What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is how you market your business online in the local environment at the exact time they are looking for your service. It can differ from some of the standard practices that are employed using traditional SEO and can sometimes be achieved quite easily.

Local search differs from what most people refer to as just search but when you refine it down it's more informational search. That is when you're looking for information, whereas local search is looking for services 'near me' - ie find the best web designer near me. In other words, Google will use the location information of the person searching to find a business within their vicinity or local area. So they will preference results that appeal in this situation in their search engine results pages (SEPRS).

According to a Google presentation in October 2018 46% of searches have local intent

Typically when local search results are displayed you will see what;s referred to as the '3 pack' or 'local pack'. This is the block of 3 results with the map just above it.

See below the example for "electricians central coast"

Notice a few things here: Location, rating, open hours and phone number do not come from the website itself. Whilst Google does indeed check this information on your website to ensure it matches, all this information comes from the Google My Business profile for each business. GMB has become an essential part of your online strategy and should be preferred over any social network activity.

Since closing down Google+, Google has doubled down on just how good, effective and popular Google Maps is by enhancing what used to be called Google Local and turning it into Google My Business (GMB). As the name suggests it's all about your business and what appears on Google, but can also do much more than that.

Not only is that information fed into Google Search, but also Google Maps and subsequently local search results. You can even post what is akin to status updates, events and offers that appear directly in search.

Your business information allows for a description of your business, the services you offer, replies to your reviews, and addition of pictures and video.

This business information is known as what's called a citation, and whilst your GMB profile is just one citation, albeit a very powerful one, there are many other places Australian businesses can gain citations such as the White and Yellow Pages, TrueLocal, Yelp and many others.

A citation is anywhere online your business NAPW (Name, Address, Phone, Website) information is listed together. Typically on online directories such as CC365 for the Central Coast NSW.

It is especially important to ensure all your citations across the web are identical.

So that's all the basis of local SEO and local search, so how do you achieve quality results in this area? There are three main elements of ranking in local search:

1. Proximity: how close is your business to the person searching?
2. Relevance: how relevant to what's being searched is your business, products or services?
3. Prominence: what do other consumers say about your products and services?

Then you have to identify the key areas missing from your current status, the easiest way to do that is to head on over to our free tooland enter your business name. A report will be generated helping you see the key areas of improvement.