The Ultimate Guide to Local SEO from Beginner to Expert

You’ve just launched your new online business and you’re eager to get people to know about it. You’re also an expert on your topic and you know that your content is really good.

But it’s difficult to get people to find your site. And once you do, it’s even harder to get them to stay on your site and read your blog.

Local SEO is going to be your secret weapon in this fight. You’re going to get the word out about your new business and you’re going to see a big jump in your traffic and your conversions.

In this article, you’re going to learn exactly how to do local SEO. You’re going to discover the best methods for getting people to find your site and to stay on your site. You’re going to learn how to link your site to other sites and how to use these links to your advantage.

By the end of this article, you’re going to know everything you need to know about local SEO and you’ll be able to implement these techniques right away.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of increasing the number of visitors to your site from local sources. This could be people in your area or people in other areas that are close by.

In simple terms, local SEO is the act of improving your position in local search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing your content for these pages.

This includes optimizing text for keywords and phrases relevant to your location as well as title tags, metadata and the headings used in your content.

Local SEO is different from global SEO in that it concerns itself with optimizing your content for those searching for businesses within a geographic location.

Local SEO focuses on optimizing your content for people who are searching for your business or service within a much smaller geographic area than your global reach.

Local SEO Basics

There are three key areas to focus on when optimizing your content for local search: Local keywords, headings and images.

Local keywords – Keywords are words or phrases that people use to find specific products and services. For example, if you own a children’s daycare, your local keywords would be things like “children’s daycare,” “parents daycare,” or “babysitting.”

Local keywords help search engines understand what your site is about. Google uses these keywords to understand the context of your content and determine what your page is about.

There are many keyword research tools available online that can help you discover keywords that are relevant to your niche.

Local headings and meta descriptions – These are the text you see after the title of your page when someone visits your site. They’re also the description you see under your page title when someone is searching for a nearby business.

These keywords and descriptions are what make up the headings of your page. They’re what help Google identify and understand your page. That’s why local headings and descriptions are so important for local SEO.

Local images – Your images are one of the most neglected parts of local SEO. They’re also one of the most important if you want to rank well in local searches.

If you have a local business, you’ve probably noticed the difference between local and global results when it comes to images.

The best-performing pages in local search tend to have a lot of images. It’s not uncommon to see over 50% of the top results for a local business have images. That’s a much higher percentage than you’ll find on global results.

The Ultimate Local SEO Checklist

If you want to get serious about local SEO, you’ve got to start optimizing your content.

Here’s a list of the best practices for local SEO:

Local Keywords – Keywords are words or phrases that people use to find specific products and services. For example, if you own a children’s daycare, your local keywords would be things like “children’s daycare,” “parents daycare,” or “babysitting.”

Local headings and meta descriptions – These are the text you see after the title of your page when someone visits your site. They’re also the description you see under your page title when someone is searching for a nearby business.

Local images – Your images are one of the most neglected parts of local SEO. They’re also one of the most important if you want to rank well in local searches.

Local SEO Tools & Strategies

There are many different tools that you can use to get more traffic to your local business site.

Here are a few of the most reliable ones:

Google Maps - Google Maps is hands down the best all-around local SEO tool. It’s your best friend when it comes to optimizing your content for the local SEO game.

Yoast SEO - Yoast SEO is a plug-and-play plugin for WordPress that can help you optimize your content for maximum results.

Local SEO Checker - The Local SEO Checker is a Chrome extension that allows you to quickly check your local SEO.

Conclusion

Local SEO is one of the best ways to get your business seen by potential customers. It’s also a great way to expand your business.

With so many potential customers in your local area, you can easily see a huge increase in revenue if you implement the best practices of local SEO.

With this article, you’ve learned everything you need to know about local SEO.

You’ll be able to implement these techniques right away, and you’ll see a huge boost in traffic and conversions.