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Local search engine optimization: how to get found by nearby customers

• Written by Drew Tendero

Every time you search for something on Google, the first results you see are either an AI overview or paid ads and, after those, you'll typically find a list of Google Business Profiles. As marketers compete for visibility in these top features, one of the most powerful visibility opportunities is often overlooked.

Based on Google's data, 76% of people who search for something nearby visit a related business within 24 hours, and 28% make a purchase. This highlights the importance of having a strong local search strategy, as users searching locally are much more likely to take action. They are not just browsing, their intent is to act. That's why incorporating local search engine optimization into your overall marketing strategy is essential.

In this article, we'll explain what a local search strategy is and outline the steps to get started or optimize your local visibility, along with our favorite tips to help your business achieve the results you're aiming for.

What is local search engine optimization?

Local search engine optimization is, as its name suggests, a search engine optimization strategy focused on attracting customers from relevant, location-based searches, such as "near me" or city-specific queries. This type of strategy has been gaining attention over the years as search engines like Google started to prioritize locations in search results with their "local-first" approach. This approach makes it essential for businesses to optimize their online presence so they can appear in front of users at the exact moment they are searching for nearby products or services.

As we have already hinted, by adopting this type of strategy, you can attract high-intent customers while also improving your business's visibility in search results, driving higher conversion rates, and strengthening your brand as more information about your business becomes available. Among the main benefits of adopting this approach, you will find:

  • Higher visibility: As mentioned above and throughout this article, strong local SEO helps your business appear more prominently in search results, including in local listings, maps, and other highly used tools such as voice assistants and AI-powered platforms. By optimizing your presence, you increase the chances of being shown when users search for products or services near them.
  • Higher website traffic: The traffic you receive will be highly targeted, as users who find you through local search typically have a clear and specific intent. You'll see this reflected in your analytics, with not only higher traffic but also lower bounce rates and increased engagement, since visitors are more likely to find exactly what they're looking for.
  • Higher conversion rate: Since the traffic is highly targeted, the conversion rate is higher. Users arrive at a business or website that matches exactly what they are looking for, which translates into better results. Google confirms this, and BrightLocal supports it as well, noting that users searching for local and nearby businesses are more likely to end up purchasing from them.
  • Budget-friendly marketing: Yes, it's not entirely free as you can invest in local SEO, but many of the core steps don't require a large budget. This approach to search engine visibility is built on keeping your business information up to date, encouraging and managing customer reviews, and strengthening your brand reputation. All of this can be done in a budget-friendly way, focusing more on consistency and effort than on spending large amounts of money.
  • Better branding: As you work on generating reviews and getting mentions across different platforms, you strengthen your overall brand reputation and trustworthiness, making your company more credible in the eyes of potential customers.

Does local SEO still work?

Yes, it does (if it didn't, we wouldn't be talking about it...). In fact, it helps not only with SEO, but also with AIEO, as it increases your chances of appearing in AI tools, voice assistants, and other features beyond traditional search engines. This is because elements like real customer reviews, local photos, and clear business details are pieces of information that search engines and AI systems crawl and prioritize, especially when they value reliability and structured data. And what's more reliable than having plenty of positive reviews and all your business information clearly structured and visible?

But you are probably wondering: how does it work? Well, search engine localization works by using data like IP address, GPS signals, Wi-Fi signals, and browser location settings to show users a more personalized selection of results, including Google Business Profiles, local listings, and pages optimized for local keywords. As these types of signals are the ones used by search engines, having a clear business location is essential. That location becomes the key factor, meaning that even if you have a business that can sell or work worldwide, your company will mainly appear to people near that location.

This doesn't mean that your Italian site won't appear for Italians, but that falls under a multilingual SEO strategy, not a local SEO strategy. Still, there are some tips and tricks to appear in different locations even if your headquarters are in a specific place. But we don't want to get ahead; we will explain that later.

Who needs local SEO?

