46% of the queries that Google receives have a local intent.
So, when we say that local SEO is essential, it is a contradict-me-if-you-dare kind of statement.
As a local business, your aim must be to get higher local traffic and rank higher in the search engines.
Local keyword research can help you generate relevant content for your region so that the audience finds you relatable every time they enter a query on the search engines.
This blog on local SEO keyword research explores the strategies that will bring more customers to your brick-and-mortar store.
Read More: SEO In House vs. Outsourcing: What You Need to Know
Why is Local SEO Keyword Research Important?
Keyword research for any business is quite circumstantial and subjective.
Precisely, it heavily depends on the goals of a business.
You may learn more about how local consumers in a certain area use Google to find goods and services by conducting local keyword research.
If you run a local business and want to show up in search engine results for users in your area, you need to know what kinds of search queries people are entering, not simply what keywords you think of first.
Google recognizes when a user looks for a local company. In response, Google displays search engine result pages (SERPs) that are intended to assist users in locating the nearby companies they are looking for.
Text results and SERP features are both included in SERP results.
Furthermore, Google knows when a user is searching for a local business, and mastering the ability to identify a keyword with local intent can help you achieve your goals.
If you do this correctly, Google search results will drive a consistent flow of local clients to your business.
If you get this wrong, Google will sleep on your company forever.
Thus, local keyword research will help you choose which specific keywords to optimize your sites for to get them in front of relevant consumers.
Types Used in Local SEO Keyword Research
When someone adds a location to their search query, like “SEO agency in Toronto,” it’s known as an explicit search.
Conversely, an implicit search occurs when a user types a query without a location modifier, like “SEO agency.”
From the examples above, you can notice that the generic or short-tail search is an implicit search. On the other hand, a long-tail, location-modified search is called an explicit search.
Knowing these two types helps greatly in local SEO keyword research.
Depending on the location modifier a user adds to their search, and where they are physically at the moment of the search, Google may provide drastically different search results.
That’s why finding a combination of long-tail and short-tail keywords from your local keyword SEO research is imperative.
In this way, you don’t leave 20-25% of the unique searches on Google.
Local SEO Keyword Research Strategy For Your Business
Developing a keyword strategy with local SEO keyword research comprises a few primary steps that are given below:
1. Recognize Your Local Audience
The first stage in carrying out efficient local SEO keyword research and optimization is deepening the knowledge about your target audience locally.
Understanding your local audience will help you determine the exact terms and phrases that customers use to find companies similar to yours. To be aware of your competitors, you can use market analysis tools.
The factors that help you understand the audience for local SEO keyword research include:
- Your local audience’s hobbies, pain concerns, and demographics to better understand them.
- The age group that makes up the majority of your target audience.
- How much can they spend comfortably on your services?
- The problems that no one else in the market is solving and how your business can offer a solution for them.
You can use this knowledge for local SEO keyword research and compile a list of keywords and phrases relevant to your target market.
By doing this, potential clients will find your business online using the keywords that most matter to them.
To get a good example of how you can do it for different businesses, here is a blog on SEO for Restaurants: 8 Tips to Make Your Business Shine.
2. Specify the Region Where You Operate
Identifying your location is another integral step for local SEO keyword research.
You must decide the regions you wish to focus on with a local search.
Wherever you visit for services or close to your place of business, you can target location keywords.
Let’s take an example: You offer cleaning services in Canada.
You may also use local SEO to target places like Toronto and Mississauga if you provide services throughout the region.
To reach consumers in those areas, it is imperative that you include all of the locations you service.
3. Conduct a Local SEO Keyword Research
For local keyword research, you can visit the websites of your rivals and scrutinize the language and keywords they use.
Additionally, you may utilize Google Autocomplete to find the most popular search terms in your area and include those terms in the content of your website.
When you begin typing a search, Google Autocomplete is a function that helps you finish it faster.
By anticipating what users will look for, it aims to save consumers time.
You may also use it to find worthwhile long-tail keywords for your local SEO keyword research.
This is so because Google uses your location to inform some of its autocomplete predictions.
For instance, if you type “SEO services in” into the search field when in Toronto, Ontario, the search bar suggestions will be:
Additionally, you start to see a ton of other helpful keywords when you start adding local modifiers like “SEO services in Toronto.”
As you can see from above people are searching for things like cost or average cost.
Continue experimenting with other local keyword combinations for your local SEO keyword research.
You will have a list of keywords for your local business in next to no time. Also, you can use this local SEO keyword research for keyword mapping.
Add Modifiers for Keywords
Now that you have read the term keyword modifiers a few times in this article, let’s elaborate on them.
You should give some of your terms keyword modifiers as you begin your local SEO keyword research.
To increase relevant traffic and leads, keyword modifiers assist you in reaching a wider audience and providing more value to your main keyword.
The modifiers to add to your local SEO keyword research can be niche-related, general, and geo-dependant.
