It is the practice of optimizing local business visibility in the local search results. Key tasks include identifying relevant local keywords, optimizing a business’s Google Business Profile, and creating consistent NAP citations. These searches occur on many search engines, but local SEO focuses on optimizing for Google users.
Why local SEO is important
Imagine you’re a bridal boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina. A bride-to-be actively looking for ‘bridal boutique, Charlotte North Carolina’ is your ideal customer. However, the organic search results are populated by big-name brands such as directory sites, top 10 lists, and blogs. This makes it hard to compete and difficult to imagine a route for the bride to find her way to your store.
However, if you perform local SEO you’ll appear at the top of the search results, and in the Local Pack, with useful information such as opening times, your phone number and location, an image, and your five-star review rating. The bride-to-be can see you’re close by, offer a great service, and can easily plan a visit or call your store. You’re now in the running to make a sale.
How does local SEO work
Local SEO is a game of two halves because Google shows two types of search results for local searches. These are “map pack” results and organic “blue link” results. You can rank on both of them.
Map pack result
The map pack (aka local pack) is a Google SERP feature that shows the top local business listings and a map. It often appears at the very top of Google’s search results for local searches.
Organic search result
The “regular” organic search results are the “10 blue links” that we’re all familiar with. They usually appear below the “map pack” results.
Local SEO keyword research
Local SEO keyword research is the process of finding keywords people search for when looking for products, services, or amenities in their areas. Which tells you exactly what potential customers are searching for. If you rely on local business, that’s valuable information. Optimizing your pages for these keywords helps you:
- Enhance your visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs)
- Attract more organic traffic to your website
- Increase foot traffic and inquiries
- Boost sales
Map pack results
The map pack (aka local pack) is a Google SERP feature that shows the top local business listings and a map. It often appears at the very top of Google’s search results for local searches.
Organic search results
The “regular” organic search results are the “10 blue links” that we’re all familiar with. They usually appear below the “map pack” results.
Local SEO keyword research
Local keyword research is the process of understanding how people search for the local services you offer. It’s important because you want to optimize for what people search for. Let’s go through how to do this.
- Find service-based keywords
Most people don’t think about the different ways that others may search for what they do. For example, if you’re a plumber, some customers will find you by typing “plumber” into Google. But others will search for queries relating to specific services like “drain unblocking.”
For that reason, you should begin by brainstorming and listing the services you offer. This will help you maximize your presence for queries your customers are searching for. Here’s what that can look like for a plumber:
- Drain unblocking
- Boiler repair
- Boiler installation
- Boiler servicing
- Radiator installation
- Burst pipe repair
To expand this list, use the service keywords as “seeds” to find more services people are searching for. For example, if we plug the services above into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer and check the Matching terms report, we see keywords like:
- Gas boiler installation
- Combi boiler installation
- Electric boiler installation
- Matching terms report results
If you offer those services, consider targeting these keywords. Here’s another way to find “missed” keywords:
Plug a competing business into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, go to the Top pages report, and look for URLs that map to services
2 Check search volumes
Keyword research tools show you national search volumes. If you want search volumes for your state, city, or town, you’ll have to use Google Keyword Planner.
Unfortunately, the keyword has its issue. It Shows broad search volume ranges (e.g., 1K-10K), not absolute numbers. It groups keywords and shows a combined rounded search volume, This is probably the case whichever city we’re in, so it’s an excellent way to prioritize keywords.
3 Check for local intent
Local intent means that searchers want to shop nearby. If that isn’t the case for your services, it’s not a local SEO opportunity.
