A Step-by-Step Guide to Local SEO: Optimize Your Website for Local Customers

Nearly half of all Google searches—about 46 percent—are for local information. Is your website set up to capture these local searches? If your business has a physical location, local SEO is essential to your marketing strategy. Regularly updating and optimizing your site for local searches can make a big difference in reaching nearby customers.

Here are the key components to ensure your website is optimized locally:

Claim Your Google My Business Page

A 2023 study showed that 56 percent of local retailers still haven’t claimed their Google My Business (GMB) listing. If yours is one of them, start by claiming it—this is essential! Once claimed, fully complete and optimize your listing with accurate details. Regularly check it to ensure everything is current; since Google allows public edits, it’s vital to keep your information 100 percent accurate.

Add Schema Markup to Your Website

Schema markup helps Google connect your business with local searchers, enhancing how your information appears in relevant searches—even if it doesn’t directly boost rankings. The good news? You don’t need coding skills to add schema! Use an online guide to set it up, and place your schema markup on any page where your business is described. For businesses with multiple locations, add unique schema markup to each location page for optimal results.

Plan your complete on-page SEO strategy with this free worksheet.

Update NAP Citations on Your Website

NAP stands for name, address, and phone number, and it’s critical that this information matches up everywhere it appears on your website, as well as on the web in general.

Add Your Business to Local Directories

There are thousands of directories online for nearly every industry you could think of. Adding your business to relevant directories helps not only from an SEO standpoint (hello, backlinks!), but will also help ensure that wherever your searchers are searching for local businesses, you’ll be on the list! The key is to make sure that every single listing matches exactly what’s on your website and GMB (Google My Business). Tools like Yext make this super simple and efficient to do.

Get Reviews and Add Them to Your Website

Reviews are essential, not just as marketing tools but also for local SEO. In fact, a 2017 study revealed that Google My Business (GMB) reviews are the second-most influential factor for local rankings. The more positive reviews you gather, the better your search visibility. Once you’ve collected a few great reviews, consider adding them to your site using aggregateRating schema to further enhance your local SEO.

Identify Local Search Terms and Create Local Content

At the end of the day, it all comes back to creating relevant, useful content. There are several ways to do keyword research, but make sure you’re doing your research on a local level. Once you’ve identified local search terms, start implementing those keywords into your content (blogs, infographics, videos—you name it!).

Although there are other things you can do to supplement your local SEO strategy, if you implement all of the above into your website, you’ll be well on your way to ranking locally in your desired locations. And always remember: SEO is a long-term game. Sometimes you’ll get quick wins, and other times, you’ll wonder why you’re not seeing immediate results. Just stay persistent, and I promise, it will pay off in the end.