Local SEO for Beginners: A Small Biz Guide (2025)
Local SEO can make or break your business, and it's about time you stop missing out! We’ll walk you through the basics of local SEO for beginners and help optimize your small business site to make sure your business isn’t invisible in your own neighborhood.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the way to get discovered by people searching for businesses near them. General SEO focuses on ranking across the industry, but local SEO zooms in on targeting customers in your specific city or neighborhood. For instance, when someone in Columbus, OH searches “trendy coffee shop near me” on their iPhone and they discover a local gem like Stauf’s, that’s local SEO at work.
Obviously brick and mortar businesses can benefit greatly from an excellent local SEO strategy. But even if you don’t have a physical location (for instance, say you’re a hybrid creative agency saving up for a beautiful office in downtown Columbus…) local SEO can still work for you.
So, How Does Local SEO Work?
With 46% of all Google searches fueled by local intent, if your business isn’t optimized for local searches, you’re missing out on customers who are literally looking for what you offer. Say you’re craving a dirty, filthy martini right now (and who isn’t), you’re going to type a query like “best martini bar near me” into your device. And just like that, a list of local bars just around the corner will pop up on your phone.
Chances are, you’ll read a few reviews, check out the menu, and then you’ll be off to your next happy hour at a highly-rated martini bar near you. That’s local SEO at work! but it doesn’t happen for your business magically—if you hope to outrank competitors, you have to set your business up for success in order to maximize potential for local SEO rankings. Here’s how.
#1 - Make sure you appear in the local map pack.
In location-based Google searches, appearing in the ‘Map Pack’ is your golden ticket to increased foot traffic. It shows the top three results alongside a Google Map with business hours, contact info, and more. 42% of searchers click on the results in the Map Pack when searching locally, so there’s a huge opportunity for you to get noticed. It’s prime real estate.
In order to appear here, you first need to make yourself a free Google Business Profile. Optimize it by including as much information as you possibly can, including accurate address, hours, and contact information in addition to images of your space, your team, and your offerings. The more positive Google reviews you can get on your Google Business Profile, the more popular your profile will become.
#2 - Set yourself up to appear in organic results.
Right below the Map Pack, you’ll find the top organic (unpaid or unsponsored) search results. These are the classic “blue links,” and this is where organic SEO takes over. Getting your business in these top spots is a must for driving traffic and brand growth. After all, 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.
In order to rank here, you have optimize the content on your website with the right local keywords.
Why Does Local SEO Matter?
Local SEO puts your business in front of customers who are already in buying mode and just around the corner. A huge chunk of local searches end with people heading straight to your door, making local SEO a powerful tool for both online conversions and foot traffic.
Let’s break it down with some juicy stats from Google Insights:
60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly using the search results
76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day
28% of those searches for something nearby result in a purchase
Clearly, optimizing for local SEO does wonders for both your online presence and foot traffic—it’s time to leverage SEO tactics and start raking in the sales.
How to Leverage Local SEO for Beginners
Let’s be clear: your business deserves the spotlight. It’s time to hijack the algorithm and give the people what they want—your products and services! You need to be seen by the people who matter most: those who live, work, and shop right in your neighborhood.
It’s time to outsmart the competition and dominate local search. Ready to flip the script? Let’s start building your kick-ass local SEO Strategy with these steps.
Step #1: Research your competitors.
While we are all about supporting local businesses, it’s just a reality that you’re in competition with other companies. You’ve got to figure out their game plan. Start with a Google search for local queries in your industry. See who’s crushing it in the top three spots? Hello competition.
Now, don’t just copy them—work smarter. What keywords are they using? What content is driving traffic? Are they engaging with customers or just putting out bland copy? Find their strengths and weaknesses—then strategize on how you can do it better.
You have to identify gaps in the market. What’s missing from their websites or services that you can own? Can you target a niche or offer something fresh?
Use tools like the Keyword Gap tool in SEMrush. It’ll show you what keywords your competitors aren’t ranking for—hello, opportunity—and what you might be missing. Let’s talk more about keyword research.
Step #2: Perform local keyword research.
Alright, now that you’ve scoped out your competition, it’s time to do the legwork—keyword research. Keyword research doesn’t need to be as complex as you think. Start by thinking about the phrases someone in your area might type when hunting for your products or services.
In fact, type some of those into Google and see what pops up. Those SERP (search engine result pages) results will tell you a lot about what your target audience is looking for and how they’re looking.
Also look at the keywords your competitors are using on their sites to spark some ideas. Then, use tools like Google Keyword Planner (GKP) and SEMrush to discover local keywords that matter.
