In 1990, the internet was introduced to the world. The first search engine, named Archie (short for “archives”) was introduced in the same year. The first version of Google, a search engine named BackRub, came out in 1996. And in 1997, we saw the birth of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Or at least, as far as we can tell.

According to Search Engine Journal, at that time, John Audette of Multimedia Marketing Group started using the term “SEO.” The popularization of SEO from that point may have been assisted by the efforts that manager of the rock band Jefferson Starship took after he noticed that the band’s website was ranking on Page 4 of a popular search engine.

Localized SEO didn’t make an appearance until 2003-2005, when search engines started to try to provide local results to searches, as well as additional information such as business hours and map listings. In 2012, Google released Google Maps. Local SEO strategy didn’t really get going until 2014, when Google released an algorithm update that used traditional website ranking signals to rank local businesses.

Goodbye, Phone Books

The birth of local SEO signaled the beginning of the end for the fat yellow phone book. Before the internet era, phone books were essential to finding businesses in your vicinity. How else were people supposed to find the products and services they needed, aside from driving around town and hoping that they would stumble across a place? 

Now, virtually everyone carries internet-enabled smartphones equipped with GPS, rendering the phone book all but obsolete. Phone book distribution began to be banned as early as 2012 due to concerns that producing and distributing the books was a wasteful practice. At the beginning of 2019, Yellow Pages finally stopped printing.

Common Local SEO Terminology

What’s an algorithm? What is local SEO? What is SEO period? This is not a comprehensive list, but here are some terms that you are likely to encounter in a discussion or article about local SEO:

3-Pack

This is the dominant form of Google's local results, consisting of a list of three businesses deemed by Google’s algorithm as the most relevant to the user’s search. Also sometimes referred to as the “Local Pack” or “Snack Pack”.

Citation

An online reference to a business, usually consisting of the business’s name, address, phone number, and other important information. Citations can be structured or unstructured.

Structured Citation

A citation that occurs in the form of a formal local business listing in a directory.

Unstructured Citation

A citation that occurs in the form of simple mentions of a business on an online publication such as a blog, news site, website, etc.

Directory

Any website which lists business names and their contact information, usually organized in alphabetical order or by industry/niche.

GMB

Google My Business. This is Google’s directory, and one of the largest and most influential directories to local SEO.

Knowledge Panel

An information box that appears in the search results for entities such as people, places, organizations, businesses, and things. In local SEO, the knowledge panel contains essential information about a local business, including NAP+W, products/services, photos, and customer reviews. In a desktop search this will appear on the right side of the search results page, and on mobile it will appear at the top.

National SEO

National SEO is the process of optimizing a website so that it shows up in organic search results regardless of the user’s location. This strategy uses keywords that are not location-dependent, such as, “scarf knitting patterns”. National SEO is helpful for websites and online-based businesses.

Local SEO

Local SEO is the process of optimizing a brick-and-mortar or service area business’s online presence so that it shows up in local search results. Local SEO strategy uses keywords that are tied to a location or imply location dependence, such as “buy scarf slc”. Local SEO is helpful for businesses that provide products or services to a restricted geographical area.

NAP / NAP+W

An acronym for “Name Address Phone + Website”. This vital information constitutes a business’s "thumbprint" online.

How Local SEO Works

How Search Engines Work

To understand how local SEO strategy works, you need to understand a bit about how search engines work. The goal of a search engine is to present a relevant set of search results that will fulfil the user’s query as quickly as possible.

They accomplish this goal by using web crawlers (also known as “robots,” “bots,” or “spiders”) to constantly crawl the web in search of new and updated pages. When a crawler finds a new page, it gets added to the engine’s index, which contains every single discovered page and data about its ranking signals.

Every time a query is made, search engines reference their index to determine which pages to list on the results page, and in what order, based on relevance to the keywords in the query.

The Best Search Engine

The best search engine for local SEO (and SEO in general) is Google. Why? 

For one, Google is the most frequently used. Although there are many search engines other than Google, Google still nets over 70% of search engine traffic as of May 2020. Most people Google at least one thing every day.

