What is local SEO and how does it work?

With this guide, learn how Google works with local sites, and improve your site's local search results to grow your business.

local SEO

Local SEO is a smart way to search engine optimization (SEO) that helps your business and passion be strong in local search results on Google.

Any business with a physical location or operating in a geographic area can benefit from local SEO. If you search on Google for any important keyword related to your business and a map with 3 results appears below (also called map package), then your local SEO can help you grow your business. But to understand local SEO, you first need to know how Google works.

How have search engines evolved?

In the early days of the internet, there were relatively few websites, so browsing online was easy. However, when the Internet began to grow, search engines were created to make it easier for users to find the sites they were looking for.

If you enter a phrase into a search engine, that phrase will be matched with websites that included the keywords entered in the search term. Google used this same approach, but quickly took over other search engines by becoming the number one search engine to use cross-site links to point to trustworthy and authoritative websites. Today, Google looks at hundreds of factors both on and off the website to determine if they are relevant to display as a search result.

Factors make up your "digital fingerprint," and each factor has a different weight or value, which the search engine collects to return results. When a user searches, it is your photo or digital fingerprint that determines whether or not you will appear in the first rows or pages of Google results.

Today, Google looks at hundreds of factors both on and off the website to determine if they are relevant to display as a search result. Factors make up your "digital fingerprint," and each factor has a different weight or value, which the search engine collects to return results. When a user searches, it is your photo or digital fingerprint that determines whether or not you will appear in the first rows or pages of Google results.

How does Google work?

When you type a search term into Google, it checks the pattern of different websites' tags, or ranking factors, such as your site's relevance, to return to a list of sites that match your search.

Most people don't realize that Google doesn't search the entire web every time a user types something into the search bar. In fact, Google searches for a stored copy of all existing sites. This copy is called the Google Index.

To configure the index, Google uses small programs called a "spider" (literally, a spider) to crawl the web. Each spider works the same way: it starts a search on one page, then follows the links on that page, searches for content on subsequent pages, and so on.

While web content is reviewed, it is stored on Google's servers and an index is created. Spiders run at scale, constantly crawling through trillions of pages at an incredibly fast pace. This ensures that the index is optimally updated, and that new sites and links are quickly discovered.

How does Google rank search results?

Google uses various processes to rank hundreds or thousands of sites at a glance. These operations are called algorithms. When you search on Google, the algorithm checks the index and returns a list of sites that match your search in organic results. These results are selected and ranked according to the relevance, popularity, and popularity provided by the incoming links.

The algorithm looks at various factors on and off site to determine which websites are relevant to your search. All relevant sites are added to the list, and then they are ranked in order of importance. Also with regard to many factors on and off the site, the algorithm determines which sites best match your search query, and these sites are listed at the top of the search results.

SEO optimization affects the relevance, awareness, and performance relevance factors of your website. If the right elements of your site's digital footprint are optimized, your site will appear more easily in other search results.

SEO optimization affects the relevance, awareness, and performance factors of your website. If the right elements of your site's digital footprint are optimized, your site will appear more easily in other search results.

Local SEO is different

What about local organic search results? After analyzing user behavior across trillions of searches, Google concluded that people searching for certain types of businesses need results in their immediate area.

This is why Google's local search algorithm includes the affinity factor, that is, Google takes your location into account when searching for a local keyword (a query with a desire to get a local result). This happens even when the person conducting the search does not include the name of the city or "near me" in their search.

For example, if you want pizza delivered to your office for lunch, type “pizza delivery” and Google will display a list of locations near your office on the local search engine results page (SERP).

But if you perform the same search from home, you will get a completely different set of results. Which makes sense, because you want pizza delivery from a nearby restaurant.

Local search has been around for several years, but it was limited because people only used desktop computers. By contrast, with the recent growth in mobile internet access, mobile search has exploded; That is why local SEO has become extremely important to the success of any business that offers local products or services, as well as local sellers.

What you need to know about local SEO

Why is this important for search marketing? Although the Local Map Pack appears in the standard Google search lists, separate algorithms support the main Google search results for local ranking and the Local Maps pack results.

As a local business, you have the ability to see the best organic search results and show your local map package at the same time. If you are new to internet marketing, one of your biggest challenges is deciding where to focus your efforts in order to be most effective.

Marketing analytics software company Moz has released its annual Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, which includes the top 35-40 international local SEO experts. Their results provide the best insights into the factors that influence local search visibility.

Localized content and link-local popularity are factors, just as in the classic Google search algorithm. That's why it's important to create local landing pages for each of your sites (especially if your company has multiple sites) and include your company name and information like address and phone.

You will also need to improve your title tags and meta descriptions and follow best SEO practices. This should be taken into account in both your content marketing and link building strategy.

In addition, location-based factors such as having a business listing in Google My Business, local citations from data collectors, and verification signals (which your local customers must publish) are also taken into account.

Some search-focused local SEO tools can help you develop local SEO audits. This includes developing keyword research focused on your local audience, creating citations, managing Google My Business listings, business profiles and Google Publications, and monitoring your integration into local packages.

Website content is an important factor, just as in the classic Google search algorithm, but location-based factors like Google My Business, citations, and verification tags are also included.

Get started with SEO

Now that you better understand the basics of SEO and how Google ranks local search results, you can start focusing on signals that will improve your site's digital footprint in the local search ecosystem. This can help your business appear higher on the results page, which can lead to more potential customers discovering about your business.

There are many factors that influence your visibility in these searches, but keep in mind that local search continues to grow and evolve. To follow the upward and downward development of the signals and their suitability, you can refer to the annual Moz survey to create your work strategy guide. By optimizing each important signal area, you will be able to serve more people in your geographic area and grow faster.

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