SEO isn’t just for businesses that want to dominate search across the country (or world!). It’s also for those who want to be better seen in their local area. Restaurants and cafes, beauty salons, independent shops… these and many, many more businesses want to be found by local people.
Even larger businesses with a wider reach may still need to be visible in a more local area. A garden centre, for example, may ship plants and garden items across the country, but may also have a nursery where people can visit.
The point is that local search is a big driver for many businesses and, if local is part of your strategy, then you’ll want to make sure your SEO actions match.
Table of Contents
What is Local Search?
Local search is like any other kind of search, but it focuses on a much smaller geographical area, often within just a few miles of a physical location. It helps searchers find places nearby so they can either visit (like a restaurant or a garage), take part in a nearby event or activity, or obtain a service at their own home (such plumbing or plastering).
SEO Strategies for Local Search
Google Business Profile
Type in a local search on Google and you’ll either get a map listing relevant businesses and their locations, or you’ll see a box with details of one specific business. Sometimes you’ll see both.
These are visible thanks to Google Business Profiles, free listings that local businesses can create to share information about themselves. A Business Profile gives searchers snapshot details about a company, with handy information such as reviews, opening times and location. Users can then take further actions such as clicking through to a website or asking for directions.
A Google Business Profile not only helps your business show up in search and on maps, it’s visually appealing, so stands out against standard text-only listings. You can collect reviews, share images, advertise events and news, and much more. This is an essential tool for any small business wanting to improve their local SEO.
Read my in-depth guide to creating and building your Google Business Profile.
Bing Places
Remember that Google isn’t the only player in search. Though it’s by far the most popular, alternatives are seeing an increase in use. The second largest is Bing by Microsoft, and they offer a free feature called Bing Places with a number of features comparable to Google Business Profiles.
Although Bing doesn’t have nearly as many users as Google, it does cater for certain niche audiences and may be more popular in certain locations. The fact that it’s free and easy to set up – you can export information directly from Google if you already have a Google Business Profile – means there’s no real reason not to set up a profile for your business.
Keyword Targeting
Understanding the type of phrases your potential customers search is important for all SEO. But when it comes to local SEO, it’s vital to look at this more closely from a geographical standpoint. Users near a garden centre in land-locked Hertfordshire, for example, may be searching for different kinds of plants than users in coastal Northumberland. Understanding which kinds of searches are relevant to your local audience will help you create the right kind of content and target users in your area.
There are a number of tools available to help with local keyword research, including BrightLocal and Semrush’s local intent keyword filter. You can also take a manual route. Search a relevant phrase and see which similar local businesses appear at the top of search results. Take a look through their content to identify the words and phrases they use on their website.
Find out more about how to do keyword research and then how to incorporate it onto your website.
Website Location Details
Once you’ve done some local keyword research, it’s time to review the text on your website and add relevant phrases to your copy. The above guide will help you do this in a way that’s beneficial for your local SEO.
It’s also important that your website tells users where your business is based. You can do that by incorporating your service areas or physical location into the main body text of your site, by adding an address to the footer of your website, and/or by including location details on your contact page.
When adding locations to your site, it’s important to avoid using spammy techniques. Such black hat techniques include:
- listing dozens of areas on a page,
- creating identical pages for multiple locations, and
- excessive use of location names within your text.
Remember that search engines are very advanced now, and they can usually identify wider localities when you include just one or two of your main locations.
Local Listings and Directories
Backinks – or links from other sites to yours – can help improve your SEO. For local SEO, one way of doing this is by adding listings to local directories.
Some well-known national directories like Yell are a good place to start, and you can create a free or paid listing with your business details and location. It’s also worth researching more localised directories: does your village/town/city council or your local paper have one, for example?
Social Media
Social sites are a great way to connect with your local community. You can share information and updates, collect user experiences, tell people where you are, and much more.
If you have a social profile – whether that’s on Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok – make sure your profile includes your primary location. You can also boost your visibility in local search by mentioning your location in posts, sharing images and videos of the area, and engaging with other local businesses.
My guide on SEO for social media will help improve your social profiles.
Local Press Stories
If any notable stories can be shared about your business, then write a press release and send it to your local newspapers. They often won’t include a link to your website, but search engines can identify mentions of your business, even without a link, and this can help your SEO.
Small businesses can sometimes find it hard to come up with stories that will interest newspapers, and you don’t want to lose goodwill by bombarding journalists with unprintable stories. Good news is often a way to get in: milestones such as big business birthdays, long-term staff anniversaries, awards nominations and wins, celebrity visits, big contract wins, local community involvement… These are all fairly simple stories that could get you some valuable press coverage.
Local-Interest Blog Posts
If you have a blog on your website, then consider including local-interest stories (that are also relevant to your business). These can give you more opportunity to mention the areas you cover, provide your users with interesting stories, and refresh the content on your site – all good things for local SEO.
Follow SEO Best Practices
With all these locally-specific strategies, it’s still important to make sure that you follow SEO best practices across the board. These include correctly sizing your images, adding alt descriptions to all images, having a mobile friendly website, and keeping content relevant and up-to-date. Without a good SEO foundation, your local strategies won’t be as successful as they could be.
If you’re fairly new to SEO, then you can get started with the basics in my guide to SEO for beginners.
Conclusion
By starting with a strong SEO foundation, small businesses can target a more relevant audience by becoming more visible in local search. There are lots of strategies for doing this, including making use of free Google and Bing local profiles, incorporating local keyword research into copy, and looking for external opportunities across local directories, press and social media. If you’re a small business that offers services or sells products in a small geographical area, then local SEO can bring you plenty of success.