Google also has an enormous database of websites in its index. Its crawlers process over 3 billion pages per day and the Google Search Index contains over 100,000,000 gigabytes of data.

Most of all, Google also has the most sophisticated algorithms. Its algorithms were developed to better provide relevant results for users, and they are constantly being tested and honed to improve, as well as to adapt to the constant flux of the offline world. Understanding the intent behind a search is something that Google really excels at, and what makes them stand out from their competitors.

By combining their powerful search engine with proximity and geo-targeting technology, and then pairing the results with Google Maps, Google has arguably created the best search engine for local search.

Local SEO Ranking Factors

Now that you have a bit of background information, we can get into how local SEO works. Local search results are dependent on how well a business meets Google’s ranking factors. According to Google, they rank local results based on relevance, distance, and prominence. A 2018 Moz survey broke those requirements down into eight primary ranking signals: 

Google My Business (GMB) Signals

Proximity to the user’s area, category classification, whether a keyword is present in the business title, etc.

Link Signals

Inbound anchor text contents, linking domain authority, quantity of linking domains, etc.

Review Signals

Number of reviews, frequency of reviews, diversity of review platforms, etc.

Onpage Signals

Presence of NAP information, presence of keywords in meta data, domain authority, etc.

Citation Signals

NAP information consistency, number of citations, etc.

Behavioral Signals

Click-through rate, number of clicks to call on mobile, check-ins, etc.

Personalization

User’s location, language, search/browser history, etc.

Social Signals

Engagement on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Why Local SEO?

Statistics can speak volumes on a topic.

• Most smartphone-based searches are local.
• 46% of all Google searches are local.
• 75% of search engine users never look past the first page of results.
• 4 in 5 customers use search engines to find local information.
• 71% of people look up a business before visiting for the first time.
• 89% of people search for a local business once a week or more, and 58% search daily.
• Customers are more likely to make a purchase after doing a local search.
• 50% of people who conducted a local search from their smartphone visited the store within one day.
• 34% of users who searched on a non-smartphone device visited the store within one day.
• 80% of local searches convert.
• 56% of local retailers have not claimed their Google My Business listing.
• 91% of consumers 18-34 years-old trust businesses with positive reviews.
• 97% of search engine users search online to find a local business.
• Search is 300% more effective than social media in directing website traffic.
• 86% of consumers use Google Maps to find a local business.

Local SEO statistics not convinced you quite yet? Consider the following major benefits of local SEO:

Local SEO puts you where your customers are. It’s safe to say that you can expect your customers to be on their phones — a lot. Whenever they want something, they often turn to a search engine first. Local search optimization can put your business literally on the map, helping make sure that you get their business before one of your competitors does. When your business isn’t on the web (or optimized for the web), you may as well be invisible.

Local SEO builds your brand. Because local SEO targets potential customers within a certain radius of where you’ve set up shop, once you’ve optimized your web presence, your name will start to pop up when they look for products or services related to your business. They might not convert on the first search, but they will likely see and subconsciously remember your name. People like to buy from brands that they’re familiar with. So that brand awareness may play a critical role in laying the foundation for future conversions.

Tips for Building a Local SEO Strategy

Here are a few ways you can build up your internet presence and optimize your business for local SEO:

• Create lots of directory listings
• Flesh out your GMB profile
• Keep your GMB profile up-to-date
• Gather customer reviews
• Optimize your site for local search
• Ensure mobile compatibility
• Implement local keywords
• Optimize metadata (title tags, meta descriptions, etc.)
• Add schema markup
• Create location-specific pages or a contact page
• Post regular blog articles
• Optimize for voice search
• Get more backlinks
• Create pages for your business on relevant social media platforms
• Increase social media engagement

Conclusion

Since joining the mainstream, local SEO has changed the face of local business marketing for good. We are long past the point of considering it just an option if you want your brick-and-mortar or service area business to succeed in the modern world. Googling, “What is local SEO?” was just the beginning of your journey. Now it’s time to create your own local SEO strategy and see how it can transform your business for the better.