A wise Digital Marketer once said, “SEO begins at home”. Okay he didn’t, we made that up. But seriously though, when you start creating your SEO strategy, your best bet is to have a solid local SEO plan – so that’s what this section covers. Here you will learn about creating local content that matters, and how you can top the local business rankings for your area. We will also take a look at building local links and citations to complete your Local SEO strategy.

Local SEO is the process of carrying out local Search Engine marketing as a way to market your local business on the Internet. This process helps local and nearby customers navigate and discover local businesses in and around the places of their interest. Local SEO increases relevant web traffic, a website’s visibility, and generates revenue by connecting the local customers to businesses. 

The effectiveness of local SEO depends on keywords targeted to a specific industry and location, like the neighbourhood, ‘near me’, city names, regions, etc. 

Local SEO also includes factors like Google My Business, the proximity to users, and local directories which the traditional SEO method might not incorporate. Businesses that include local SEO in their strategy might be more likely to get customers to their websites and their local business locations.

How does local SEO differentiate from traditional SEO? 

Traditional SEO practices include using keywords, link building, site design, page speed, reputation management, and social media handles to help your website rank for the search queries on the search engines. On the other hand, local SEO includes targeting customers located in and around the business, using local keywords, reviews, local citations, and NAP data to target local customers.  

Although traditional SEO is important, it is important to make sure you include local SEO to target local customers. 

Importance of Local SEO

1. Local SEO helps build online visibility through activities like citation building 
2. Good visibility leads to more traffic and more customer service and ultimately more sales.
3. Local SEO-optimising your website provides an increase in search traffic and traffic relevant to your business. 
4. Enhance Google Maps visibility of your business by optimising your Google My Business profile.
5. Local content writing and link-building can improve your website’s relevance.