How to Improve Local SEO: 11 Best Practices

Feb 04, 2025 09:23 PM - 4 days ago 5711

Local SEO is the process of optimizing your online beingness to thief your business look successful hunt engines erstwhile adjacent users hunt for applicable products aliases services. 

Implementing section SEO strategies tin thief to summation ft and web traffic, negociate your online reputation, and compete pinch adjacent businesses. 

Plus, ranking for section keywords tin thrust business results. Because users conducting section searches are typically fresh to bargain a merchandise aliases usage a service.

Like those looking for a landscaping institution aliases a location cleaning service. 

11 Tips to Improve Local SEO

Follow these champion practices to boost your local SEO:

1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is simply a free business listing from Google, and optimizing it helps Google understand your business and show it for applicable hunt terms. 

An optimized Google Business Profile tin thief you look successful the local pack. This is wherever Google displays the astir applicable section businesses for that hunt term, on pinch a representation showing their locations.

Like this:

sponsored ads and the section battalion are branded connected a serp for a section search

Once you group up your Google Business Profile, optimize it pinch Semrush’s GBP Optimization tool.

Enter your business accusation to spot tons of actionable tips to amended your listing and boost your online presence.

Insights into GBP views, interactions, ratings, and trends complete time.

2. Leverage Directories and Local Citations 

Your business is much apt to look successful section hunt results if its accusation appears successful galore trustworthy sources. 

These online mentions are known arsenic citations successful local business listings and different directories. Your business’s name, address, and telephone number (NAP) accusation should beryllium accordant crossed those sources.

Semrush’s Listing Management instrumentality helps you build section citations. And ensures they show accordant NAP information. 

local business is entered into the tool

In the instrumentality overview, you’ll spot accusation astir your existing listings. And immoderate problems to fix. 

You tin besides spot the number of customer reviews, your mean prima rating, and tips to amended your reviews and ratings.

local business overview shows people data

All businesses should spell aft wide citation sites for illustration Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Foursquare. Because they’re wide recognized. And spot tons of website traffic, which intends much imaginable customers will spot your listings. 

But besides see niche-specific citations. For example, restaurants would beryllium wise to see DoorDash.

3. Track and Manage Your Online Reviews 

Good reviews positively power section SEO because they’re among the main factors hunt engines see for section rankings. 

In this example, the bowling alleys pinch the highest number of affirmative reviews apical of the results. 

Ratings are highlighted nether businesses successful Google section battalion results

Reviews besides thief build spot pinch customers. Especially erstwhile you make an effort to respond to them.

The Review Management instrumentality helps by scanning complete 70 directories. 

Enter your business sanction successful the hunt barroom and prime your business from the drop-down list. 

local business is entered into the reappraisal guidance tool

Scroll down to “Manage estimation & way competitors” to spot your full number of reviews and mean rating.

Click “Manage reviews now” to motion up for a scheme that will springiness you entree to each of Semrush Local. 

review guidance overview shows section business metrics and a sample report

Then, spell to the “Reviews” tab to spot each your reviews from different directories. 

Review guidance dashboard shows reappraisal advancement chart, full reviews, and mean rating

Click to unfastened reviews successful the directory wherever they occurred. Or respond to Google reviews straight wrong the tool.

customer reviews are listed pinch the action to make a draught and reply

Either way, activity to respond to each reviews. To show customers you care. 

That’s existent moreover for antagonistic reviews. In fact, a bully consequence to a antagonistic reappraisal tin positively effect your business image. 

Here are immoderate speedy tips for responding to antagonistic reviews: 

  • Respond promptly 
  • Offer to remedy the situation, specified arsenic issuing a refund
  • State your committedness to improving your merchandise aliases service

Finally, encourage your customers to time off reviews. And make the process easy for them by providing clear instructions and nonstop links to wherever they tin supply reviews.

4. Add Local Business Schema to Your Website 

Schema markup is simply a type of system information added to webpages to thief hunt engines understand your website and make you eligible for rich results—unique hunt results that guidelines retired from modular results. 

Local business schema is utilized to convey basal accusation astir section businesses. Including location, operating hours, and the type of business. 

Schema.org provides a modular vocabulary you tin usage to specify your business type and the cardinal accusation astir it.

You don’t person to beryllium an master coder to instrumentality section schema markup. Because devices for illustration Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper tin thief you easy make basal section business schema. 

Here’s how:

Choose “Local Businesses” and participate your URL. Then, click “Start Tagging.”

local business is entered into the system information markup helper

On the near side, item the conception you want to people up. And take the due schema constituent from the menu.

When you’re done, click “Create HTML” successful the apical correct corner.

In this example, we’re tagging the restaurant’s operating hours. 

local operating days are tagged

You tin past transcript and paste the HTML markup into the <head> tag of the due page.

markup codification is highlighted

Finally, make judge to travel Google’s system information guidelines. Violating these guidelines tin make you ineligible for appearing successful rich | results.

5. Target Local Keywords

Focusing connected local keywords intends your contented will beryllium applicable to audiences successful your area, which tin summation the chance that Google will rank your contented successful section searches.

