Local SEO: What It Is and How It Works

Local SEO is the practice of giving search engines the information they need to determine whether your products and services are proximate, relevant, and prominent.

By some estimates, nearly half of all searches on Google have local intent. Local search optimization is the practice of giving search engines the information they need to determine whether your products and services are the most:

1. Proximate: Actually near the person conducting the local search.
2. Relevant: Fulfills or satisfies the intent of the local search.
3. Prominent: Has a reputation for being good at providing that product or service.

Why Local SEO Is Important

You have a business, and you want to attract a local market of web users to that business. Local SEO empowers you to achieve that goal.

Geo-targeted content will help you perform better in “near me” type searches, or searches that use local keywords. For example, we at Black Raven Digital are a St. Louis-based digital marketing agency – which is one of the reasons we use the phrase “Your St. Louis Digital Agency” on our homepage.

The How of Local SEO

A lot of work goes into local SEO – much more than we can fit in a single blog post. But here are the Cliff Notes:

1. Claim your business in Google My Business (GMB) and optimize your account.
2. Claim your business in other business directories (Yelp, BBB, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages, etc.).
3. Verify the correct name, address, phone number, and website in any place where your business is listed.
4. Also, make sure any brand mentions contain accurate information (such as hours, whether you accept cards, etc.).
5. Create a separate page for each of your locations (if applicable).
6. Optimize your content for keywords with local intent.
7. Solicit customer reviews.
8. Earn links back to your website.

There’s quite a bit more involved in each of these steps than meets the eye. But taking the time (or bringing in the expertise) to get your local SEO in order will bring you more targeted search engine traffic.

And targeted traffic is the best kind.