Although the concept of local search has existed since the invention of search engines, it's only more recently with the growth of mobile internet access that it has become an increasingly important part of your overall search engine optimisation strategy. When people were tethered to a desktop computer, local search wasn't so important, but now we're all mobile, we're more likely to be searching for goods and services near to our location. In fact, nearly 30% of all mobile searches relate to location.

Whilst 'traditional' Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising a website to achieve high rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) for a specific set of keywords or phrases, and targets a national audience, local SEO aims to improve search rankings for local search queries specific to a particular geographic area or region.

More specifically, local SEO seeks to optimise a business's visibility in the unpaid, location-based search results on Google Search, Google Maps, and other search engines, including Bing and Duckduckgo. We've all searched for local services by typing something like "local garages near me", and the companies with the best local SEO will find their Google Business Profiles ranking higher than their local competitors for such searches. As an added bonus, local SEO can also boost your website’s rankings in the standard search results too.

Why local SEO is important

Most search results are personalised based on the user’s country. Local SEO refines the search results even more and focuses on reaching people in specific locations, including towns, cities and counties. Localised SEO like this benefits those businesses with physical premises (including restaurants, dentists, and garages) as well as local service providers (including plumbers, window cleaners, and gardeners).

Local SEO is different from 'normal' SEO because Google uses different systems and criteria to rank local results.

Google shows local results when it thinks that a user is searching for local products or services in a specific location. Google is more likely to show local results for goods and services that are more likely to be supplied locally as well as if a search keyword specifies a location directly (for example, "garages in hertfordshire") or indirectly (for example, "garages near me").

Businesses with strong local SEO tend to rank highest for these sorts of keywords, making users more likely to discover and engage with them. Regardless of your business type or location, you can likely reach potential customers through search.

How does local SEO work?

Local SEO can lead to higher rankings in the search engines when people search with relevant local queries because it helps Google understand your business's location and offerings—and it can also enhance Google's perception of your business as trustworthy. When ranking businesses in Google Maps, Google considers the following:

Relevance: How well the business matches what the user is looking for
Distance: How far the user's likely location is from the business
Prominence: How well-known and well-reviewed the business is

How to optimise your website for local search

There are a number of techniques that you can employ to optimise your website for local search and improve your local rankings and local traffic.

Website content is a significant factor, just as it is in Google’s traditional search algorithm, so its important that you include content that's relevant to your locale. In some cases it may be advantageous to build local landing pages for each of your locations, especially if you're a multiple location business. These pages should include your business name, address and phone as well as optimised title tags, meta descriptions, and other SEO best practice techniques.

Additionally, location-based factors like having a business listing in Google My Business, local citations, and customer reviews are also taken into consideration in local search rankings and should be a part of your local SEO activities.

Local keyword research

Keyword research for local SEO involves finding search terms that people use when looking for local products and services. If your website is optimised to rank for these keywords, it can help to drive highly targeted local traffic to your website and increase the potential of bringing more customers.

To start compiling a short list of keywords people might use to find your business you can take a look at what your local competitors are doing and see how well they are ranking. Additionally by performing a few local searches yourself, you can get pointers from Google's autocomplete function and it's 'people also ask' functionaility. These features predict search queries partly dependent on your location and allows you to discover valuable long-tail keywords for local SEO.

Optimise your Google business profile

Your Google Business profile is a free listing that can appear in Google search results. Ensuring that your profile is properly completed, is fully accurate and optimised increases the likelihood of your business ranking highly when potential customers search for relevant keywords and phrases, making them more likely to visit your website or contact you. Add and/or verify your Business Profile to begin—and thoroughly complete the profile. Your Google Business profile should list details including:

• Business name and address
• Telephone number
• Contact information
• Opening hours
• Photos and videos
• Products and services offered
• Attributes (e.g. free Wi-Fi, outdoor seating, etc.)

Keep your business profile active

An active business profile shows Google and your visitors that your business is thriving and engaged, which can improve rankings and attract more customers. Keeping your business details updated is one of the best ways to stay active and ensure users have accurate and comprehensive information. You can also post more regular updates including news, special events, image updates, and offers.

We'll discuss the importance of customer reviews in more detail later, but asking customers for Google reviews and responding to them is another useful part of maintaining an active business profile. The number of reviews that your business receives, as well as high ratings, helps your overall ranking in local search.

The importance of NAPs

NAPs are your business's Name, Address and Phone number and it's important that they are accurate and consistent in any citations or online mentions of your business. NAPs also typically appear in business directories and social media profiles. Google may use them to verify that your business information is accurate and trustworthy, so its important that they are up-to-date and correct. Conflicting phone numbers, out of date address details and inconsistencies in your business name will all count against you. The more Google finds consistent NAP citations for your business, the more confident it becomes that your business is legitimate and reliable.

• Keep all your citations 100% consistent (same name, address, and phone number)
• Submit your information to popular directories in your local area and industry
• Submit NAPs to other search engines and platforms such as Apple Maps, Yell, Bing Places, and Facebook

Online reviews

Reviews are not only a great way to boost your local SEO, but also provide visitors with valuable "social proof", validation of your expertise, and help to instill confidence in potential customers. What's more reviews on Google are not only visible in search results, but they also have an influence on your search engine rankings. Gathering reviews on other dedicated review platforms such as Trustpilot or Feefo can also be useful as they bring valuable in-bound links to your website.

• Ask customers to leave reviews on your preferred platforms
• Encourage online reviews in your promotional materials
• Include review forms on your website that make it quick and easy to leave a review
• Request a review at the bottom of your email newsletter

Refine on-page SEO

On-page SEO seeks to optimise web pages to rank higher in organic search results by including keywords in title tags and meta-descriptions as well as within the actual content of the page. In-page optimisation is essential for local SEO as good organic rankings improve your chances of appearing in the local search listings. On-page optimisations include adding local keywords to your existing title tags and meta descriptions, including location information within your website content, adding specific location pages to your website that focus on local services and using internal linking wherever relevant.

Optimise your website for voice search

Voice search acounts for over 55% of local business searches which is unsurprising given the proliferation of smart speakers and other voice search technologies. With this surge in popularity of voice search devices, you really must optimise your local search for voice searches. The way people search through voice search devices is quite different to the way they search using a keyboard, as they are more likely to use slang terms and pose their search queries as questions. It’s essential to think about the way people phrase their searches through voice and adapt your local SEO accordingly. When you create local SEO content, you should include keywords that users use verbally to find your business.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that connect to you, providing your website with authority and giving strong ranking signals to Google's search algorithm. Getting links from websites that are relevant to yours helps increase your chances of ranking higher for your keywords. Link-building strategies including broken link building, asking local businesses for links, sharing stories with other websites and getting listed in local directories can all help with your local search engine optimisation.