If you have a website or e-commerce business offering products or services across one or multiple locations, working on local search engine optimization is crucial. Why? Because, as mentioned earlier, it helps you appear to users as a nearby business they can trust and buy from.

In an era where online scams are increasingly common, many users prefer local options not only to avoid risks but also to support local businesses. And if you've already invested in building your brand and reviews, your conversion rates can be even higher than, for example, spending lots of money on paid media (Meta Ads, Google Ads, etc.)

How can you improve your local search engine optimization strategy?

Getting local SEO visibility is quite straightforward, especially since you are probably already doing most of the recommended steps for your SEO and AIEO strategy. However, we've listed them here so you can review your approach and make sure you're doing everything possible to get the best results.

Google Business Profile

One of the first steps to get your business listed on local search engines is creating a Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business. It's a free tool designed to help business owners manage and optimize their presence on Google Search and Maps. When you create one, your profile can appear when someone searches for your business (e.g., your brand name), but it can also be listed alongside similar businesses when users search for related keywords (e.g., if someone searches for a dental clinic, they will see nearby options based on their location).

This profile includes all the basic information anyone needs to know about a business (address, phone number, website, opening hours, customer reviews, etc.), but it also allows you to share additional content like products, updates, or promotions, which can be managed by you or your marketing team. These features are useful because they present your business in a clear and visible way to potential customers.

It's essential to keep your profile updated, optimizing it with relevant, accurate, and current information so Google can show it properly and users can easily access everything they need to know before choosing your business.

Use consistent NAP data

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number; it's the most important piece of information you can provide, and it has to be correct, consistent, and real, as fake locations will end up affecting you negatively. Ensure that your NAP data is consistent across all citations, from your website and Google Business Profile to your review platform profiles (Yelp, Trustpilot, etc.). This is essential, as it's the key information that will be crawled and used by search engines, AI tools, and other platforms.

Local keyword research

As we mentioned before, you can have pages optimized for local keywords to appear when a user searches for a specific product or service in a specific location (i.e.: if you have a dental clinic "dental clinics near me" or "dental clinics in Ohio"). When creating this type of page, you need to target location-specific keywords by naturally including them in your content.

Carry out keyword research focused on the locations where you operate (whether because you have a physical location there or can provide your services in that area) and prioritize the ones with the most potential in terms of search demand and relevance. You can even create a "Locations" page and add it to your footer.

Original, local content

When creating local content, it must be original and focused on the location. Duplicated content or content that doesn't provide meaningful details about the location won't be useful and, on top of that, it may be flagged as duplicate content.

So, how should you approach it? For example, you could:

  • Share information about the local team
  • Tailor the content around the most popular products or services in that location
  • Highlight what makes your product, service, or location unique compared to competitors or even your own locations.

Trying to save time by duplicating content or ignoring the local focus can actually harm your strategy. If that's the approach you're considering, it's not worth the effort.

Build local landing pages only for real locations

Another thing to consider when creating location-focused landing pages is that they should represent real locations. Search engines know more than you might think, and creating landing pages for locations that don't exist will be flagged as misleading or spammy. This can hurt your SEO, reduce trust with potential customers (62% of consumers would avoid using a business if they found incorrect information online, based on Map Labs), and even lead to penalties.

Always focus on actual locations where your business operates. Doing so not only helps search engines understand your business better but also provides users with accurate, valuable information, building both trust and credibility.

Schema markup and metadata

We've mentioned several times how schema markup is crucial for both SEO and AIEO visibility, and the same applies to local SEO. Structuring your information in a way that's easy for search engines to understand is essential, and that's exactly what schema markup and metadata do.

There are different schema markup types related to locations, such as the Location schema, but also others like the Image Carousel to showcase photos of your business or the Business Hours schema to clearly display opening and closing times. Using these helps search engines and AI tools to crawl and show your business information.

