What is local SEO?

Local SEO is optimizing your online presence to become more visible in local search results on Google. The purpose of this is to get your business noticed by potential customers in your immediate area. By using local keywords, Google Maps and local business listings strategically, you increase your chances of appearing at the top of local organic results. This is important for any business that has a physical location or serves a specific local market.

Why is local SEO important?

Local SEO is very important because it helps businesses be visible to local audiences at the time they are searching for relevant products or services. A good local SEO strategy increases the chances of both online and physical visits.

Who is this of interest to?

Local SEO is important for various types of businesses. Physical stores, a service company that works on location or if you organize events in a specific region. It is also crucial for businesses with multiple locations to be easily findable in each area. Statistics from Google show that:

• 46% of all searches have a local search intent
• As many as 76% of users who search locally visit the website within 24 hours
• 28% of those users actually end up buying something.

This emphasizes the importance for businesses to be highly visible locally.

Companies with multiple branches

If you run a business with multiple locations, you know how important it is to be visible in each of those areas. That’s exactly where local SEO shows its value. It ensures that each location is found separately in local organic results. This means that if someone searches for what you offer near one of your locations, they can quickly find your business. This is super important because it not only increases your visibility, but also gives you the opportunity to connect with your customers locally. This increases the likelihood of them visiting your facility.

Area service companies

For service companies that offer their services in specific areas, such as plumbers, cleaning services or roofers, a local SEO strategy is highly recommended. It helps your business appear to people in your service area who are looking for what you have to offer. This means that when someone has a leaky faucet and Google asks for help, your business comes up as one of the first options in the organic search results. And because you operate locally, chances are you can respond faster than someone who has to come from further away. That’s a win-win for you and your client.

Physical stores

Do you have a physical store? Then local SEO is your best friend to attract foot traffic to your store. It makes it easy for people who are in the area and searching for products you sell to find you. Imagine someone is looking for a new coffee machine and your store appears at the top of Google. Chances are they will walk in to you instead of looking further. This is the power of being found locally. It brings customers directly to your door.

Local events

Do you organize events at the local level? Then you know how important it is to be visible in the local community. Local SEO helps with this by making sure your event is easy to find for people interested in what’s going on in their area. Are you organizing a music festival, art exhibition or neighborhood market? By optimizing your event for local searches, you increase the chances that people will find it and decide to stop by.

Tips for making your website visible locally

Reflect your location in your content

First, have relevant local search terms reflected in the content of your pages. Want to be found on the search term: internet agency Tilburg. Then place this, in your URL, meta title, meta descriptions, in your headings and in the running text. This marks the start of optimizing your local SEO.

Have your NAP reflected on your pages

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. It is important that this information be consistent across your entire online presence, from your website to your social media profiles to local business listings. This helps search engines (and people!) confirm that they have the right information about your business, which in turn contributes to your local findability.

Obtain local backlinks

Backlinks, or external links to your website, are golden for your local findability (local link building). When local businesses, newspapers or even bloggers link to your website, it shows search engines that you are an authority. Establish relationships with other local business owners and see where you can support each other with backlinks. This is not only good for your local SEO, but also builds valuable networks within the region.

Optimize your GMB profile

Your Google My Business(GMB) profile is your digital shop window in Google and on Google Maps. Make sure your profile is fully completed, with up-to-date information about your hours of operation, services, and, of course, your location. Also add new photos regularly and respond to reviews. An active and complete GMB profile increases your visibility in Google, but also gives potential customers a good first impression of your company.

Your GMB profile is also displayed in some special Google products. These are the Local 3 Pack, the Local Finder and Google Maps. The ranking within these products is based on your profile and is completely independent of your website.

Local 3 pack

Local 3 Pack shows the three highest-rated GMB profiles with their locations. Filters allow you to further fine-tune to your personal preferences, such as a certain number of stars or specific opening hours. For example, if you search: internet agency Tilburg, Google shows several local results such as:

Local Finder

Would you like to look at more than the first three options? Then click on “more companies” at the bottom of the Local Pack and you will be taken to the Local Finder. You will then also see the other IMPs to which your search term applies.

Google maps

Also, you can do local searches can also be done through Google Maps. This otherwise works in much the same way as the Local Pack and Local Finder, but you will find results from a larger area. Consequently, the list of search results is a lot more extensive. By clicking on the right filters, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.

Optimize your structured data

Structured data (or schema markup) is a way to give search engines more context about your Web site content. By using structured data for your local findability, you make it easier for search engines to correctly interpret and display this information in search results. This gives your local SEO a big boost as it improves your visibility in search results.

One way to achieve this is to add the LocalBusiness schema to your SEO plugin. You can do this in Rank Math’s schema tab. When you combine this with the Organization schema, it helps search engines understand the location and local relevance of your business. This increases your chances of being visible in local search results and on Google Maps, which naturally helps attract local customers.

Are you a customer or looking to become a customer of 2manydots? Then we take this entirely upon ourselves. Read more about this on our Resultsmatter page!

Outsource to a one specialist?

Want to improve your local search results? Sometimes it is smart to call in experts, and that is certainly the case with local SEO. It can get quite complex, and the rules are constantly changing. 2manydots specializes in local SEO and is happy to help you optimize your local findability. We make sure your business is found by the people who matter: your local customers.

Are you ready to boost your local visibility and beat your local competitors? Contact us today to discuss your options.