Chapter 5
Building Local SEO
Getting Your Business on the Map
“Hey Google, give me salons near me”
Local businesses have unique opportunities to gain more exposure on search engines. With the right tools and practices, you can optimize your local presence to ensure that you’re visible to nearby customers who need your services now.
Guiding Your Local Business on Google
You can maximize your local SEO impact by using resources tailored for businesses in specific areas. Local directories, social media, and targeted listings like GBP allow you to establish customer trust while building relevance in search results.
Google Business Profile: Essential for Local Presence
One of the best tools for local businesses is a Google Business Profile (GBP) page. To qualify for a GBP page, you must operate locally and have contact with your customers. Once set up, your listing boosts local visibility by providing accurate business information directly on Google.
We made a small guide on how to list, verify, and optimize your Google Business Profile listing.
Some basic principles you should follow when creating your page are very similar to what we’ve been talking about this entire guide:
- Be sure you have access to create and manage this page.
- The content you put on your page should be relevant and accurate.
And of course, things to avoid:
- Misleading information
- Low-quality or irrelevant content
- Keyword stuffing
- Displaying offensive or inappropriate content
- Fake reviews
This is a lot of information we’ve already learned about Google, but the better you understand everything, the easier it will be to apply to your own business.
Understanding Local Search Results
Local search results are tailored to people looking for services in their vicinity. Local search results usually look something like these:
- Pizza delivery near me
- Best vegan burgers in Milwaukee
This is why creating a Google Business Page is so important! It allows users to find you quicker than local directories or your website.
Search engines evaluate additional factors for local SERPs compared to broader searches, prioritizing the following:
Relevance
Does your business directly match what the searcher is looking for? Google considers this one of the top factors when ranking pages with local searches.
Distance
Google uses location data to display the closest relevant business locations based on search relevance. You’ll notice that if you search in one city for pizza delivery, it will be completely different in a different city – sometimes even if you include the city in your search.
Prominence
Local authority is important, Google rewards businesses that are well-known and loved in local communities. They use online factors to determine prominence, like these:
Reviews
These are like “local backlinks” in SEO terms. They’re difficult to get and might hold even more weight for local searches than backlinks.
Replying to these reviews is important! It shows Google (and users) that you are active and appreciate feedback, whether good or bad.
Local Engagement
You can think about your GBP Listing as your local web page powerhouse. If people engage well with your listing and like your content, you will be rewarded—much like the web pages on your website.
Boosting Your Website’s Local Presence
It is important to include your business’s address, phone number, and pictures on your website’s main pages. Many websites will include this information in their headers or footers depending on your KPIs. Here is a list of information you could add:
Business Name
This is where you can enter your formal business name. It’s important so that your business can be easily identified by users and potential customers/clients.
Business Category
You are able to choose a primary (and additional categories to refine your services) that label what industry or industries you operate in. This allows users to find your listing by industry.
Location and Address
If you have a physical location, you can add your address and get it verified so that users know where you operate from (even if you’re a marketing agency like us!). Google pushes listings with addresses more but if you don’t have a physical location (and even if you do), you can still provide service areas you serve.
Contact Information
You can add a phone number, email, and your website URL so that users can contact you. We recommend adding all possible contact types so that a user can choose the way they want to contact you they are most comfortable with.
Hours of Operation
Make sure to specify your business operating hours to help inform users when they can reach out or visit your location. You should also update your hours for holidays so that even during those days, they know if you’re open or have special hours.
Business Description
This is your time to write a short but compelling description of your business. We recommend having it focus on what you offer, a mission statement, and/or what makes you unique.
Photos and Videos
You should upload high-quality images showcasing your products, team, previous work, and more so that you can work to build trust with your potential customers and brand recognition.
Logo and Cover Photo
Adding your business logo is an obvious thing to do, just make sure that it’s a quality image. What a lot of people don’t think of is adding a cover photo. This could be a picture of the team or a previous cover photo you’ve used before that highlights your brand or services.
Services
You’ll want to make sure that you add all the services you provide. We recommend adding as many as possible (without reaching too far) so that potential customers know what you do or offer. For example, we have “SEO Strategy” but also “SEO Agency”.
Products
This is where you can showcase products that you have for sale with descriptions, prices (not mandatory), and photos. Even though this is of course great for retail and e-commerce businesses, we recommend all businesses do this even if you offer services. Take a look at our products to see how we do this!
Update Posts
Google allows you to have a “social media” aspect to your business listing. You can share updates (general posts, blogs, resources, etc.), offers (allows you to create offers to attract customers), or events (which allows you to promote an upcoming event that you have). This all keeps your audience engaged.
Business Attributes
This is a unique portion where you can things like amenities, accessibility, parking, and more to help give users some information about what your business offers but also more specific details of the business (like ownership or crowd acceptance).
Booking Button
Depending on your business and the industry you’re in, you can add a booking link to let customers conveniently schedule an appointment directly from your profile.
Messaging
Similar to booking, depending on your industry, you can add a messaging option so that users can easily get in contact with you or ask for support.
Social Media
Another way to reach out to your local community is by utilizing social media. Facebook, in particular, has a powerful local search function. You should use social channels to build your local authority by sharing valuable content, engaging with your audience, and gathering reviews.
Building Local Authority
One of the best ways to actively build authority is by getting involved in your community (as mentioned in the previous chapter)! It can be as simple as working in local coffee shops, volunteering for local organizations, sponsoring community programs, or engaging with local influencers and renowned members of the community.
These active, in-person efforts can often have a greater impact than online engagement. And what’s not to love about connecting with others in our community?
Ready for the Finish Line?
ONE LAST CHAPTER! And it’s an easy one! We’re going to wrap up this guide by making sure you can track all of these awesome efforts you’ve been doing up to this point in Chapter 6: Tracking & Analytics
Frequently Asked Questions
You can set up a GBP listing by visiting the Google Business Profile website, signing in, and entering your accurate business details. Google will verify your business through mail, phone, or email to confirm ownership. Google also has a help page. Also, consider taking a look at our small guide to help you further list and optimize your GBP.
You should update your GBP listing whenever there are changes to your business, such as hours, contact info, or services. Regular updates and adding new photos or posts can also improve engagement.
Local SEO involves focusing on your local presence to attract customers from specific locations (usually the ones that apply to your business). Local businesses need to appear in search results when people look for nearby services.
Local SEO is tailored for businesses in a physical location or a specific service area. General SEO covers broader topics and keywords to reach a global or non-location-specific audience.
Reviews act like “local backlinks” for your business. Positive and frequent reviews can boost your local search rankings and credibility. Additionally, replying to these reviews is just as important! It shows Google (and customers) that you are active and appreciate feedback, whether good or bad.
Yes, absolutely! Businesses that serve specific areas can optimize local SEO through service area business settings on GBP and by targeting local keywords.