Local SEO in 2024 – A Complete Guide for the Beginners

SEO and digital marketing are like the heart and soul of branding. Without one, the other finds it difficult to survive.

But how does it all fit together for a local SEO strategy? Is optimizing a website for search engines enough to get you traffic or noticeable footfall?

You have opened the right post to answer these questions (and more). Whether you are a beginner or experienced in local SEO, this post is all you need to understand the crucial part of digital marketing you can use to target the local audience in 2024. We have researched and compiled the “what, why, and how” of local SEO and the key elements for ranking by Google.

You may soon be surprised by the increased online interest in your business and look forward to higher profits.

Eager to learn more?

Let’s dive in.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process (and set of techniques) of increasing your business’s visibility on search engines to attract potential customers in your locality—especially those with “brick-and-mortar” locations. In short, it involves optimizing your website and brand to increase local awareness, traffic and leads from search engines.

Local SEO helps your business appear more prominently in location-based search results on Google, other search engines, and Google Maps.

Some of the major elements that affect your website’s local SEO strategy are utilizing local keywords, optimizing your Google Business Profile, managing online reviews and ratings, and building NAP citations.

Now, Why Local SEO is Important?

Local SEO is important for getting traffic and leads from a specific location. It is especially useful for SMEs (Small and Medium Businesses) that rely more on local customers than a worldwide audience. So, if you offer consulting services, run a café, or own a pharmacy, local SEO is crucial for getting visitors to your store and orders from around your locality.

Here are some interesting data:

• 76% of customers visit a local store within 24 hours of searching for local results on their phones. Around 28% of these searches turn into purchases.
• ‘Near Me’ searches have grown about 150% faster in the last two years than the traditional results.
• Around 46% of all Google searches have local intent.

There is no doubt that businesses with the best local SEO rank the highest for local keywords. Local SEO helps companies appear on the first page of search results. Searchers are thus more likely to discover and engage with these businesses.

How Does Local SEO Work?

Local SEO works the same way as ‘traditional’ searches, but there are key differences.

Google considers three criteria for ranking in the Local Pack and Google Maps:

• Distance – How far is the business location from the search location?
• Prominence – How well-known and well-reviewed is the business?
• Relevance – How well does the business match the online searcher is looking for

While in terms of the traditional search, the following main criteria are considered:

• Relevance – How well the webpage matches what the searcher is looking for.
• Quality – How helpful and trustworthy the webpage content is.
• Usability – How good the webpage performance is (speed, mobile friendliness, etc)

That means targeting keywords (and, in this case, local keywords), paying attention to website optimization, and creating backlinks will help you.

But, what is different in the case of local SEO is that the Google algorithm considers additional factors while ranking businesses, e.g.:

• Location of the customer
• NAP citations
• Google Business Profile
• Use of local keywords
• Sentiment of reviews
• Shares on Social Media
• Number of ‘check-ins’
• Google Maps star rating

What is The Local Pack?

You might have encountered the terms ‘Google Local 3 Pack’, ‘The Map Pack,’ and ‘The Snack Pack’. All of these have the same meaning, i.e., The Local Pack. Google displays 3 locations when a searcher does a local search.

For example, if someone is in the mood for a cold coffee and searches for ‘cold coffee near me.’ The Google search result will be the following:

The set of three results in the Google Map is The Local Pack. A person will most likely visit one of these stores to get a coffee rather than go elsewhere.

Imagine you have a café but lose out to these businesses only because you aren’t optimized for local search results.

Fortunately, it can be avoided, and the next section deals with steps to improve your business’s local SEO ranking.

Let’s find out more.

4 Key Elements to Improve Local SEO Ranking

The following four steps will help you get started on your plan or strategy to improve your business’s local SEO ranking and boost traffic.

1. Local Keyword Research

Local keyword research is finding the search terms online users use for local products and services.

You must shortlist keywords that customers might use to find your products or services. Targeting these keywords drives targeted local customers to our site and sends customers to your business.

However, it is easier said than done. Fortunately, there are a few tools you can use:

• Use Google Autocomplete.

Google autocomplete is a feature of Google Search that predicts what the searcher is typing and makes it faster to complete. It is helpful to find long-tail keywords, as local searches partly influence the prediction.

Google Autocomplete works best to find the most common keywords people use around your locality. However, ensure that you only include keywords your potential customers use to search online.

For example:

Suppose you are an interior designer and someone searches for ‘interior’ on Google. In that case, the possible auto-complete keywords may be ‘interior design for home,’ ‘interior design courses,’ ‘interior design ideas,’ ‘interior design career,’ ‘interior design services near me,’ etc.