Local keywords are circumstantial hunt position group successful your area usage to hunt for products, services, aliases information.

Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool tin thief you find section keywords to target. 

Open the tool, participate a seed keyword (a wide hunt word that’s applicable to your business) and location. To get personalized recommendations, participate your domain successful the “AI–powered feature” bar. 

Then, click “Search.”

keyword and domain are entered into the tool

You’ll get a database of related keywords pinch adjuvant information astir each term’s search intent, search volume, and keyword difficulty score. These metrics guideline your contented trading and SEO strategy. 

The Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD %) file shows really difficult it will beryllium for your circumstantial domain to rank successful the apical 10 results for a fixed keyword. 

keyword metrics are highlighted successful the table

To find section keywords, click the “Include keywords” drop-down menu, prime the circle adjacent to “Any keywords,” and adhd type successful applicable locations.

Then, click “Apply.”

include keywords select has locations added specified arsenic dallas, dfw, and fort worth

You’ll now spot a database of keywords circumstantial to your desired locations. 

keyword database is filtered for section seo

Use this accusation to take the applicable section keywords to create contented for. 

6. Create Location-Specific Landing Pages

Creating a dedicated landing page for each business location helps Google understand that each location is simply a chopped entity and lets you make a focused SEO effort for each location. 

On each of these landing pages, see location-specific keywords successful the main heading, subheadings, assemblage content, and meta tags. 

Check retired this landing page for a section business that people incorporates section keywords successful its heading and content: 

a work location page includes the sanction of the metropolis and the sanction of the work successful headings to amended section seo

7. Audit Your On-Page SEO Health

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your webpages to thief them rank higher successful hunt engines and thrust much postulation to your website. 

One measurement to do this is to place your on-page issues and activity to reside them.

In the On Page SEO Checker, participate your domain sanction and click “Get ideas.”

domain is entered into the connected page seo checker tool

If you haven’t group up this domain arsenic a task successful Semrush, the instrumentality will guideline you done the process. 

And past springiness ideas to amended your on-page SEO, including tips related to strategy, backlinks, method SEO, and more. And a database of pages to optimize successful bid of priority. 

Click “# ideas” to the correct of 1 of the URLs to get elaborate recommendations.

on page seo checker overview shows full ideas and apical pages to optimize for section seo

Which look thing for illustration this.

content ideas see things for illustration supply a much applicable title, usage target keywords successful the assemblage tag, and more

8. Create and Publish Locally Relevant Content 

Publishing section contented helps Google understand that your business is applicable to section searches. 

Emphasize your relationship to the section area passim your website. Like connected your homepage, astir page, and blog.

Like this:

Grind's "About us" landing page shows their story, awards, and press

On your blog, see covering topics for illustration customer occurrence stories, vicinity spotlights, section events, and area-specific guides. 

Like this blog from 4 Rivers Smokehouse does: 

4 Rivers Smokehouse blog page shows applicable topics and section news

It features a assortment of section contented astir the business’s property mentions, vacation tips, and section events. 

Backlinks are links from different websites to yours and are an important Google ranking factor. 

Links from charismatic websites to yours show Google that your contented is valuable and trustworthy. Like votes of confidence. 

For section SEO, attraction connected links from locally-relevant websites. For example, from different section businesses aliases publications.

Publishing high-quality contented tin people gain you backlinks. 

Or you tin build links by contacting applicable tract owners straight and asking for backlinks wherever it makes sense. 

When doing link building outreach: 

  • Create personalized emails tailored to each prospect
  • Work to build a narration pinch the imaginable earlier asking for backlinks. Like commenting connected their contented aliases pursuing them connected societal media.
  • Demonstrate really linking to your website tin use their business aliases audience
  • Keep a grounds of your outreach efforts to thief you enactment organized. Semrush’ Link Building Tool makes it easy. 

10. Optimize for Mobile

Optimize your tract for mobile hunt because astir section searches hap connected smartphones. 

Plus, Google uses mobile-first indexing. Which intends it prioritizes the mobile type of your website for indexing and ranking. 

Optimizing for mobile means:

  • Ensuring you’re utilizing a responsive website that automatically adapts to mobile devices’ smaller screens
  • Using font sizes that tin beryllium publication easy connected a mobile device
  • Using short paragraphs
  • Using a cleanable and intuitive navigation menu
  • Including clear links and buttons that are easy to click

Like this example:

local tract adapts cleanly to mobile pinch a elemental design

Being progressive successful your section organization supports your SEO efforts. 

This is because:

  • Making an belief locally tin lead to affirmative online reviews
  • Having a strong, in-person beingness locally could promote section backlinks to your website
  • Getting to cognize your section organization helps you understand their needs and interests. And could animate applicable contented aliases moreover caller products aliases services.

Improve Your Local SEO and Track Your Rankings

Start improving your section SEO by search your reviews and rankings connected Google Maps.

Semrush’s Map Rank Tracker shows your mean rank compared to different section businesses and tracks your advancement complete time.

This station was updated successful 2025. Excerpts from the original article by Camillus Kingori whitethorn remain.

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