What is local SEO, and why is it required?

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is a search engine optimization technique that focuses on optimising a website so it can be found for searches relevant to the business’s physical location or service area.

The local organic search results consist of two main types of listings in Google search:

Local map pack listings – Relates to the Google Business Profile (GBP).
Organic search listings – Relates to the business’s website.

What is the goal of local SEO?

The main goal of local SEO is optimising a business so it will show up in the map pack or organic search listings for searches that are relevant to both the user’s location and the business’s offerings.

It benefits local businesses with a physical storefront as well as service area businesses to reach potential customers who are close by in terms of distance.

Targeting these types of local searches is likely to result in either:

The searcher visits the physical storefront in person to buy a product or book a service.
The searcher makes a booking to get the local business to visit the location of the searcher and deliver a product or perform a service.

Why is local SEO required?

Local SEO is required for many businesses because ultimately every business is going to compete at a local level in some way.

Local stores and service area businesses are obviously going to need to use local SEO tactics as part of their search engine optimisation strategy – they only operate in their local area and their clients are all locals so it makes sense to optimise for these types of searches.

Even national businesses and franchise businesses with multiple office locations that operate in many areas across the country will be required to use local SEO tactics.

For example, let’s say you have a national home-building business with a sales office in every major city in Australia.

The business will need to use local SEO to target their home-building services to each major city that they operate in. Otherwise, they may not get enough new local leads and sales to keep each location in business.

When you look at it from this perspective, local SEO is a requirement for the majority of businesses out there to succeed online.

Does local SEO improve my website?

Yes, local SEO will improve your website’s visibility in search engines and the overall content of your site when it’s completed to a high standard.

The thing is, performing local SEO will force you to create high-quality content that is targeted, relevant and pays close attention to the search intent of your target audience.

Implementing this type of local content SEO strategy will improve the trustworthiness, authority and relevancy of your web pages and will likely result in better search engine rankings, increased traffic to your site and higher conversion rates.

Is local SEO worth it?

Local SEO is definitely worth it if the target business operates in a region, city, suburb, village, town or neighbourhood.

Investing in a local search engine optimisation service is essential because it helps local businesses attract potential customers who are hyper-relevant to their local geographic service area.

When people search for products or local services, they often add a location to their search query, such as:

“coffee shop near me”
“mobile auto mechanic”
“plumber in surfers paradise”
“gold coast SEO consultant“
“closest petrol station”
“removalist sydney to brisbane”

By optimising a website for local searches like the examples listed above, businesses can increase their online visibility and attract more local customers to their websites.

Additionally, local SEO helps businesses appear in Google Maps results (Map 3 Pack), which can be especially important for brick-and-mortar businesses that are more reliant on foot traffic.

By appearing in these local search results, businesses can help potential customers easily find their physical location and increase their chances of making a sale in-store.

What is local SEO, and why is it required?