Pro Tip: Keep an eye out for the “golden goose” keywords—low competition, high volume, and hyper-relevant to your biz. For smaller businesses, this means search volumes in the hundreds (vs. thousands for bigger businesses). Trust us, you want those sweet spots.
Google Keyword Planner
GKP is a great free tool to give you keyword ideas that broaden your search results. Pay attention to the volume and competition columns: these tell you how many people are searching for a keyword and how hard it’ll be to rank for it. However, GKP can be a little vague.
It’ll show a broad range for search volume (like 1k-10k searches), which makes it trickier to know which keywords are the best fit for your business. The competition is grouped into low, medium, or high, which doesn’t give you the specific knowledge you need to hit the sweet spot.
Don’t get us wrong—GKP is solid for brainstorming, but if you’re looking for precision and the juiciest keywords to drive your rankings, it’s time to level up with SEMrush.
SEMrush
Much like GKP, SEMrush is an online marketing tool that helps you find competitive keywords.
SEMrush gives you a keyword difficulty (KD) score of 0-100. It color codes the ranges in green, yellow, orange, and red to show the ranking difficulty. Search volume is more specific in SEMrush, so you can get the most accurate picture of how many users search your chosen keyword per month.
SEMrush lists the user intent, too. You'll see intent listed as either informational (I), navigational (N), commercial (C), or transactional (T). Knowing the user search intent can help you craft keyword-rich content catered to your local audience.
As a side note, if the KD score or volume shows up as n/a, that doesn’t mean that it can’t rank or that no one has searched that keyword before. You can still use those keywords if you think they’d be a good fit for your content and increase your visibility.
SEMrush can also give you keyword variations and strategy suggestions for topics, pillars, and subpages. It is a paid platform, but its benefits to content planning make keyword research that much easier.
If you need to be a bit more scrappy with your budget, you can always sign up for the free trial, export your keywords, and cancel the subscription if you can’t invest in SemRush monthly.
Step #3: Create and optimize your Google Business Profile.
Your Google Business Profile (GBP)—formerly known as Google My Business—is 100% non-negotiable for local SEO. If you don’t have one yet, stop what you’re doing and set it up. We’re not joking.
Why? Well, according to Google, customers are 70% more likely to visit your business and 50% more likely to make a purchase when your GBP is updated. Businesses with complete profiles are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by customers. It’s kind of a big deal.
Here’s the plan: Make sure all your info is accurate and up-to-date—business name, address, phone number, hours of operation. Don’t skip the verification step, either—it boosts your credibility and trustworthiness.
If your business is entirely online, don’t sweat it. You can get a virtual address or join a coworking space (like Haven Collective or CoHatch) for a legit business address. If you can receive mail there, it works for your GBP.
If you offer door-to-door services, select “Service Area Business” and define your territory by zip codes, cities, or counties.
Finally, optimize your profile with keywords and high-quality images. Encourage happy customers to leave reviews—Google loves it when people vouch for your business. When Google sees your business is legit, it’s more likely to suggest your site to local searchers.
Step #4: Keep your business profile active.
The biggest trick of the trade is staying relevant. So how do you do that? By being active. When you’re active, Google notices. An updated, engaged Google Business Profile (GBP) tells search engines—and customers—that your business is alive, kicking, and trustworthy.
Here are three easy ways to keep your business profile active:
Update your listings regularly: If your hours change or you have new services, make sure Google knows.
Engage with customer reviews: Responding to reviews—good and bad—shows that you care about feedback and are committed to improving. Did you know that just saying ‘thank you’ to happy customers can increase reviews by 12% on platforms like TripAdvisor?
Post news and updates: Share promotions, news, or any exciting changes in your business. You want your profile to show that you’re an active, evolving business that people want to be a part of.
Pro Tip: Set up notifications on your GBP so you get alerted when a review pops up. Respond quickly to show you’re engaged and ready to improve.
Step #5: Take a NAP, Well, Actually, Run a NAP audit.
As much as we wish this section was telling you it’s time to take a nap—and trust us, we need one too—we’re actually talking about NAP: name, address, and phone number.
Your business’s Name, Address, and Phone number need to be identical across every online platform you’re on—website, social media, and directories like Yelp. If there’s a single hiccup in your info, Google will throw a fit and push you down the rankings (maybe Google needs a nap.)
Here’s how to run a NAP audit:
Check your website: Make sure your NAP is easy to find—usually in the header, footer, or contact page. It should be consistent across the board.
Review social media: Look at your profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and any other platforms. Are the details the same as your website? If not, fix it—or work with a social media management team to reap all the SM benefits.
Audit online directories: Check listings on platforms like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Yellow Pages. These are key places where customers and Google look for your info.