Mobile optimization

Responsiveness is a non-negotiable when it comes to local SEO. As marketers, we know that most of the traffic comes from mobile devices (data shows more than 60% of users browse through their phones), but when looking for businesses it's even higher, as 84% of users use their phones to make local searches. To do so, always:

  • Update your Google Business Profile;
  • Make your website mobile friendly;
  • Make technical mobile optimization by optimizing data or implementing lazy loading.

Looking for relevant directories and local websites to get backlinks can be a smart move. Backlinks are a powerful way to boost both SEO and AIEO results, but they also strengthen other strategies like local SEO. Getting references from other sites signals to search engines that your business is trustworthy and worth mentioning, which can potentially improve your online ranking.

To do this, focus on local websites such as directories, add links on review platforms like Yelp or Trustpilot, and reach out to local media pages where you might get an article featuring your business. This not only helps your SEO but also enhances your brand visibility in your community.

Ask for reviews

This is probably the most important step of all the ones listed in this section. Why? Because having strong, positive reviews can change everything. It can help you appear higher in local search results, improve your visibility in AI tools, and make potential clients more likely to choose you over competitors, as reviews are real, first-hand information about your business and the experiences of your customers.

As trust becomes a key factor in online decision-making due to online scams, users rely heavily on reviews before choosing which business to buy from. According to BrightLocal, this trend continues to grow as 77% of consumers read reviews in 2021, an increase of 17% compared to two years earlier.

Focus on encouraging your clients to talk about you and leave reviews, and don't forget to respond to them whether they are positive or negative! According to statistics, 89% of consumers are highly or fairly likely to use a business that responds to all of its online reviews.

What are the best tools for managing and optimizing local SEO campaigns?

Besides having a Google Business Profile, there are some other tools you can use to manage and optimize your local SEO efforts.

Google Business Profile

If we haven't made it clear yet: this tool is essential. Without a Google Business Profile (GBP), you aren't truly doing local SEO... At least not on Google. This profile allows your business to appear on Google Maps, surface in search results, and even secure a preferential position, helping you stand out to local customers.

Other Google tools

Besides GBP, you can use other Google tools like Search Console and Google Analytics to optimize your local search engine. Let's break down what to do with them:

  • Google Search Console helps you understand how users end up on your site or visiting your in-person location. With this tool, you can check the exact keywords people used in Google to find your website. Also, it allows you to filter this data by country and region, helping you see if you are attracting traffic from the specific cities or neighborhoods you work in. This tool gives you great insights on how to approach your content strategy.
  • Google Analytics can help you to understand how users interact with your website, as it tracks what happens after a user lands on your site. You can see the geographic breakdown of your audience down to the city level, identify which pages are most popular with local visitors, and track 'conversions' (for example, someone clicking your phone number or filling out a contact form). This can help you identify how to structure your site, what information is interesting, what areas are the ones with the most visitors, etc.

We also know that the paid geo reporting in Google Ads can be a good trick to get juicy data from, as with it you can learn exactly where the most profitable actions happen with pinpoint precision. But, you will have to do some extra steps regarding creating new landing pages with events to click on and setting your reports to give you that data. Here we are only going through the basics, but we might eventually write a specific article for that...

Specific local SEO tools

We are not fans of using A LOT of tools, as we like to keep things as straightforward as possible, but we acknowledge that there are specific tools for local SEO with which you can centralize all the actions needed to optimize your strategy (handling reviews, location heatmaps, citation creation, etc.). As we haven't used any, we are listening to other marketers and users (here's a Reddit thread with some tools and opinions) and they highly recommend the following three:

*The three listed are paid tools, and all the features and actions included can be done for free; but if you want to save some time, maybe they are worth trying.

Summary

As search engines take a more local approach and online scams continue to grow, implementing a local SEO strategy is a smart way to gain visibility not just in search engines, but also in trending tools like voice assistants and AI platforms. Getting started and optimizing your strategy is quite straightforward, and it can deliver great results, especially if you have a shop or a location-based business.