How to Make a Local SEO Strategy to Boost Local Visibility

Key takeaways

Local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies aim to increase a local business’s visibility. Discover key facts to know:

• According to HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing report, SEO was among the top marketing channels delivering a return on investment (ROI) for business-to-business (B2B) brands in 2024 [1].

• Local SEO is a type of SEO determined by a specific geographic location. For example, if you’re searching for a restaurant near you, you may search “dinner spots near me” to find local options.

• You can perform keyword research and optimize content for a business as an SEO specialist.

Learn why businesses benefit from creating local SEO strategies, and explore a step-by-step guide to starting one. Then, consider enrolling in Google’s Digital Marketing and E-commerce Professional Certificate. In as little as six months, you’ll have the opportunity to attract and engage customers through digital marketing channels like search and email. Upon completion, share your earned credential to your resume, portfolio, or LinkedIn profile.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is a type of marketing that targets audiences in specific geographic locations, typically used by businesses with only physical locations rather than a strong online presence. The goal of local SEO is to increase a business's visibility by having it appear in the top results when individuals search for places in a specific location. For example, if someone wanted to go shopping at a craft store in Chicago, they might search “craft store Chicago,” and local SEO would aim to have your business (in this case, a brick-and-mortar craft store) show up as a top result.

Why businesses need geo-targeted SEO

According to HubSpot’s 2025 State of Marketing report, SEO was among the top marketing channels delivering a return on investment (ROI) for business-to-business (B2B) brands in 2024 [1]. 

Businesses, particularly small businesses, require geographic-targeted SEO to enhance their visibility and attract new customers and revenue. When you use geo-targeted keywords on your website, blog, or landing pages, you likely increase the amount of local clientele that will see your content and, therefore, may visit your business.

Learn more: SEO Jobs: Types, Salary, and How to Get Started

Types of local SEO strategies

Determine which local SEO strategy to use for your business based on your goals and needs. For example, update your content with keywords if you want to rank higher, or add reviews to your website if you want to gain credibility.

As you begin to develop an SEO marketing plan for your business, consider the various types of strategies to implement. Types of local SEO strategies may include:

• Performing keyword research: One of the first steps you can take as you begin an SEO strategy is researching keywords and geo-targeted keywords. Using specific keywords may help you generate more leads and stand out against competitor businesses. To do this, you may first brainstorm relevant keywords. From there, consider using a platform like Semrush’s Keyword Research Planner or Google Keyword Planner to gather data on existing keywords and implement new ones into your strategy.

• Utilizing reviews: When you claim a Google Business Profile (GBP), customers have the opportunity to leave you reviews. You may also find reviews of your company on social media or websites like Yelp. You then have the option to add positive reviews to your website to boost your credibility and appeal to new customers. If you find negative reviews, consider responding to them with a promise to rectify any mistakes or provide customers with support to improve their experience with your business.

• Updating the mobile version of your website: Oftentimes, potential customers will search for local businesses using their mobile devices rather than a laptop or desktop computer. Because of this, it’s essential to optimize the mobile version of your website by making it user-friendly, visually appealing, and easy for new users to navigate.

• Building citations: SEO citations include the name of your business, contact information, address, and services you offer that appear on any website that isn’t yours. Building citations is similar to building credibility. By appearing on other web pages with the same address and phone number that show on your Google Business Profile, you help build trust and verify your profile. To build citations, create a Facebook page for your business, manually submit to Yelp or Google, and check local city or state directories.

How much do local citations and reviews matter?

Local citations, as well as reviews from existing local customers, contribute to the success of your local SEO strategy. For example, the more local citations you have, the more likely your website or business is to appear in local search results. This may help you stand out against competing businesses in your area, as the more citations you garner, the higher you may rank in these results.

Reviews (and responding to them from your GBP) also play a role in verifying your business and building trust among new and existing customers. If your business has a high number of reviews, especially positive ones, users are more likely to click on related links such as your website or social media pages.

How to make a local SEO marketing plan: Step-by-step guide

To create a local SEO strategy for your business, consider first brainstorming keywords. From there, you can begin to take additional local SEO-related steps, which may include claiming and creating your GBP, researching your competitors, and adding keywords to your website to optimize your content. 

To help build and maintain a local SEO strategy for your business, you may consider adding a digital marketing or SEO specialist to your team. SEO specialists earn a median total pay of $86,000 annually [2]. This figure includes base salary and additional pay, which may represent profit-sharing, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation.

Consider the following steps to develop your strategy:

Step 1: Research and brainstorm keywords.

