Today, local SEO, or local natural search engine optimization, is absolutely essential to boost a website’s online visibility in the face of geographically close competitors.
Do you have a website? Do you want to attract visitors or customers close to you? Then it’s time to take an interest in this essential strategy!
Matéo, SEO consultant in Nancyoffers us his take on local SEO in this article…
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is a set of optimization techniques designed to position a site or a Google Business listing at the top of search results for geolocalized queries.
In other words, when someone searches for a service or product “near me”, Google offers them relevant results based on their location.
Let’s say you’re looking for a “hairdresser in Lyon”. Thanks to local SEO, the best-optimized salons in this area will appear at the very top of the results.
Local SEO is based on three key factors:
- Relevance: does your content match what the user is looking for?
- Distance: are you located close to the user?
- Prominence: is your establishment reputable (customer reviews, mentions, notoriety)?
Why adopt local SEO?
Of course, local SEO is particularly important for any company with a physical point of sale… but not only!
In fact, even without having a physical location at your disposal, local SEO (no pun intended) will come in handy. For example:
- If you’re a freelancer, you can target prospects close to home.
- If you have an online store, combine local SEO and e-commerce to offer a click-and-collect service.
- And if you’re a service provider (plumber, lawyer, coach), it’s the ultimate weapon for landing local customers.
The fantastic thing is that local searches are often ultra-intentional.
A person looking for a local product or service is often ready to buy quickly.
How do I go about local SEO?
Are you convinced? Let’s get started.
Here are the essential steps to optimize your site for local searches:
- Create or optimize your Google Business listing
If you haven’t already done so, register your business on Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). This is the basis.
- Enter your exact contact details: name, address, telephone number. CAUTION: avoid overboosting your name, or you risk being pinned by Google (e.g.: “Jean Dupont, best plumber in Longwy”). Your company name will suffice.
- Add attractive photos and clear descriptions.
- Update your opening hours, especially on public holidays.
- Work on your local keywords
Include specific keywords in your titles, meta tags and content. These should include your city, or your geographical area.
Example: “Neapolitan pizzeria in Liverdun”.
Google loves it when it’s specific!
- Encourage customer reviews
Reviews boost your credibility. Encourage your satisfied customers to leave a positive review on your Google listing.
And here’s an extra tip: respond to all reviews, even the bad ones. It shows you’re listening, responding and investing in your SEO.
- Get local citations
Submit your contact details to local and specialized directories. Don’t hesitate to look, for example, at your nearest CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industry), or at your local commune’s website (sometimes you’ll come across some nice surprises!).
The more coherent this data is, and the more it’s present on different sites, the more you’ll be seen by Google.
- Optimize your website
Add specific pages for each city or region you’re targeting. That’s what a local SEO consultant is for: he’ll know exactly what to work on, whether it’s netlinking, semantics or UX and technical improvements to your site.
Consider inserting a Google Maps map directly on your site to guide your visitors.
What tools should I use for local SEO?
Local SEO may seem complex, but fortunately there are tools to simplify your work:
- Google My Business: A must-have for managing your information and reviews. It’s free and super efficient.
- Semrush or Ahrefs : Find local keywords, analyze your competitors and track your performance.
- Moz Local: A handy tool for checking the consistency of your citations on online directories.
- BrightLocal : A dashboard specialized in local performance. Ideal for tracking rankings in a specific geographic area.
- Google Search Console: See how Google perceives your site and check that your local pages are indexed.
A few practical tips
- Be active: regularly update your information and photos on your Google listing, and, once again, respond to every comment made by one of your customers.
- Focus on quality: prefer genuine customer reviews and useful content to technical over-optimization.
- Analyze your performance: monitor your local traffic and adjust your strategy if necessary.
- Avoid full AI copywriting: I know for a fact that writing takes time, and ChatGPT does it very well! Nevertheless, it risks penalizing your site in the long term, and making it less qualitative in Google’s eyes.
What’s next?
You now have all the basics to get started with local SEO. But this is just the beginning. Like any SEO strategy, it takes time, effort and regular monitoring.
Believe me, the results are well worth the investment. I can’t count the number of companies that have seen their sales soar after implementing a few local SEO actions.
So, are you ready to dominate local searches? 🚀
