Local SEO: 5-Minute Guide
Want people to find your store or office location online?
Well, you’re in the right place.
Local SEO – the branch of SEO that deals with local traffic – is the best way to get it.
And the good news?
Getting the basics of local SEO down is extremely simple.
In this 5-minute guide, we’ll go over local SEO basics: what it is, why you should work on it, and how you can get started.
So start your timer, and let’s dive in!
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the branch of SEO (search engine optimization) that deals with driving local traffic.
While traditional SEO (sometimes called national SEO) deals with ranking for high-traffic keywords related to your niche, local SEO deals with ranking for local keywords.
What’s a local keyword, you ask?
Local keywords are keywords with a location on them. Keywords like “tax preparer in Orlando” or “loan agency near me” are local keywords since they limit the search to a particular area.
Local SEO aims to drive foot traffic to your store or office organically.
With good local SEO, your website or GMB profile (we’ll explain this in a bit) will be the first to pop up whenever someone searches for “{your services} in {your location}.”
As such:
Why You Should Work on Local SEO
For the longest time, local stores and offices relied on things like a good location, referrals, and fliers to get customers.
But times have changed.
Take a look at millennials and Gen X. How do they find a place to eat or get their taxes done?
Google.
That’s why if your business isn’t showing up when they search, the people around you won’t find you!
And there’s nothing worse for local businesses.
That’s why working on local SEO is crucial if you have a local audience.
But what about ads?
Won’t a PPC campaign drive in local traffic faster?
Yes, it will. But this doesn’t mean it’s necessarily better than local SEO.
You see, local SEO is an evergreen strategy.
Once your local SEO is up and running, people will find your store for years and years to come.
It isn’t like ads where the moment you stop spending for it – people stop finding you.
What’s more, SEO is far less expensive than ads.
If you’re in a competitive market, then you will have to spend more to win (albeit a lot less than ads). But when it comes to the basics, you can get them up and running 100% free!
Local SEO is a strategy that’s super cheap (to get started) and super effective (even if you’re the small guy in a big town), so why wouldn’t you go for it?
How to Work On Local SEO
The basics are easy.
Very easy.
But if you find yourself in a tough spot – where there’s good competition all around you – you’ll have to take it a step further.
Let’s have a quick view at some of the basics and the advanced methods you can work on:
Google My Business
Almost every local SEO strategy begins by creating a Google My Business profile.
Having this is what allows you to appear on the map-pack, the little map box that pops up whenever you search for local keywords like “pizza restaurants in Philadelphia.”
How do you make a GMB profile?
It’s super easy.
All you have to do is head over to Google.com/business, put in your details, verify your address, and you’ll be good to go!
However, don’t stop there!
Citations
It’s one thing for Google to index your business. It’s another for them to put you on top of the map pack.
To get there, you’ll need citations.
Citations are anywhere on the internet where your business NAP (name, address, and phone number) appears.
The easiest place to get these is on directory sites like Yelp, Apple maps, Bing maps, or YellowPages.
These places allow you to go in and put your NAP for free.
For starters, signing up on big directory websites should be good enough.
However, if you’re in a competitive area, you’ll have to grab a tool like Yext to get your NAP on hundreds of good sites. And that can easily get very expensive for you.
Reviews
Then there are reviews.
Not only do positive reviews push your ranking up Google’s map-pack, but they’ll also paint a very good picture of your business for everyone doing some research on you.
Getting reviews on Google and Facebook are essential for every local business.
When it comes to restaurants, Yelp is also another critical place to get those stars.
Local Press
Next up, local press.
Local press is just what it sounds like. But instead of appearing in newspapers and magazines, you’re going after online newspapers and magazines.
Think of local blogs, local Facebook groups, local news websites.
Putting your name out on these channels is an excellent way for local businesses to work on digital pr.
Location Pages
There are plenty of advanced local SEO techniques you can explore that’ll help you dominate your location.
One of these is by creating location pages on your website.
If you have multiple stores or offices, creating a separate page for each of them will help you win more local keywords.
Those are just the primary ways to improve your local SEO.
For more advanced methods, talk with an SEO expert!
What Local SEO is NOT
Before we close, let’s just set your expectations straight.
Local SEO does NOT guarantee more sales for you.
At its core, all local SEO does is make more people aware of your business and location.
This is a HUGE step in getting more people to visit.
But to buy?
That’s in the hands of your customer service and the quality of your product.
Ready to Take on Local SEO?
And there it is!
Your quick, 5-minute guide to local SEO.
Of course, local SEO is a lot more complicated than just that.
You can check out our guides for tax preparers or short-term loan companies for a comprehensive look at local SEO for those niches.
But by now, you should know all the basics.
So go out there and start working on your local SEO!
