The Importance of Local SEO for Small Businesses: 5 Reasons Why Local SEO Should Be Your Top Priority
- Rhiannon
- 3d
- 5 min read
Local SEO (search engine optimisation) means optimising your website so that it shows up when people search for nearby products or services online. As a cost-effective marketing strategy that helps businesses get found quickly and by the right people, local SEO is popular among small, new, and independent businesses such as bricks-and-mortar shops, service providers, tradesmen and cafes.
Small business owners — who often have limited time, money, and resources for marketing — should prioritise local SEO as it can offer high returns, reasonably quickly, and for a low cost.
Five reasons why local SEO should be your top priority as a small business:
Local SEO can be more cost-effective that other marketing channels
Local SEO works especially well for local shops and service providers
Local SEO keywords can be more impactful than more generic keywords for small businesses
Local SEO helps your business show up in Google Maps
Local SEO helps you build long-term trust and visibility in your community
Reason 1: Local SEO can be more cost-effective than other marketing channels
SEO is organic - meaning you don’t have to pay for ads in order to drive visibility and website traffic from it. Therefore, you aren’t risking your hard-earned money on advertising that may not reach your target audience.
Local SEO focuses on driving high-intent organic traffic from search engines to your website — helping local people find you naturally when they are actively looking for what you offer. So, you aren’t putting ads out there in the hope that someone might see them and happen to need your products or services.
When optimised effectively for local searches (making use of your Google Business profile, local keywords, and landing pages), local SEO can provide your small business with highly relevant, long-term visibility, traffic, and leads/sales with minimal spend.
You can get started with local SEO by doing it yourself, and I have a simple step-by-step guide to local SEO for small business owners. However, if you want the support of a professional, I do offer affordable marketing services for small businesses, including local SEO.
Reason 2: Local SEO works especially well for local shops & service providers
Local SEO works especially well for businesses that serve a specific geographical area. By focusing on getting found locally, these businesses can drive highly relevant traffic to their websites at a relatively low cost.
Examples of businesses that can benefit the most from local SEO include:
Bricks-and-mortar shops
Cafes
Therapists and counsellors
Dog groomers, dog walkers, and dog trainers
Electricians, gardeners, plumbers and other trades
Hairdressers, spas, and beauty salons
Florists
Sports coaches
Business coaches and consultants
Local B2B service providers, such as accountants and marketers
Hotels
Sports clubs and venues
Equestrian businesses, including tack shops, equestrian centres, equine therapists, equine vets, and equine photographers
Customers will often search for phrases like “[service / business] near me” or “[service] in/near [town/city/county]”, and this gives local businesses a great opportunity to get found and make more sales. Examples of local search queries include:
“Coffee shop near me”
“Wedding florist in Basingstoke”
“Dog training Croydon”
“Electrician Newbury”
“Horse riding lessons in Berkshire”
“Small business accountant near Andover”
Consider your own small business and the products or services you offer, as well as the locations you cover. Think about how many local keywords you could target with your website using local SEO.
The relative ease of optimising a website for local searches, combined with the high degree of relevance and intent behind those keywords, makes local SEO a great marketing investment for small businesses.
Now Google those keywords, and see if you or your competitors show up in the results! If your website isn’t showing up on the first page (or it’s very low on the first page) then you have a golden opportunity to take advantage of local SEO.
Reason 3: Local SEO keywords can be more impactful than more generic keywords for small businesses
When optimising your website, it helps to start by targeting keywords that are relevant and attainable. Some keywords will have lots of searches, but they will be more generic and more competitive. Other keywords will be much more specific with lower search volumes, and these keywords will usually be less competitive.
Local keywords are both highly specific and less competitive. Therefore, they are relatively easy to rank for whilst driving traffic that is more likely to result in leads and sales.
For example, the keyword “dog trainer” has over 5,000 monthly searches and a keyword difficulty of 11. Meanwhile, “dog training in Kent” has just 390 and a keyword difficulty of just 5.
Source: SE Ranking, May 2025
If you are a dog trainer and you cover the Kent area, I would advise you to focus on the local keyword “dog training in Kent”. This way, you can get your website onto that first page of search engine results relatively quickly, and get found by customers who need your services and are within your service area.
By focusing on local keywords, you can start driving organic visibility, traffic, and sales much faster than if you focus on non-local keywords. Furthermore, if your business only serves specific locations, local SEO helps you attract high-quality leads from customers within those areas.
Reason 4: Local SEO helps you show up in Google Maps
Local SEO includes optimising your Google Business Profile. Your Google Business Profile includes information about your location, service area, reviews, contact details, and the products or services you offer.
For instructions on how to set up your Google Business Profile, check out Google’s help article.
By optimising your Google Business Profile, your business can appear in Google’s local “map pack” — a box that displays a map with a list of local businesses. These special Google Search listings also feature reviews, contact information, and a link to your website.
Being in the map pack can help your website appear closer to the top of the first page of results. This can help drive more traffic to your website, and it can also help you build trust through positive Google reviews.
Below is an example of the local businesses featured in the “map pack” for the search term “dog trainer in Newbury”:
Reason 5: Local SEO helps you build long-term trust and visibility in your community
People often prefer to buy from businesses that feel familiar and established in the local area. Consistent local SEO helps establish your business as the go-to in your area.
As you become more visible and more trusted within your community, you will be able to grow your business along with your reputation.
Eventually, you could become so well known and trusted that your customers come straight to your business without even looking elsewhere — consider how cost-effective that is as a marketing strategy!
Drive relevant, organic visibility, traffic, and leads for your small business with local SEO
Local SEO offers a low cost, high return marketing strategy for small businesses that want faster visibility and higher-quality leads. So, it should be your top priority if you are a small business owner and you want to market your business locally.
For more information on how to do local SEO, check out my guide to local SEO for small business owners. Or, if you want to explore affordable SEO services, take a look at my marketing services for small businesses.
If you’re a local Newbury business and you want to get found in or near Newbury with local Newbury SEO, or you want SEO services from a local Newbury marketing consultant, check out my Newbury marketing services.
