Local SEO: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Businesses
- Rhiannon
- Jan 3, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 30
If you want your small business to get found by customers in a specific location — be that your local area or a town, county or region further afield — then you need local SEO (search engine optimisation). Whilst SEO is a long-term game that is tricky to master, local SEO is straightforward and much faster by comparison. Therefore, local SEO is a logical place to start if you are getting started with SEO for your small business.
This step-by-step guide will show you how to do local SEO for your small business, so that you can get found wherever you want.
In this guide to local SEO:
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of helping your small business show up in search results when people are looking for the products or services you offer in a specific location. If someone searches for“marketing consultant near me” or “marketing in Newbury”, local SEO helps make sure your business appears in those results.
Local SEO is means improving your online presence so that more customers within a specific location can discover, contact, and choose your business. This can refer to customers in your local area, but it can also include specific locations that are further afield.
Local SEO: 5 Steps for Small Businesses
Now you understand how local SEO can help your small business, it’s time to get started. Below are five steps to getting your small business found with local SEO:
Do local keyword research
Create and optimise local landing pages
Optimise your Google Business listing
Build local backlinks
Get positive Google reviews
Step 1: Local Keyword Research
Keyword research is "key" to an effective SEO strategy, and local SEO is no different. It tells you which keyword(s) to focus on, so that you can drive maximum traffic to your website.
Ahrefs free keyword generator and Ubersuggest are just two free keyword research tools that you could try. If you're considering paid keyword research tools or professional local SEO services, I use SE Ranking for all my clients.
Consider what products or services you offer, and where. The location(s) you target should be based on your service area, the location of your business / premises, and nearby towns and cities.
Take a florist, for example. This florist is based in Newbury, West Berkshire. However, they also supply flowers to weddings in Berkshire, Hampshire, and Oxfordshire. They could target the following keywords:
florist in Newbury
florist near Reading
wedding flowers Oxfordshire
florist near Oxford
wedding flowers near Basingstoke
professional florist Hampshire
florist near me
There are countless other local keywords this business could target. This is why we do keyword research — to identify which keywords are the most relevant, most attainable, and will bring us the most website traffic.
For more on keyword research, read my Guide to SEO Keyword Research for small business owners.
Step 2: Create and Optimise Local Landing Pages
Local landing pages are effective if you want to target several different locations, or if you want to target both local and non-local customers. I use landing pages to target local keywords (e.g. Newbury marketing), whilst the rest of my website targets non-local keywords. This is because I can offer my services nationally (even internationally), as well as locally.
Each local landing page should target a different location (town, city, county). Depending on how specific you want to be, you could even split your landing pages by location and service. For example, I could have landing pages for "Newbury marketing", "Newbury SEO", "Newbury website design", and so on.
Optimise each landing page for the target keyword, so that it has a better chance of ranking. This includes optimising the h1, subheadings, paragraph text, SEO titles, SEO descriptions and image alt text.
Whilst each local landing page will have a similar structure, it is important to make them unique. Include information specific to each location, such as:
Photos of the location (e.g. of the town, local landmarks, or your local business premises)
Details specific to the location (e.g. local history)
Business details (e.g. directions to your local premises, a local phone number or address, specific products, services, or offers for that location)
The details you include on your local landing pages will depend on the nature of your business. For example, a retailer may have local landing pages featuring each of their branches, with an address, phone number, and directions. A services-based business like mine, which does not have a physical premises, might talk about local history, businesses, and industries and the services I offer to local businesses.
Step 3: Claim and Optimise Your Google Business Profile
Claiming and optimising your Google Business (formerly Google My Business or GMB) listing is key to local SEO for Google Search. If you search for a local product or service in Google, you will probably see a large box containing a map and the details of local businesses. These listings are generated using Google Business profiles, so you need one if you want your business to appear here.
By claiming and optimising your Google Business listing, you gain control over the information displayed about your business on Google's local search results and maps. You can provide accurate and up-to-date information such as your business name, address, phone number, website URL, services offered, areas covered, and operating hours.
I recommend exploring all the features of your Google Business profile, and completing all the relevant fields accurately. This may include uploading photos, selecting service categories and writing a business description.
See this article from Google for the most up-to-date instructions for how to set up your Google Business Profile.
Step 4: Get Positive Google Reviews
Positive customer reviews / testimonials are crucial to building trust with potential customers. By actively encouraging your happy customers to leave reviews (and promptly addressing any negative feedback), you can strengthen your credibility and your local SEO. According to Wisernotify, showing online reviews and testimonials can increase sales by 270%. Therefore, having positive testimonials is a no-brainer.
Notice how the three businesses shown in the screenshot above all had lots of 5* reviews? Your Google Business dashboard provides a link, which you can share with your customers. They can use this link to provide a Google review for your business. Getting into the habit of requesting Google reviews will help you in the long-term, as you'll build a bank of positive testimonials, which you can also use on your website and social media.
Note: Always do these two things every time you receive a Google review. Firstly, respond to it (even if it's negative) — this shows you care, it allows you to address any criticisms, and it indicates you are a responsive business, which may support your local SEO efforts. Secondly, save the review in your Notes app so you have a copy. Google has been known to delete reviews, but if you have it saved then you can still use it on your website and social media.
Step 5: Build Local Backlinks
Backlinks - or inbound links - are links to your website from another website. They can help improve your local SEO. Quality is better than quantity, so always check that your backlinks are legitimate (i.e. not spam) and that they provide accurate information about your business.
Link building involves submitting your business information to local directories, ensuring that your Name, Address, and Phone number (sometimes called NAP data) are consistent across all platforms. This helps search engines understand and validate your business information, and enhances user experience by providing accurate details.
Make sure the directories link to your local landing pages, as this will help tell search engines that the page is important and worth ranking for those local keywords.
By building backlinks on reputable directories, you can enhance your local SEO efforts and improve search engine rankings. Furthermore, consistent NAP information across multiple directories helps establish trust with search engines and potential customers.
Local SEO Services
Local SEO is worthwhile, and it doesn't have to be overwhelming. If you want to get found by local customers, or target a specific location, then local SEO is the best way to start. By following these five simple steps — researching the right keywords, creating local landing pages, setting up your Google Business profile, gathering Google reviews, and building backlinks — you’ll be well on your way to getting your business noticed by local customers.
If you’d like tailored support to help your business get found online in your area, I’d love to help. As a small business marketing consultant in Newbury, I specialise in helping independent business owners grow organically, without marketing overwhelm or high-pressure tactics.
Alternatively, for focused, practical support to kickstart your local SEO, take a look at my Marketing Kickstarter marketing consulting package for small business owners, or book a complimentary discovery call to chat through your goals.
Let’s make sure your ideal customers can find you — right when they need you.