Here are the four categories of keyword modifiers:
Quality: These can define the level of expertise and the overall quality of your services. These consist of terms like “top” and “best.” “Best cleaning services in Toronto,” etc.
Occasion: Occasion modifiers highlight a particular moment in time or event. These consist of expressions such as “summer,” “birthday,” or “Halloween.” “Cleaning services for Christmas in Toronto” is an example of a keyword.
Type: The keyword modifier’s focus is on a service that your company provides. There are different types of cleaning services that you can offer. For example, “residential cleaning Toronto,” “deep cleaning Canada,” and the list goes on.
USP: You can use keyword modifiers for special offerings to draw attention to the distinctive aspects of your business. Products and services like same-day arrival, all-inclusive, and others may fall under this category. “Eco-friendly cleaning services” is an example of how you can showcase your uniqueness with local keyword research.
Finding these modifiers in your local SEO keyword research facilitates communication with locals who perform more focused searches.
4. Get Information about Search Volumes
Examine the search volumes after you have examined all your keywords and determined the underlying search intent.
Then, you can rank these terms from your local SEO keyword research in order of most volume.
The search volumes of the terms will indicate their level of popularity among typical users in a given area or country.
You can use search volumes for both implicit and explicit keywords to choose which sites to prioritize and develop first to proceed with SEO.
You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to obtain an estimate of the search volumes for implicit keywords in a given area.
By examining search volume and ranking the top-performing keywords from your local SEO keyword research, you can decide which ones to target first.
Remember, relevancy should always come above search volume.
The focus should be to achieve a remarkable equilibrium between the two. To be in the lead, this balance should be in your mind.
If you know the basics, you would know that demonstrating to Google that your company is relevant for your targeted keywords effectively helps you improve your search ranks.
When it comes to increasingly competitive keywords, support your local SEO efforts with relevant social signals, high-quality on-page optimizations, and other strategies.
5. Claiming Your Business Listing
In our local listing SEO blog, you will find all the details on how to improve your visibility locally.
Claim your company listing first if you want people to choose your business from the search results.
Complete the listing once you’ve claimed it. This is how this step works:
- Make sure the name and address listed for your company are accurate.
- You should include your phone number in your listing as well.
- Add a brief synopsis of your company and its offerings after that.
- Next, use images in your listing to help potential customers get a better idea of your company.
You’ll have a refined Google Business Profile listing that starts bringing in local traffic after completing these steps.
You can do this on different platforms like Yelp, FaceBook, and so many more.
6. Optimize Content With Local SEO Keyword Research Findings
One key component of local SEO is on-page optimization.
It entails improving the content on your website so that search engines find it more appealing and relevant.
Using keywords that you obtained from local SEO keyword research in the title tags, meta descriptions, and headings of your website is a method for on-page optimization.
Using phrases such as “Best SEO services in Canada” may assist in increasing the visibility of your website in local search results.
You may also raise your website’s search engine rankings by streamlining its URL structure, increasing accessibility, and speeding up its load time.
Metadata and Title Tags for Content
These are important HTML code components that are significant to a web page’s improvement of local SEO.
In search engine results, title tags function as clickable headlines and meta descriptions to give a catchy and concise description of the page’s contents.
To draw in visitors and search engines, it is essential to improve these components by adding keywords and providing a clear message.
Heading Tags and Text Body
Local SEO is incomplete without modifying body content and header tags (H1, H2, H3) with regard to the local SEO keyword research.
These tags assist search engines in deciphering the context of your content.
Besides that, it gives your webpage a proper structure and hierarchy.
Using keywords from local SEO keyword research for header tags will help your website reach higher search results.
7. Analyze Your Performance
Finally, the last step of your local SEO keyword research strategy is knowing its efficacy.
The local keyword ranks for your website will fluctuate frequently.
Additionally, fewer people may visit your website if your ranks drop, which can be detrimental to your company.
As part of your local SEO strategy, you must thus keep an eye on your performance.
Effective local SEO keyword research requires analyzing organic traffic and conversion rates.
The best keywords to use to attract relevant traffic to your website can be found by analyzing their traffic trends and conversion rates.
Once you start performing SEO, here are the metrics to track SEO.
FAQs
Which local SEO strategies are essential?
Local SEO keyword research, creating onsite and offsite directories and citations, and promoting links are all important parts of local SEO.
Is SEO possible without a website?
It depends on the industry in your region. You can make and claim a free Google My Business page. If your local industry isn’t seeing too much competition, those may appear in the map 3-pack.
Why is it vital to have business listings online?
As Google and Bing search the web to confirm the accuracy of your business’s information, make sure it is accurate everywhere. After that, you will watch your ranks improve.
The Bottom Line
For your business to be a huge hit, local SEO keyword research is the baseline.
Searching for high-volume keywords, on-page optimization, claiming business listings, using well-performing terms in your content, and evaluating your performance are the essential components of local SEO strategy.
If you don’t want to bemoan over the opportunities you lose with subpar SEO efforts, reach out to The Dreams Agency.