The only keyword you can use for local SEO is ‘interior design services near me.’ Whereas, if you type in ‘interior design services,’ you might get more useful keywords like ‘interior design services in Mumbai,’ ‘interior design services online,’ ‘interior design services list,’ etc.

Keep trying new combinations of local keywords until you have a list of local SEO keywords for your business.  

Also Read: Are You Doing These 5 Mistakes While Choosing Your SEO Keywords?

• Be Ready for Voice Search

Over the past five years, voice search usage has escalated by almost 150%. Thus, making it easy for voice search robots like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant to find your business is critical.

People rely more on voice searches, especially while using their mobile phones. So, you need to pay special attention to keywords (and the type of keywords), as people searching using voice commands tend to use long-tail keywords instead of short ones.

Let’s take the example of a café to understand this better.

When typing for a traditional search, people may use a keyword like ‘café near me.’ However, while using the voice command, they might search for ‘cold coffee in Colaba that is open right now.’

2.    Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Claiming your ‘Google Business Profile’ listing on Google is very important to boost your local SEO and improve the overall trust factor. Google verifies, shares, and supports its content, and an updated and optimized Google Business Profile is an excellent opportunity to let your business meet Google’s requirements.

Consistency is very important when listing the GBP. The information should match your website and other NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number) citations. If Google finds different information on your GBP listing, website, and third-party citations, it will automatically raise a red flag.

• Be consistent

Google prefers identical addresses instead of ‘Carter Road’ in one place and ‘Carter Rd.’ in another. Make sure to maintain consistency throughout the web.

• Provide comprehensive information

Creating and verifying a Google business Profile is easy—you simply have to fill in the basic information. However, digging deeper and adding additional categories and products/services is important to let Google know more about you.

• Get reviews

Encourage your customers to share reviews online. Whether the reviews are good, moderate, or bad, reply authentically to them. This will create trust and build a relationship between you and the customers.

Include the product/service, location, and your company’s full name in the response.

3. Ensure Consistent NAP Citations

NAP citations are where Google can find your Name, Address, and Phone Number on third-party websites like search engines, directories, review sites, and social media platforms. Google uses this information to verify the business and ensure your company is trustworthy.

Ensure that the information is 100% consistent. For example, compare it with your website’s name, address, and phone number.

• Do a NAP Audit

To check the citations on the web, you can use one of the many online tools, such as Moz Local, Loganix, or WhiteSpark.

• Edit and Correct the Citations

Take action based on the NAP audit report and edit the information where required. In the case of third-party directories, where you cannot edit the information, you need to reach out to initiate corrections.

4. Link Building

Local link building has an advantage over link building in general (even though the concept is similar). Since you may know people and other businesses in your area, you can exploit it for local link building. For example:

• Other Businesses

You can start by approaching businesses you know with cold emails and then extend your search to nearly everyone with a better brand reputation. A few businesses you can start with are:

• Suppliers
• Distributors
• Contractors
• Wholesalers
• Other related businesses
• Neighbouring businesses

• Local events sponsor

Consider sponsoring a local event (local events always look for sponsors). Use this opportunity to get mentioned on their webpage. A mention of your business with a backlink to your website is a perfect way to build a reputation. Moreover, people will also come across your brand name, increasing awareness.

You do not always have to sponsor through a cash contribution. For example, a printing press can contribute by making flyers and gaining publicity.

• Join a chamber of commerce.

Joining a local chamber of commerce is one of the easiest ways to get links back to your domain. The best part is that the traffic you receive from these links will be more relevant (and make the efforts worthwhile.)

It is also a great way to network in your locality, which will help you get backlinks from reliable websites in the future. Additionally, your link will earn you an NAP citation.

Do Local SEO Like a Pro

We know it’s not easy when you are just starting your local SEO journey, and you are not sure how it fits together—you may not even know where to start.

The good news is, it’s not difficult. Many SEOs, like you, had to start and now have expert knowledge of local SEO. This post has empowered you with knowledge of local SEO—all you need to know. Use this post as your local SEO guide. Don’t try to do it all at once, but choose where you want to start and move on from there.

Just imagine how it will feel when you realize that local SEO helps bring relevant traffic to your website from the locality. And by following the above tips, your business is performing better than your competitors on digital media and gaining an edge.

Most importantly, don’t delay in starting your local SEO activities.

And remember, “help is just around the corner”. The Justwords team has SEO professionals eager to help you. We want to be your partner on your local SEO journey.

Contact us today.