If you run a business that serves customers in a specific area, it’s not enough just to be found on Google.
Ideally, you should be discoverable by the right people in the right places.
This is where local SEO comes into play.
Local SEO is about making it easier for search engines to understand:
what your business does, where it’s located, and which local searches it’s relevant for.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is search engine optimization that focuses on geographic searches.
For example, these could include:
Web Designer in Vejle
Horsens Machine Factory
Psychologist in Copenhagen
or simply:
web designer near me
Google uses, among other things, a business’s information, location, and relevance to determine which local results are displayed. Google describes the most important factors as relevance, distance, and prominence—that is, how well the business matches the search, how far away it is, and how well-known or established it appears to be.
Get started with your Google Business Profile
If your business is eligible for a Google Business Profile, that’s a great place to start.
The profile may include, among other things:
- company name
- address or service area
- phone number
- Hours of Operation
- category
- website
- pictures
- reviews
Google itself recommends that business information be as complete and accurate as possible.
That sounds trite.
However, if the address, business hours, or contact information are incorrect, it causes confusion for the customer and results in lower-quality data for Google.
Make sure the information matches
The company’s name, address, and phone number should be consistent wherever they appear.
If the website shows one address, Google Business Profile shows another, and an old directory shows a third, the picture becomes unclear.
That doesn’t mean that every webpage on the Internet has to look exactly the same.
However, the basic company information should be accurate and up-to-date.
Use the location naturally on the website
If the company operates locally, this should be clearly stated on its website.
It can be on the contact page, in the footer, or on relevant service pages.
But you don’t need to write:
Web designer in Vejle, Web designer in Vejle, Web designer in Vejle
everywhere.
It quickly starts to feel unnatural.
Instead, clearly state where the company is located, the field in which it operates, and the services it offers.
Above all, it must make sense to the customer.
Don’t create a page for every city without any real content
It can be tempting to do the following:
Web Design in Vejle
Web Design in Kolding
Web Design in Fredericia
Web Design in Horsens
with almost the same text on every page.
But if the pages simply replace the city name, they rarely add much value.
A local page should only exist if you actually have something relevant to say about the area, the customers, or the services offered there.
Otherwise, one strong service page is often better than many weak copies.
Reviews Matter
Reviews don’t just help potential customers.
Google states that both the number of reviews and the overall rating can factor into local ranking. More reviews and positive ratings can therefore help improve local visibility.
That doesn’t mean you should chase reviews at any cost.
But if you already have satisfied customers, it makes good sense to make it easy for them to share their experience.
And please feel free to respond to the reviews.
This shows both the customer and other visitors that there is actually a business behind the profile.
Pictures help, too
Photos on Google Business Profile can showcase the business, its products, its facilities, or its employees.
Google itself recommends using photos and videos as a way to showcase what the company offers.
It goes well with the website.
If your Google profile shows real photos of your business, while your website consists only of generic stock photos, you’ll lose some of the recognizability that would otherwise tie everything together.
See also: Stock photos or your own photos—which works best on your website?
The website still plays an important role
A Google Business Profile does not replace a website.
Google also uses publicly available content—including from the company’s own website—as a source for local business information.
Therefore, the website should still clearly state:
- what the company does
- where it is located
- who it helps
- how to get in touch
- what services are offered
And this is where local SEO is closely tied to the work we’ve already discussed regarding keywords.
See also: Website keywords—do your customers use the same words as you?
What about the schedule?
Schema—or structured data—is a technical way to help search engines understand the information on a website.
For a local business, an LocalBusiness schema could, for example, describe the business’s name, address, phone number, and hours of operation.
It’s not a shortcut to better rankings, but it can make your company’s information clearer to Google.
On a WordPress website, this type of data is often handled through an SEO plugin, so it’s not necessarily something you have to code yourself.
Try to look at the company from the outside
Search for the company name.
Search for an important service along with the city or area.
Next, consider what a potential customer encounters:
Is the information correct?
Are the pictures correct?
Are the opening hours up to date?
Does the link lead to the correct page?
Is it clear what the company offers?
Local SEO is largely about making the right information easy to find and understand.
Local visibility starts with the basics
You don’t necessarily need a complicated SEO strategy to get started.
Start with:
A properly set up Google Business Profile,
up-to-date business information,
relevant pages on the website,
positive reviews,
and clear information about where and how the business operates.
It’s not exactly glamorous.
But it’s a solid foundation.
