Local SEO tips for small businesses

What is local search engine optimization (SEO)? 

Local SEO refers to the strategies used to make your business appear in the unpaid, location-based results shown at the top of a Google search listings page. 

When Google receives a search request with local intent, like “Indian takeout downtown Montreal” or “shoe stores near me” or even just “mechanic”, it includes a map with a list of businesses that could fit that request. Businesses that have effectively set up their local SEO are more likely to appear on that map.

Getting on this map is key. It’s the first thing most users see, displayed above any organic search results — so they’re more likely to click on the links that appear with the map. Plus, 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the local search results.

“Unless you’re a well-known brand, if you’re not on the Google map, you don’t exist,” says Jean-François Monfette, Specialist, Digital Marketing at BDC. “If you don’t put effort into local SEO, it can be hard for any small business to survive.”

Local SEO techniques for beginners

Here are three steps you can follow to boost your local search ranking.

1. Set up your Google Business Profile

The information on Google’s map is taken from your Google Business Profile, so it’s important to claim your profile and ensure it’s as complete as possible.

First, you have to authenticate that you own the business. You can do this through email, text, or a phone or video call. Once you have access to your profile, check that the information is accurate (Google may have pulled basic details from various sources across the internet) and then make changes or add information as necessary. Your profile should include:

• the full name of your business (exactly as it appears on your storefront and website)
• your physical address
• your business category (while you can select multiple options, Google recommends using as few as possible)
• your hours of operation
• a local phone number (rather than a 1-800 number)
• a brief description of your business (ideally including keywords people are already using to search for your products or services, based on data from tools like Google Keyword Planner or Semrush)
• a listing of your products and services
• other relevant information, such as service/delivery options, menus, etc.

“Fill in every field you see,” says Monfette. “The more information you provide, the easier it is for Google to match your business to the right searches.”

To further boost your local SEO, he suggests that you:

• Upload your logo and photos of your storefront/building so searchers recognize your business in person.
• Upload compelling photos and videos specifically related to your products/services (rather than generic marketing images) — and add new photos regularly.
• Use the Google Posts feature to craft short updates about your latest news, offers and events.
• Encourage customers to post reviews on your profile. Google favours the most highly reviewed local businesses.

2. Manage reviews on local rating sites

Reviews on Google and rating sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor are critical to your success. It’s important to track what people are saying about you and to engage with users of those sites. Here’s how:

• As with your Google Business Profile, you need to claim your business on the rating sites and provide them with complete information. To save time and ensure consistency for search engines, repurpose the content you already used for Google.
• After that, you need to monitor and respond to reviews in a timely fashion. Whether the feedback is good or bad, always respond in a professional and constructive way.

Monfette says reviews can even help with local SEO by adding contextual information about your products or services not found in your main profile, which can then get picked up by search engines.

Reviews are a form of citation: a place other than your own website that mentions your business. Search engines are giving greater weight to citations, so the more your business is talked about online (especially within your local community), the better.

3. Localize your website

Your website must make it clear you’re a local business. Google will check your site for locally relevant information, so include your address, neighbourhood, opening hours and local phone number on your homepage. Provide the information in cleanly formatted text that Google can easily index, rather than an image.

If your business serves a specific region, mention it in your content. If you have more than one location, give each its own separate page and location-specific URL to catch local traffic.

Also make sure the meta tags for each page on your site contain appropriate local keywords. To go a step further, consider using structured data or schema markups. Embedded into the coding of your website, structured data provides another way to tell Google about your business hours, location, accepted payment methods, upcoming events and more. That information will then appear in search results, which could help increase your clickthrough rate. 

Integrating structured data into your website requires deeper technical knowledge, but it’s well worth it, says Monfette. To learn more, visit schema.org or Google Search Central.

What’s the difference between local SEO and general SEO?

General SEO is about the keywords and other factors that improve your site’s visibility on a national scale. Local SEO is about improving your visibility to people in your immediate area by helping Google understand where your business is located and what it offers.

When determining which businesses rank higher in the search results, local and general SEO are similar in that they both take into account:

• relevance (how well your content matches what someone is searching for)
• prominence (how well known your business is based on links and citations, and in the case of local SEO, your position in the organic search results)

The main thing that makes local SEO different is distance. Google will take into account how far away each potential search result is from the user. That’s why people get different results in the local map for “Chinese delivery” when searching at home versus at the office.

Together, these three factors help Google find the best match for any search.

Additional tips for optimizing local SEO

The key is to be consistent, says Monfette. Your name, address and phone number (NAP) need to be the same across your digital listings. For Google, consistency increases relevancy — reinforcing your trustworthiness and helping you rank higher than local competition.

The challenge is that your business information might be copied across dozens of online directories for local businesses. Even if you update your address on your Google Business Profile, the change won’t be automatically reflected everywhere else, leading to NAP inconsistencies.

“If you’re a bigger business with several locations, using a service to monitor and delete the incorrect citations is pretty useful,” says Monfette.

He suggests looking into tools like BrightLocal, Loganix, Yext, Whitespark, Semrush, Soci, Moz Local or Chatmeter to track and manage your citations. Each has its pros and cons, but they will typically show where you rank for various search terms depending on a user’s location, fix NAP consistency errors, manage reviews and citations, and more.

While Google has a near-monopoly on search results, it isn’t the only place people look for information. Monfette encourages businesses to make sure their information is up to date on Apple Maps; if you have time, you can also complete your business profile on Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.

Why is local SEO important for small businesses?

While local search isn’t new, it’s more important than ever as businesses look to attract people who are using their phones to search for local products wherever they go.

Local SEO helps you get noticed by more customers in your region, leading to more calls, visits and sales. For many small businesses, earning a spot on Google’s local map can make all the difference in their success. By properly optimizing your local SEO, you have an opportunity to stand out from competitors who might not take it as seriously.

Next step

Discover what it takes to build a successful brand online by downloading BDC’s free guide: Attracting and Selling Online.