What Is Local Search and Why Is It Important for SEO?

Imagine this – it’s 5pm and you’re getting hungry. For whatever reason you have an intense craving for sushi. So what are you to do? You’re more than likely going to pull out your phone, navigate to Google, type in “sushi near me” and pick the spot you want to grab dinner at. 

But how does Google pick which spots to show you? This is where the power of local search comes in! 

Local search engine optimization is a part of SEO that focuses on improving a local business’s organic visibility. While doing a local search, users are more likely to type “______ near me” to find a local business. Businesses want to be the first to show up in search results, besides for the guys that paid to be there (Google Ads). Luckily, organic traffic is free!

The results that pop up as a result of this type of search usually are optimized to answer this “near me” question, thereby helping Google to understand that there is a geographic focus to the search.

By making good use of local search engine optimization, businesses are then able to improve their organic visibility – thus leading to more business! 

Now you may be wondering how exactly to go about optimizing a website for local search. Here are a few things to keep in mind while optimizing your website: 

Claim and Optimize Your Google My Business Page

There are many businesses online that haven’t claimed their Google My Business listing, so doing this is your first step if not already completed. 

Once your listing has been claimed or set up, you can then move forward with ensuring that your listing is completely optimized. Your last step will be to regularly check your Google My Business Listing to ensure that all the information listed is accurate and up to date.

Users are able to make edits to your listing and change certain items, so it is very important to stay on top of this. Or hire an SEO expert to do it for you.

Add Your Business to Relevant Local Search Directories 

The internet is a host to hundreds of different directories for almost any type of business you can think of. Adding your business to relevant directories not only helps your SEO by creating backlinks, but it also ensures that you’ll show up on the list of where your searchers are looking. Tools like Yext and Synup make this super easy.

Get Good Reviews and Add Them to Your Website (But don’t solicit them!)

Reviews made on Google and other platforms serve as a very powerful marketing tool that promote your business. They also help with local SEO in the sense that the more positive reviews you get, the higher you’ll rank in Google Search. This will also help to promote foot traffic, of course!

Add Schema Markup to Your Website

Well-implemented schema will help Google match your business to local search. Schema markup is essentially a code that you can place on your website to help search engines retrieve more relevant information. This further helps Google to recognize your data so your website shows up in Google Search results. Schema itself can be quite complicated, so additional research should be done before trying to implement anything.

Local SEO Services for Long Island and NYC

There are plenty of other things you can do to further improve your local search visibility, but by starting with the above, you’ll be well on your way to ranking locally. If you would like further information or assistance, Ferocious Media is here to help.

Our team of experts can help you claim, manage, and fully optimize your website and listings for local search. To learn more, give us a call at 800-454-9103 or fill out our contact form!

About the Author:

Heather Frantz is a Senior SEO Specialist at Ferocious Media. Graduating from Edinboro University in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, she decided to pursue a career in marketing. Eventually falling into the digital marketing world, Heather discovered her love and talent for all things SEO. Her favorite part of her job is digging through Google Analytics. SEO provides real, measurable results and it’s great to see clients succeed. Heather currently resides in Denver, Colorado with her fiance, two cats, and a handful of reptiles.