Understanding local SEO and its importance

Digital Marketing October 13, 2022

Local SEO is a form of search engine optimisation that helps increase the visibility of your business in local search results. It’s important to note that local SEO is different from traditional SEO, which focuses on national or international rankings. Local SEO is about getting your business to rank highly in search results for keywords related to your geographical location.

For example, if you run a restaurant in Melbourne, you would want to make sure that your website ranks highly for keywords like “restaurants in Melbourne” or “best sushi restaurants in Melbourne.” This would help prospective customers find your restaurant and make a reservation.

Local SEO can be broken down into two parts: on-page optimisation and off-page optimisation. On-page optimisation is what happens on your own website (or blog), while off-page refers to actions taken outside of your site.

Now that we know what local SEO is, let’s get into understanding it a bit more in detail.

How is local SEO different from the traditional SEO techniques?

Traditional SEO is all about optimising your website for the search engines. This includes optimising the on-page elements of your site such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings and content formatting.

It also encompasses off-page elements like link building and social media marketing.

In contrast, Local SEO is about optimising your business's location listing information in Google Maps for local search results. Thus, you optimise the listing for your business on Google directly rather than doing it on the website.

Local SEO is an offshoot of traditional SEO because it uses many of the same techniques, but it has a different focus. The ultimate goal with both types of SEO is to increase visibility for your business and drive traffic to your site.

Here are a few points of difference:

Local SEO focuses on building local citations and links to increase visibility in local search results.
Local SEO emphasises on-page factors such as titles, descriptions, images and keyword usage.
Local SEO focuses on optimising your website for location-specific keywords so that it will appear in relevant search results when people type those keywords into Google's search bar at that location.

Advantages of local SEO

The importance of local SEO cannot be overstated, especially when considering the factors that make a business successful.

The benefits of local SEO are numerous, including:

Improved customer experience – When customers are able to find your business in their searches and then get directions to your location, they will likely have a better experience at your location. This can lead to more repeat customers and referrals from satisfied customers.
Improved customer loyalty – Customers who notice that a particular business is located in the area they live in, give them more confidence in reaching out to you. Also, it is easier for them to ask and check for references.
Increased revenue and sales volume – Customers who have already decided that they want to visit your location before they even arrive will probably spend more time in-store or online than if they had not already decided on their purchase beforehand. In addition, these customers may also refer friends and family members based on their positive experiences with your business.
Higher conversion rates – Local businesses have a better chance of converting customers than national or international brands because they have a more personal connection with them. If you're showing up on Google Maps next to competitors who may not even be in your city, you'll have a better chance of winning over customers by offering better service or products than they do.
Branding – Being visible on Google Maps can help build your brand's reputation and make it easier for people who live nearby to remember who you are. This will also encourage existing customers to come back again if they need something else from you or recommend you to others who may need what you sell (such as landscaper reviews).
More customers – People are more likely to buy from businesses that are located in their area. When you're showing up in search results for keywords that people are searching for in your area, you'll be able to reach more potential customers.
Reduced cost of customer acquisition – Local SEO can help you reach more customers at a lower cost than other types of marketing. This is because it requires only a fraction of the investment needed for traditional advertising like billboards and radio ads.

Google’s Local Pack

Google's Local Pack is a section of search results that appears in Google Maps and Google Search. It shows local businesses, such as restaurants and hotels, that have paid to show up in the pack.

The Local Pack appears on the right-hand side of the search results page for many searches.

Google says it shows up when there are at least three listings for a given search term, but you may see it on searches where there are only one or two.

How does it work?

Google shows your listing in the Local Pack if you have claimed your Google My Business listing and verified your address. The listings are ordered by relevance and proximity to a user's search query.

What makes my company eligible for this feature?

If you own or operate a business with a physical location, then you're eligible to be included in local search results. This includes restaurants, bars, coffee shops, dentists, hair salons, real estate agents and more.

How to build your local SEO strategy?

When it comes to local SEO, a significant share of your efforts will be spent on optimising your website, applying for citations and optimising your Google My Business listing. But there are other ways to improve your site's visibility in local search engines.

Below are some tips on how to build a local SEO strategy:

Take Stock of Your Services and Products

If you’re a business that specializes in a specific service or product, then you can expect to rank quickly if you target the right keywords. In fact, there are some businesses that only need to rank for one keyword in order to see results. For example, let’s say that you sell furniture on your website. If someone searches for “furniture store near me,” then you have a good chance of ranking at the top of Google’s search engine results page (SERP) for this particular query.

However, selling all types of goods and services may be more difficult for you to rank for local keywords. You will need to create separate pages for each type of service or product that you offer and optimize each page with local keywords throughout the content.

Audit Your Existing Website for local SEO strategy

The first step in creating a local SEO strategy is to conduct an audit of your existing website. It's important to note that this is not the same thing as conducting an audit of your overall SEO efforts. You want to look specifically at how well-optimized your website is for Google search queries that include location-based keywords.

The goal is to find out what changes you need to make so that Google understands your business better and displays results relevant to users searching near you.

Analyse your competitors' strategies

Once you have a list of geo-specific keywords in mind, it's time to analyse your competitors' strategies for ranking on those search results pages (SERPs). For example, if your business specializes in plumbing services but several other plumbing companies in your area rank on the first page of Google results for "plumbing" searches, then it's probably not worth focusing on that keyword just yet.

Instead, focus on unique keywords that aren't as competitive — or at least try ranking on the second page or higher of SERPs instead of the first page.

How will Digiwhiz help you with your website’s local SEO requirements?

We have a team of professionals who are well-versed in the local SEO techniques, who can provide you with the best solutions to give a boost to your business in local search results and google map. The main objective of our team is to ensure that your business gets maximum visibility on Google Maps and Google My Business.

We have been in the Australian industry for 8 years, which has helped us gain an in-depth understanding of local SEO services. Our expertise and experience develop effective strategies you can implement to improve your ranking in search engines.

Our experts understand what it takes to rank high on search engines, which helps us develop effective strategies for your business. They also keep track of all updates made by Google so that we can stay updated about any changes made and implement them as soon as possible for better results for our clients.

Our experts will analyse your website and identify areas of improvement to provide expert customised solutions.

For more details about Local SEO services in Melbourne, contact us today!