What Is Local SEO And How It Works?
As you already know about SEO, local SEO is one of its kind. There are many SEO techniques and each have a sole purpose, to make the ranking and user experience better. However, local SEO targets the specific area instead of general ranking.
Let’s look into it in a bit of detail.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a series of strategies that are devised to improve the ranking and visibility in the local searches. Website owners opt for local SEO to make their website show up in the searches that are made near their location or a specific region.
For instance, if anyone searches ‘restaurants near me’ or ‘best places London’ then the person gets the result that falls into these categories or marked with a location tag. Local or small businesses prioritise local SEO because it helps them to get noticed locally and get customers.
How it work?
Local SEO works just like any other Google search. When you write any keywords in the search bar, Google goes through its index and brings up the best-matched results. However, in the case of local SEO, Google uses a different ranking factor that aside from a usual search algorithm.
In local SEO, there are ranking factors that are used to filter out the searches and bring the best-matched result that a user is looking for. These includes:
- Search location
- NAP citations
- Google My Business listing
- Local intent keywords
- Online reviews and keywords used in them
- Check-ins of the location
- Social media engagement
- Google Maps star rating and reviews
These collectively help your website to rank higher in local searches when the keywords related to your business is used. Google thoroughly go through each ranking signal and sort out the best-matched result for you.
Why is local SEO important?
Local SEO has a huge impact on local businesses. When people look for specific services or products they want the results that have a location near them or in their region. They use words like ‘SEO agency in Leicester’ or ‘digital marketing company London’ or ‘great restaurant place near me’ etc to have filtered results. According to Google, around 46% or more searches are ‘local intended’ meaning people look for nearby places. Whereas 29% of search results have local packs for better user experience.
If you want to make your business known then implementing local SEO is the crucial part. It is revealed through Google stats that 79% of users that search about a certain place visits it on the same day or following days. If your content does not have local intent keywords then you are missing out big on potential customers. Therefore, if your content is properly optimised with local SEO tactics then you will see a visible increase in profit.
Who benefits most from local SEO?
Local SEO is beneficial for everyone that is looking for growing their business in the locality. However, there are some business categories that benefit the most if they implement local SEO on their websites. These areas include:
Restaurants: They receive the most benefits from local searches. People every time look for the best eatery places to visit in town and rely on reviews they find online. If they have a strong online profile then it is guaranteed that they will have profitable sales.
Medical professionals: On the second number, medical professionals such as doctors, consultants and nurses are most looked up in the search engines. If anyone has a medical emergency and needs a medical practitioner in the nearby area then they go to Google to find them easily.
Lawyers: Local SEO makes it easy to look up the lawyers with direct phone call number and address direction. Thanks to the advanced algorithm, it has become easy to find lawyers or firms online and has benefited them too greatly.
