Guide to Building a Local SEO Strategy for Your Business

Gain a competitive advantage by prioritizing a local SEO strategy.

Whether you already have an online presence or are just getting started, you should be prioritizing local visibility, especially in relation to your competitors. Even a site with relatively strong search engine results may not appear as high as it should in localized searches, such as “X companies in Boston.”

Your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is key to addressing this issue and getting ahead of your competition. In a recent survey by Gartner, 59% of respondents say they use SEO as part of their marketing initiative.^[1] But localizing your SEO strategy can give you an even greater advantage. 

For one, when users enter a local region in their search, such as the name of a city, state, or town, your site is more likely to pop up in the results. You also gain an advantage over your competition that may not have localized their SEO. In addition, by using local SEO, you can gain greater exposure to people searching on phones and other mobile devices.

What is local SEO?

Local search optimization refers to optimizing your online presence so you have greater visibility in a specific region. In many cases, local SEO best practices involve targeting users that live or work in a specific area, such as your business’s physical location.

A local SEO strategy can provide a distinct advantage for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) because you can use it to gain greater traction with people who already have easy access to your services.

The best local SEO strategy can make you one of the top choices for people searching in your local area—even if they don’t specifically indicate the region in their search. This is because search engines often use a searcher’s physical location to provide the most relevant results. So by localizing your SEO, your business benefits from the geolocation features of search engines.

Why is local SEO important?

Local SEO is important because it gives you a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting local customers to your products or services. It’s especially important for brick-and-mortar business marketing because it boosts visibility in local searches, especially when it comes to:

• Business listings

• Business ratings

• Reviews

• Local content

• Searches that feature the term “near me”

Tips for optimizing your local SEO strategy

What is the most effective strategy for local SEO? While the steps you take will depend on your business, you can build a strong foundation for your local SEO plan by using the following tips.

1. Register and optimize your Google My Business profile

By registering and then optimizing your Google My Business profile, you tell Google what it needs to provide to local searchers. You should make sure the following information is up to date:

• Business name

• Operating hours

• Address

• Contact information, including your local or toll-free phone number

• Photos of your place of business and products

In addition, keep in mind that your Google My Business profile should be dynamic, not static, changing to attract more customers. For example, you can let people know about special offers and promotions, such as summer or tax time promos or back-to-school deals.

2. Be consistent with your business name, address, and phone number

Consistency when it comes to your business’s basic contact details can benefit your search engine rankings because consistency in online data indicates reliability. So it’s a good idea to check whether your name, address, and number are consistent:

• Across your site’s pages

• In all of your public online listings, such as Google My Business or Bing Places for Business

• Across all your social media pages, such as LinkedIn or Instagram

• On local sites that mention or feature your business, such as business listing pages established by your Chamber of Commerce

3. Focus on your online presence

By focusing on your online presence, you diversify your marketing by appealing to web searchers, as opposed to only physical visitors. One way to ensure you establish an effective local online presence is to think, “How would local people get to know my business online?” The answer to this question is your roadmap for local optimization.

For example, it may include:

• Social media

• Pages promoting local events

• Local online forums and communities

• Reviews from local customers

• Local influencers

• News coverage from local media outlets

You can then use this as a checklist for your local SEO efforts.

4. Optimize your site for local keywords

By optimizing your site when it comes to local keywords, you let search engines know searchers are going to find what they’re looking for—within a short walk or drive.

One of the easiest ways to know the most effective local keywords to use is by using keyword research tools. With these, you can discover local keywords and see how much search volume each one gets.

Another relatively quick way to optimize your site for local keywords is to make sure the content on your page features specific locations.

For example, if you have an image on a blog post on your site, you can adjust its alt tag so that it has the name of your city. Instead of “grocery storefront,” the alt tag can read “grocery store in Dorchester, Massachusetts.”

How to develop your local SEO strategy

Developing your local SEO strategy comes down to a combination of research, localization of content, and strategic link-building. Here’s how to do local SEO to maximize your impact.

Local keyword research

Local keyword research starts with identifying the location you want to focus on and then brainstorming the most relevant keywords to use. Typically, the area you want to focus on is the location of your business, but if you sell online, it may also include nearby areas or geographic markets you want to target.

The most relevant keywords may consist of your core offering as well as tangential phrases that people may search for. For instance, if you have an advertising agency in upstate New York. “Ad agency in Ithaca” or “upstate NY ad agency” should be on your list.

But you may also want to include keywords such as “effective advertising upstate NY,” “online ads NY,” or, depending on the time of year, an event-specific keyword, such as “Advertising at Borderland Festival,” which happens in Buffalo, New York.

Research competitors

Pay attention to the kinds of local posts your competitors have on social media, their Google My Business profiles, and the localized content on their pages.

You can also drill down deeper and make lists of keywords they have within their content using a keyword analyzer.

Perform an SEO audit

An SEO audit gives you important details regarding how your page may perform in searches. Your audit examines elements such as:

• Webpage load speeds

• Issues regarding how search engines may be indexing your pages

• Whether your XML sitemap has been formatted and submitted to the search engines of your choice

• Whether you have meta titles and descriptions for your online content

• If your URLs are descriptive and accurate

• The presence of keywords in alt tags, headings, and content

• Whether you have high-quality, non-duplicate content

Develop localized landing pages

Localized landing pages feature text and images that resonate with locals. This can vary considerably—even between places in the same state.

For instance, in South Carolina, a landing page targeting Myrtle Beach residents may benefit from a picture of its giant, neon-lit Ferris wheel. On the other hand, a landing page for Hilton Head Island residents or vacationers may have large, lush palm trees or a steamy plate of lobster, clams, and corn on the cob.

By using imagery iconic to your target location, you let visitors know that you’re in tune with the local vibe and have your finger on the pulse of the area. This can build trust in your ability to provide for their needs.

Build a localized link-building strategy

Link building helps establish trust within search engine algorithms. The more domains you have linking back to your site, the better your website authority score will be from Google and its competitors.

When Google grants you digitized “trust,” it also puts your site higher up in search results.

You can get more local backlinks by:

• Publishing high-quality, helpful content other sites may want to link back to

• Reaching out to ask if you can exchange links with a local business

• Guest blogging on another local business page and then including a link back to your site

• Including links to your site in your social media profiles

Start localizing your SEO strategy

Using the steps above, you can develop a local SEO strategy that generates more traffic and attracts more leads. Once you’ve done your research and ensured your content contact info, Google My Business profile, social media presence, and backlinks are established, you’re in a good position to attract more local interest.