location related, the business with better local SEO is going to show up more readily. Here are some examples for both geographically determined services and shop locations.

• An example of a business with a geography limit could be an electrician. Anyone looking for a domestic electrician will usually Google something along the lines of ‘electrician {insert city or town}’, or ‘electrician near me’. In this case, SEs will want to match the company to the searcher based on location. A homeowner in Aberdeen isn’t going to want an electrician based in Essex after all.
• For a local store, let’s use the example of a bike repair store. A cyclist with a puncture may Google on their mobile, ‘bike repair {city or town}’ or ‘bike repair near me’. They may not be from the area, but local results will show them exactly what they need when they need it. This local visibility is vital to capture customers that are at the right stage of the buying process.

Local SEO works by offering more relevant links to location-specific searches.

Encourage Action

As with the biking example in the section above, you can see that local search results will encourage more action. When location-specific wording is used, coupled with buying intention, SEs know that the searcher is further down the sales funnel than a generic search. Local search is more likely to result in:

• Visits to a website – A goal for all SEO and not just local.
• Looking at directions to the business – Maps and direction requests are significantly higher for local queries.
• Calls to the business – Having your telephone number front and centre on your website, or on Google My Business listing will increase calls for time-sensitive and location-based queries.
• Engagement with reviews – Another factor in local SEO, consumers are more likely to leave reviews for local businesses.
• Social media reach – While social media is not a direct SEO ranking factor, tagging posts with location information can boost reach and awareness in the right area.

Improves SEO Strategy as a Whole

Of course, any local SEO strategy should be part of an overarching SEO strategy. While optimising for local search may be a vital part of your business model, you must ensure other SEO bases are covered. Technical SEO, content marketing, off-page and on-page SEO should all be approached from a best practices view, but each can help develop and improve your local SEO plan. At the same time, having great local SEO rankings will naturally improve your website’s overall authority and rankings. This is great if you offer services and products nationally or globally, as well as in your local area.

Local Site Ranking Factors

So, now we know the benefits of local SEO, we can focus on what ranking factors go into its scoring.

Relevancy

The relevancy of search results is the core focus of SEs.They want to show their customers (the searchers) the most relevant websites and businesses on their search engine results pages (SERPs). Relevancy comes directly from the search, so your local SEO should focus on providing the most relevant answers to the most common questions. Not to mention, it should be focused on the location, the most relevant aspect of local SEO.

Proximity

Proximity to the search is another key factor for local ranking. Once, again this will be dependent on the relevancy of the search. Proximity could be based on the keywords used in a search. But, they could also be based on the location data of the user. In the electrician example, if I Google ‘electrician’ with no other phrase, Google will still show me Sheffield based electricians because it knows where I am located. Local SEO relies on businesses accurately representing their location on their website, other websites like directory listings as well as apps and features like Google My Business.

Reviews

Whether Google, Facebook or Tripadvisor, reviews are a great way to show how awesome your business is. At the same time, they are a significant contributing factor to local ranking, especially in the case of SE reviews. Google, and other major SEs showcase reviews high up SERPS when a business is shown either in the Knowledge Panel, map results or some website listings. Not only are reviews good for SEO, but good reviews also show to users that you are a trusted and competent company.

Popularity

The popularity of your website is another indicator SEs look for when placing your website in local SERPs. This is true of SEO in general and is part of off-page SEO techniques. Popularity is based on the number and quality of links to your website. If you produce quality content on your website and this information is linked on other sites, you’ll be seen as having more authority by SEs. While not all links are created equally, if your website naturally attracts lots of links without paying for them, your local SEO ranking will certainly be improved.

How to Improve your Local SEO for Search

Now we know what SEs are looking for when it comes to local search, we can now look at the methods used to achieve better results in your local area. Local SEO tactics encompass on-page and off-page techniques as well as a general focus on keeping information relevant and up to date. Take a look at each of these areas to put a local SEO strategy into practice.

Optimise On-Page Content

I always like to start with on-page optimisation because your website is your most important asset. You can optimise on-page content for local search in several ways, but the first step is research. You need to understand what your local users are searching for before thinking of changing content. Keyword research is vital to establishing your plan of action and understanding your target audience will make updates to your site clear. Once you know what users are looking for you can implement some of these changes.