Run an automated audit: Use tools like BrightLocal or Moz Local to search for your NAP across the web. These tools will flag discrepancies and even help you update them quickly.
Remove duplicates: If you’ve got duplicate listings floating around, delete or merge them. Multiple listings with conflicting info can mess up your rankings.
Step #6: Optimize your website for local SERP.
Up to this point, we’ve been focusing on your SERP presence. Now it’s time to do some internal reflecting—aka website optimizing. After all, a clean house welcomes company.
Are you using best practices for your on-page SEO strategy? Have you spotted opportunities to include keywords and use unique internal and external links? Did you tailor each of your landing pages to customer intent?
Use local keywords everywhere. From your content to your title tags, headers, meta descriptions, and even your URLs—this is prime real estate where you want to make an impact. These are the first things your potential customers see, so make them count.
If you have multiple locations, create unique location pages for each one (these can be hidden landing pages…and if you don’t know what we’re talking about, we should talk).
Use local hashtags and location names in your content, headers, and meta descriptions. This makes it crystal clear to Google (and your customers) that you’re tied to specific places—boosting your chances of popping up in relevant local results.
Step #7: Is your website mobile-friendly?
A mobile-friendly website is a must for local SEO. Why? Because a whopping 57% of all local searches are made on mobile devices or tablets. Yep, your customers are on the go, and they need your site to be ready when they’re searching for you.
So, what does this mean for you? Make sure your site is responsive: It needs to adjust to all screen sizes. Simplify navigation: Mobile users aren’t trying to hunt for info. Make it easy for them to find what they need fast.
Keep your content concise: People don’t want to scroll for days on their phones. Get to the point and make it count. Google’s mobile-first indexing means that mobile-friendly websites are prioritized.
Step #8: Create locally relevant content.
Want to be the business people turn to for what’s happening in your area? Start creating SEO-forward content that connects your brand with the community. Become the local resource for news, events, and updates, and your audience will keep coming back for more.
Create local guides or “best of” lists showcasing events, festivals, and new businesses in your area. If you sell products, spice up your descriptions with local flair—mention your city to attract customers looking for something unique nearby.
Share any local collaborations or networking events you’re involved in—your audience should want to join in. Case studies or success stories from local customers show your real impact on the community.
Locally relevant content boosts your SEO and solidifies your business as a key player in your area. Start sharing what’s happening, and watch your community (and search rankings) grow.
Step #9: Conduct regular local SEO audits.
Just like your business, your local SEO needs regular TLC. As you grow, your SEO content will need to evolve, too. To keep your content fresh and relevant, you’ll want to perform regular audits.
Use tools like Ahrefs and Google Analytics to track your local rankings in Google Search and Maps. These tools help you spot areas for improvement so you’re always staying one step ahead of the competition.
Are there new, more relevant keywords you can target? Do you have opportunities to snag more backlinks? And is your content optimized and error-free? Keep your site crawlable and navigable with a clear structure and a clean design.
Don’t forget to update your GBP with any changes to business hours, addresses, or contact info. Double-check that your citations are accurate across directories to avoid any confusion.
Local SEO Tools and Resources
One of the smartest things you can do as a small business owner is to build up your tech stack. Here are a few of our favorite tools to keep our local SEO strategy aggressive and effective.
Note: Many of these sites require subscriptions, but free basic versions and free trials are available options to help you get started.
Local SEO for Beginners—Frequently Asked Questions
Is doing local SEO worth it?
Yes, local SEO boosts visibility in local searches, drives traffic, and increases sales by targeting customers in your area.
Can a beginner do SEO?
Yes, beginners can do SEO by learning the basics, using online resources, and applying strategies like keyword research and on-page optimization.
What is the best strategy for local SEO?
To rank higher for local SEO, optimize your Google Business Profile, keep NAP consistent, and use local keywords. Create local content, gather positive reviews, and build local backlinks to improve local search rankings.
What if I don’t have a physical address to list on my Google Business Profile?
If you don't have a physical address, you can join a coworking space or get a virtual address to list on your business profile. If you’re a service provider or make visits to clients, list your business on GBP by choosing the "Service Area Business" option. Enter the regions, cities, or postal codes where you offer your services. Your business will appear in local search results for those areas, helping potential customers find you even without a storefront.
Cast Your Local SEO Spell with an SEO Coven by Your Side
Local SEO might seem spooky, but with the right tools, your business will rise from the shadows and dominate your community. Higher rankings, more traffic, and customers lining up at your door—sounds like magic, right?
Don’t let your business get lost in the dark. Book a free website audit, and let’s brew up a strategy that’ll make your business unforgettable. No more waiting—let’s get to work and make some SEO magic happen!