SEO often depends on keywords to boost your visibility and accomplish your goals of gaining new customers from said visibility. To start, come up with a list of potential keywords to add to your content or that someone might search when trying to locate your business. Then, consider using a keyword research tool to gather additional keywords before ultimately narrowing down your list to the ones that apply best to your business and have the highest search value.

Step 2: Create a Google Business Profile.

To ensure that your business appears in local searches, create a Google Business Profile. You can do this by visiting the Google Business website and typing in your business’s name. If it doesn’t appear, you have the option to add it manually. Google will then prompt you to add defining information about your business, such as your name, address, and phone number (NAP), photos, and business hours.

Step 3: Research competitors.

As you aim to rank higher in local searches, you’ll need to become aware of competitors, how they rank, and the keywords they use. You may also want to analyze the content they create and how long they’ve been creating it to determine if you could add related content to your website. 

Step 4: Implement keywords into content.

After conducting keyword research, you can begin implementing these keywords into your content to optimize it. You may add keywords to website headers, subheadings, blog copy, and the site’s URL. SEO also tends to rank recent content higher, so update your website frequently. 

Step 5: Get involved locally.

Building local citations and spreading the word about your business by word of mouth may also help your SEO strategy. When you spread the word about your business, you increase the likelihood of producing links to your website on other sites. You may choose to host local events, reach out to local educational websites, or even partner with other local businesses to demonstrate your active status in the community.

How to measure and monitor the impact of new strategies

After launching your new local SEO strategy, you may want to monitor and measure its success. Consider using the following tools to measure and monitor its impact:

• Google Search Console: Google Search Console (GSC) lets you input your domain and receive data related to how your website appears in search results and if other sites link to your webpages. It can also identify problems that may occur, such as indexing issues or spam.

• Semrush: Semrush offers advice for optimizing your GBP and identifies how you rank against competitors. You can also use Semrush to generate and research new keywords for your content.

• Google Analytics: Google Analytics provides data about the users of your website. When a user accesses your site, Google Analytics will compile their data to determine which pages they clicked on and actions they took. Google Analytics also identifies how a user accessed your site, whether from a search engine or from a backlink.

• Ahrefs: Ahrefs uses artificial intelligence (AI) to track competitors’ behavior and searches for mentions of your brand or business among chatbots. Ahrefs also contains location tracking for local SEO strategies.

Examples of local SEO strategies for different business models

SEO doesn’t follow a “one size fits all” approach. Different business models may benefit from using local SEO strategies that differ from one another. The Digital Marketing Institute identifies two business models—transactional and informational—and how their SEO approaches may differ [3]:

• Transactional: Transactional businesses focus on converting sales; therefore, your local SEO strategy would intend to drive customers to your website and e-commerce store, specifically to make purchases. To do this, you may boost web pages that offer your products and a link to check out or complete an order.

• Informational: Informational businesses want to get the word out about their business and what they offer. This type of business model may aim to simply show up in searches, specifically local searches, with the hope of their brand and name standing out to potential audiences.

On-page and off-page tactics for local targeting

You can categorize local SEO strategies into on-page and off-page tactics. On-page typically focuses on optimizing content on your website, while off-page denotes links to your website that appear linked in other places on the internet. Discover specific examples of on and off-page strategies:

On-page tactics include:

• Implementing keywords in website content

• Updating meta descriptions

• Creating and maintaining a mobile-friendly version of your website

Off-page tactics include:

• Updating your Google Business Profile

• Gathering local citations and backlinks

• Social media engagement

Improve pre-existing local SEO strategies

If you already have local SEO strategies in place, you can continue to improve them by regularly conducting keyword research and keyword tracking. You will also need to regularly update your GBP so that customers have access to correct information, such as your address and business hours. 

Sites often rank higher when you publish new content, so consider adding a blog landing page and updating it regularly to drive traffic to your website and boost your search engine visibility.

Common mistakes to avoid

As you begin to implement local SEO strategies for your business, keep some common mistakes in mind. While it’s important to claim your Google Business Profile, it’s even more important to ensure you complete it. An incomplete profile may lower your visibility and reduce your credibility. Additionally, not having enough local citations may also lower your overall search ranking. 

Keywords help optimize your content, but keyword stuffing can distract audiences and deter them from viewing your content. Keyword stuffing occurs when businesses try to fit too many words into a piece of content (a headline, meta description, etc.) to the point where it becomes hard to read and no longer flows.

Lastly, when customers engage with you on social media or via online reviews and you neglect to respond, it may impact their perception of your business. Designate time to respond to positive and negative reviews and respond to comments on social media when possible.

Elevate your marketing career with digital resources

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• Watch on YouTube: Career Spotlight: Digital Marketer

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• Learn from pros: Marketing Career Path: How I Became a Brand Marketing Manager at Coursera

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