• Updating the metadata on your page to reflect local search keywords and location. This could be in both the title and meta description.
• Adding or refreshing content in line with local searches. Answering the questions people in your area are asking.
• Optimising images by updating titles, alt tags and geotagging them.
• Creating new pages or content that focuses on local searches.

Google My Business

The Google My Business service is essentially a free business listing which is displayed on Google SERPs in either the Knowledge Panel area or the Maps area. As a business, you are able to create a Business Profile at no cost. You will be able to manage it like any other profile, updating information about your business such as opening hours, contact information, links to the website as well as posting information updates and photos. There are many other additional features that can be modified as well for specific types of businesses. Plus, your Google reviews are displayed as part of your profile. Although, other reviews will also be featured such as Facebook and Tripadvisor.

All this information is useful to local searches who can find out about your company without leaving Google. Here’s why gaining and updating your listing is important for local SEO.

• It’s a ranking factor. Google can use this information to understand your website better and can help improve your site’s overall ranking.
• Google My Business acts as a high authority backlink to your site, improving your off-page backlink profile.
• Local searches will find your business quicker when it matches their intent. From Google, they are able to visit your website, but with a business profile they can call, email, get directions as well as other actions without leaving their search page.

Contact Information – Vital for Local SEO

The contact information of your website is a vital way you interact with potential customers. In SEO, the shorthand of these details is NAP, which stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. NAP is critical for businesses wishing to rank well in the local organic search results because search engines take this data into account when determining which organisations to show for geo-targeted searches. This is what you need to do to ensure NAP is working for you.

• First of all, make sure the NAP details are correct in every instance of them on your site. Consistency is important for practical reasons in terms of the phone and address. Yet, consistency is just as important for your name. Stick to one name to strengthen your brand.
• The next step is to ensure that your NAP is correct on any other websites or business listings, including Google My Business.
• A final note is on the location of NAP. It’s important from a UX perspective as well as an SEO standpoint to have your contact details in the footer and also have a separate ‘contact us’ page. Having NAP information in a header or upper header is also another good additional thing to add.

Quality Local Backlinks

As with Google My Business, a quality local backlink profile will improve your off-page domain authority. These are the things to ensure before adding a link to a directory or for guest blog posting.

• Does the site have a high domain authority?
• Is the site popular and visited by many users?
• Is their site kept up to date, has relevant info and works well?
• Will their audience appreciate a link to your websites? Remember that relevancy is key.

And most importantly, when looking at off-page local SEO you should be looking for websites that are specifically geared towards your local area.

Mobile Optimised for Local SEO

All websites should be optimised for mobile, but it’s particularly important for local SEO because those looking for a local service or product, are much more likely to be using their mobile. When you’re out and about and want to find something fast, most people will now flip out their smartphones. From using maps, finding an open bar, locating a shop for a last-minute gift, there are vast opportunities for local businesses to connect with thousands more users in a day. Key items to focus on are:

• The functionality of the site is correct for mobiles. You can do everything on the mobile that you can on a desktop.
• The design of the site works for mobile, with elements not hidden by smaller screen sizes and items like buttons able to be clicked with a thumb or finger.
• Quicker access to the most important local search options. Finding directions, opening times and being able to instantly call a business, are all key things to highlight on mobile.

Keeping Things Up To Date

The most important thing to do for your website, both for local SEO and your overall strategy, is to keep your website up to date. Users want to know that your business is active, and if your site doesn’t make it clear you are still operational, they’ll likely look elsewhere. These are the key ways you can capture their attention straight away and show you are here to serve them.

• Keeping blog or news areas up to date. Even if you are not able to consistently update a blog, just an article every month will indicate a site is active.
• Notices on your homepage, such as a dated popup for sales or notices are a quick way to highlight this.
• While not on your site, keeping your business listings up to date will ensure trust for your business.

Hire a local SEO Freelancer Near Me

I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and you’re ready to boost your local SEO strategy. However, if you find the process overwhelming or don’t have time to dedicate to it, let’s work together. I can provide local SEO freelance services in a consultancy or implementation capacity. Get in touch today for a chat and let’s see how we can grow your local business together.