What is local SEO?

What we call local SEO, or local search engine optimization, is a set of methods to improve the position and visibility of a business profile and its website in Google search and Google Maps for local keywords.

As the name suggests, local SEO focuses on local searches – the ones which take place in a specific area or territory. It could be a street, a neighborhood, a city or an area within, for example, a 2,000-meter radius of your business.

Let's say you have a local business – a dental practice in New York City. Your goal will be to be visible in your city or specific neighborhood, not the entire state or country. Your potential customers are people who live nearby, and they are the ones who are supposed to notice your business.

Optimizing for local SEO is a process aimed precisely at increasing your visibility in your chosen area. One optimization method is to create content with specific keywords containing a particular phrase that will help your website rank high in search results.

See the definition of local SEO in our marketing dictionary.

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How to do keyword research for local business listings?

Wherever you want to show up with your business(whether on Google or elsewhere), you need to consider local keywords that will boost your search engine position in a specific area. It's an easy process - below you'll find a set of simple steps to create a list of the best local keywords for your business' SEO.

Start with answering the following questions:

These are common questions asked by professional agencies before creating marketing strategy. They will help you to determine who are you communicating to and how to do it effectively.

• Who are your customers?
• What services or products do you offer?
• Where does your business operate?
• What can potential customers type into a Google search engine to find the products or services you offer in your area?

Prepare initial suggestions for local keywords.

After answering these questions, create a set of local keywords based on them that could be used by potential customers in your area.

For example, being a dentist in New York City, you could use keywords such as dentist New York, Dental Office New York, teeth whitening New York, Implants New York, etc.

Check how often they are typed and searched on Google

Once your keywords are in place, it's a good idea to use a dedicated tool to check their popularity and monthly number of searches. Check how often potential customers of your business search for these words.

You can use the two free tools we recommend below for this purpose. They will help you search for the keywords that users type in to find specific products and services:

Google Keyword Planner

Google's business tool for keyword analysis. In addition, Google offers other useful free tools such as Google Trends and Google Search Console.

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Keyword Surfer

It's a free plugin for Google Chrome from SurferSEO that allows you to check the popularity of your keywords right in the browser.

Choose the words that best describe your business activities and are most searched by customers.

Once you have your list prepared, it's time for the final selection.

We suggest narrowing your list to five items that meet the following criteria:

• they describe your product or service well
• are product phrases frequently searched on Google
• Your customers would naturally use them to find the products or services you offer

What words not to use when selecting keywords that affect search results in a specific area?

The right choice of keywords during local keyword research is of great importance regarding our position in local search results. When considering words to use, it is worth remembering that the so-called nationwide/general keywords do not have much impact on the results displayed in a specific area.

For example, nationwide keywords include skirt online store, men's pants online, English course online, Localo, etc.

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What is the search keyword volume?

The monthly number of searches is one metric that shows how often (in a 30-day period) people type a keyword into Google. The number of searches is crucial to an SEO strategy, as it reflects the popularity of a word, and by extension, a service or product. One of the better strategies is to look for keywords that generate many searches but have low competition, e.g. long tail keywords.

See the wider definition of long tail keyword in our marketing dictionary.

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🏆 Well done! Now you can start positioning your business for the local keywords you've chosen.

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With the list of local keywords we just created (🤝) for your business' local SEO, you can start positioning your profile on Google and your website. Despite appearances, it's not a difficult task, especially if you use tools created specifically to make the process easier.

Best keyword research tools that will help you with analysis

The following tools have built-in features for competitor analysis of keywords, which will help you select keywords that will improve your website and profile position on Google compared to your competitors.

Localo

With our application, you can check, monitor and improve the position of your business in local search results. It will also help you perform keyword analysis and develop guidelines for optimizing your business profile on Google. With Localo, you can add content with target keywords and check your competitors' keywords, allowing you to outrank them in Google search results. It will also show you keyword difficulty for every single proposition.

Surfer SEO

Surfer is a tool that will allow you to easily optimize content on your website, create new content, and include relevant keywords. With a convenient content editor and additional tools, you will see how valuable the text, post or blog article you create will be for your site's SEO. It will tell you how to choose keywords in the right proportions and then include them in the text. It will also help you arrange and divide the text well, so that Google's algorithm will better rank it.

Why performing local keyword research is neccesary?

Dealing with your business' local positioning is not a one-time activity. As the market or customers' needs and competitors' actions change, you must keep your hand on the pulse and monitor whether your business is still visible to your potential customers. That's why checking your business' local keyword ranking and visibility on Google is a crucial aspect of local marketing.

Consider whether local SEO for words:

• Which are not searched by users would make sense?
• Which are not topical and don't match your business, would it make sense?

If you answered NO, you have also responded to why you need to conduct local keyword research.

How can I track local keyword rankings?

Keeping track of your local keyword rankings and how visible your business is on Google is crucial for your business to continue growing and developing strategies to increase its visibility on Google and stay ahead of your competitors.

The ideal tool for monitoring local keywords and visibility of your business profile on Google is Local Rank Tracker from Localo.

Just add your Google business profile, enter your keywords, and you're good. Local rank tracking is enabled and will refresh automatically.

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Summary

Content marketing, especially if built on the right keywords, is not easy. We created Localo to help local businesses grow locally and stay ahead of even corporate competitors. We hope that with the above guide, local keyword research will become less complicated for you.

Good luck in growing your business!

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