What is local SEO and how does it work?

Discover how Google works for local sites with this local SEO guide, start optimizing your website for local search results and grow your business.

Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that helps your business become more visible in local search results on Google.Any business that has a physical location or serves a geographic area can take advantage of local SEO.

 

If you search Google for any important keyword related to your business and a map with three results appears below it (also known as a map pack), local SEO can help you grow your business.But, to understand local SEO, you first need to know how Google works.

How did search engines evolve?

In the early days of the internet, there were relatively few websites, so browsing the web was easy.

 

When the Internet began to grow, search engines were created to help users more easily find the sites they were looking for.If you typed a phrase into a search engine, it was connected to websites that included the keywords in your phrase.

 

Google used this same approach, but quickly overtook the rest of the search engines by becoming the first to use

 

cross-site links

 

as an indication of which websites were trustworthy and authoritative.Today, Google analyzes hundreds of factors both inside and outside your website to determine if it is relevant to display as a

 

search result.

 

These factors form your "fingerprint" and each factor has a different weight or value, which the search engine combines to return results.

 

Your digital footprint determines whether you are a highly relevant result for the searches that users enter into Google.

How does Google work?

When you type a search into Google, it checks the pattern of various website signals, or ranking factors, such as your site's relevance, to return a list of sites that match your search.Most people don't realize that Google isn't doing a live search of the entire internet every time someone types something into the search bar.

 

It actually searches a stored copy of all the sites that Google has discovered.

 

This copy is called the Google index.In order to form the index, Google uses small programs called "spiders" to crawl the web.

 

All spiders work in the same way: starting from a page, they track its links, examine the content of the following pages, etc.As web content is crawled, it is stored on Google servers and the index is created.

 

Spiders operate at an incredible scale, constantly crawling billions of pages at a lightning-fast pace.

 

This ensures that the index is as up-to-date as possible and that new sites and connections are discovered quickly.

How Google ranks search results

Google uses several processes to rank hundreds or thousands of sites in the blink of an eye.

 

These processes are called algorithms.

 

When you search for something on Google, an algorithm checks the index and returns a list of websites that match your search in organic results.

 

These results are selected and classified based on their relevance, importance and popularity, based on the links that direct to them.The algorithm analyzes various on- and off-site factors to determine which websites contain something related to your search.

 

All relevant sites are added to the list, which is then ranked by importance.

 

Once again based on the same on-site and off-site factors, the algorithm determines which sites best respond to your search and these are listed at the top of the search results.Improving your SEO influences the relevance, importance, and link popularity of your website.

 

By optimizing the right elements of your site's digital footprint, your site will appear higher in search results.

Local SEO is a different pattern

What happens to local organic search results?

 

After analyzing user behavior across billions of searches, Google realized that people searching for certain types of businesses need results in their area.

 

That's why Google's local search algorithm includes a proximity factor, which is a fancy way of saying that Google takes your location into account when you search for a local keyword (a query with local intent).

 

This happens even if you don't include a city name or "near me" in your search.Imagine that you are working and you want them to bring you a pizza to eat.

 

If you type "pizza delivery" into Google, local

 

SERPs (search engine results pages)

 

will display a list of locations near your office.But if you try to do the same search at home, you will get completely different results.

 

Makes sense, considering you need pizza delivered from somewhere nearby.Local search has been around for years, but it was limited to people using their desktop computers.

 

With the recent growth in mobile internet access, mobile search has exploded, so local SEO has become enormously important to the success of any business offering local products or services and for any local marketer.

What is important in local SEO

What does this mean for search markets?

 

While the Local Map Pack appears within standard Google search listings, Google Search Top Results for Local Rankings and Local Map Pack results are powered by separate algorithms.

 

As a local business, you have the ability to appear in the top organic search results and the local map pack at the same time.If you are new to

 

online marketing for your business, one of the main challenges is knowing what you should focus on to make your business as effective as possible.Marketing analytics

 

software company

 

Moz annually releases its

 

Local Search Ranking Factors survey, which includes the top 35 to 40 SEO experts globally.

 

Their results provide the best information on what factors influence local search visibility.Localized content and local link popularity are factors, just like Google's traditional search algorithm, so it's important to build local landing pages for each of your locations, especially if you're a business. multi-location, where you should include not only your business name, but also information such as your address and telephone number, as well as optimize your title tags, meta descriptions, and follow SEO best practices.

 

You should also take this into account in your

 

content marketing

 

and link building strategy.Additionally, location-based factors such as having a business listing on

 

Google My Business, local citations from data aggregators, and reviews (which should be posted by your local customers) are also factored into local SEO rankings. , and therefore you should also take them into account in your local SEO strategy.It is also important to note that there are SEO tools dedicated to local search that can help you develop SEO audits at the local level, from developing keyword studies focused on your local audience, creating citations, managing lists of Google My Business, business profile and Google posts, and even monitor whether you appear in local packs.Website content

 

is

 

an important factor, just like in Google's traditional search algorithm, but location-based factors like

 

Google My Business,

 

citations, and

 

reviews

 

are also included.

Get started with SEO

Now that you have a better understanding of the basics of SEO and how Google ranks local search results, you can start focusing on signals that improve your site's digital footprint in the local search ecosystem.

 

This way, your business can appear higher on the results page, which can lead to more potential customers finding your business.There are many factors that influence your visibility in these searches, but keep in mind that local search continues to grow and change.

 

To stay up to date on signals that are gaining or losing importance, you can check out Moz's annual survey and create your playbook.

 

Once you start improving important signal areas, you will be able to serve more people in your geographic region and grow more.