Local SEO marketing is the practice of optimizing your online presence so search engines surface your business to customers in a specific geographic area. It combines profile listings, keyword targeting, review signals, and link building to help a local company outrank nearby competitors in search results and map packs.
Start by listing your business accurately on local review sites such as Google Business Profile, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook to expand the reach of its local presence.
What does keyword research look like for local SEO?
Keyword research means finding the terms searchers use to locate businesses like yours online. For local SEO, keyword research adds a location modifier so your services appear when someone searches in your locality.
Understanding your target audience’s search intent is the key to conducting successful local keyword research. Put yourself in their shoes and imagine which queries they would use to describe your products or services, then use keyword tools such as Autosuggest, related searches, or Google’s own search bar to surface more terms.
Place these keywords in your website content, business profile, social media posts, image captions, and blog titles where they fit naturally.
How does competitor analysis fit into local SEO?
Local SEO depends on keywords and content creation. Writing high-quality posts about local events, landmarks, and businesses, combined with SEO-friendly keyword use, helps your company make an impressionful presentation to potential customers in your local community and signal relevance for search queries.
Reviews play an integral part in local search ranking factors. ReviewTrackers research found that 88% of consumers rely on business information sites such as Google, Facebook, Yelp, and Tripadvisor as sources for reviews and recommendations when researching businesses online.
Finding competitors in local search is more complex than in general SEO because campaigns are limited by location. You can learn more about local competitive analysis by downloading our free ebook compiled by SEOs from all around the globe, which contains a list of local ranking factors.
What on-page optimization steps matter for local SEO?
Local SEO helps a business or service-area company stand out from competing businesses on Google within its geographic region. The same strategies apply as in traditional SEO, with a few extra considerations.
Keep your NAP (name, address, and phone number) information consistent across all online platforms and directories. Target long-tail keywords aimed specifically at your products or services.
Build reviews on Google and consumer sites such as Yelp so search engines better understand who and what your business is, which helps your ranking in local packs and maps results. Our Position Tracking tool monitors your local keyword rankings down to the ZIP code level.
What counts as off-page optimization locally?
Local SEO has become an increasingly important strategy for businesses that serve a specific geographical area, such as hair salons, air conditioning companies, and restaurants. It involves optimizing an online presence to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) through a mix of on-page and off-page techniques.
Off-page optimization covers any activities outside your website that affect its rank, such as optimizing your Google My Business profile, building NAP citations, claiming listings on review websites, and encouraging customers to leave positive reviews.
Engaging on social media is another effective off-page strategy, helping search engines recognize that your content is valuable while earning more links back to your site. Stick to best-practice link building and steer clear of unorthodox techniques.
Which link building tactics work for local markets?
Local SEO link building focuses on opportunities that resonate with local markets, which is especially useful for small businesses.
Claiming your Google Business Profile is one effective strategy. Doing so gives your business a backlink from Google and increases the chance that it appears in the three-pack search results.
Customer reviews and testimonials also help boost local visibility, which supports search rankings and ties into the Rule of 7 (where it takes seven brand impressions before someone decides to take action).
Look for opportunities in local press, such as websites that cover restaurants in your area, and ask to be included.
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