What should I know about Google’s local search and small business SEO to get started?

If you’re wondering how to improve your local endeavor with small business SEO, then you’re finally in the right place. As below I’m going to tell you all about the right way of getting well-optimized for Google’s local SERPs with your small business – using basic SEO strategies that will help you get a nice point of kickstart right away, particularly if you’re completely new to it. So, let’s see what should be done to that point.

Running Standard Keyword Research

Basically, there are several generic keyword tools available in open access for every novice webmaster and site owner, such as Google’s good old Keyword Planner tool, or several other keyword research online toolkits like KeywordTool.io, UberSuggest, etc. Anyway, when it comes to getting the main list of core target keywords (as well as their long-tail search terms), even the basic tool would be nice to give you a lot of keyword ideas, at least to start creating the right localized content.

Facing Brand-New Reality of Local Search

As for Google’s local SERPs, an already competitive environment has recently become even tighter over there. The thing is that the world’s search giant will show now a so-called “mobile 3-pack” listing, which appears to be constantly pushing down organic results, and particularly the local ones, in the list of the relevant SERPs. As a result, all those recent changes mean that it would be even harder than ever to keep up with a really hard “cutthroat-level” online competition in local search. And small business owners using SEO organically (i.e., without employing PPC ads), will have to get well-prepared for facing this brand-new reality of Google’s local search. All that being said, here are some easy ways and a number of smarter actions you can start taking right now – to instantly give a spur to local rankings of your small business website, with its overall SEO performance gradually improved in the longer run.

Researching Keywords via “Local Search Simulation”

Here is the first easy hack you can readily employ to improve your website performance in local search. Given that Google’s auto-suggest feature can be extremely useful for generating some extra fresh keyword ideas, using it for identifying new hyper-local keywords (and particularly their long-tail expressions) is now a lot more complicated. Why? Simply because back in 2015, Google itself had eliminated the standard location-based search filtering option – generally due to its default feature that automatically detects the searcher’s location, trying to provide the best matching SERPs tailored to each user. I mean you can’t now see different search results – simply entering different names of the city/town or region to your core keyword (i.e., “SEO services UK”), and having radically different results in return. To compensate this loss, most of the experts recommend applying for one of the following methods:

Basic mode – on filling the initial search request created around your core keyword, try to modify the URL adding the “near” parameter (“&near=cityname”) – and enjoy the list of Google’s SERPs, just as if you’re really searching from the neighboring locale. 

More accurate solution – use advanced online software tools designed for targeting specific GPS coordinates is by far the most sure-fire way of letting Google's search algorithm geotarget your core keywords, besides being extremely useful for checking your local ranks too (i.e., quick ranking test of your website’s performance in organic SERPs – you can readily run it through every single location/region served with your business).

Focusing More on Easy Link-Building Techniques

No need to say that a high-quality link profile created on your website organically – is arguably the third most important ranking factor considered by the major search engines when determining your actual positions in the relevant SERPs. Note, however, that from the viewpoint of local search (and small business SEO in particular) – link building becomes even more important than ever. It means that your links, as well as their positive ranking signals used by Google (i.e., keyword-based link text anchor, link source PageRank and Domain Authority, total count of external links, etc.) – must now become the ultimate priority not only for a well-targeted local promotion, but the whole small business SEO strategy you’ve been running so far. But the thing is that high-quality link building always takes a lot of time and effort (of course, we’re not going to employ any Grey-Hat SEO or, God forbid, Black-Hat SEO approaches that can potentially give you a bulk load of low-quality automated/PBN-based paid links – that would be inevitably raising a red flag with Google, always followed with a severe ranking penalty, or even irrevocable website demotion in the search results). So, here is what I recommend to that point.

• Based on the recent expert survey, the following local-focused places can provide you the highest chances for getting new backlinks: Chambers of Commerce, local websites with .EDU/.GOV domain extensions, big data aggregators (i.e., popular business directories, local citations), as well as small news/media sites, dedicated local blog pages, and press releases.

• Consider utilizing “broken” link building opportunities. As for me, rushing out to scan high-ranking articles or local posts (and even the whole niche-related websites or blogs which seem enough promising for that) – is arguably the best way of locating & fixing broken “contextual” links. All you need is to inform the site owner or blog author on this unfortunate happening – and offer up your own web pages to new backlinks as a substitute (of course, given that you’re enough relevant to the subject/industry or a given locale).
• After all, you might as well have a deep delve into web analytics and competitive research. Use one of the broadest online platforms, such as Ahrefs, Semalt Analyzer (my fave one ever), Open Site Explorer, or SEO Spider – to run an in-depth analysis on your closest niche competitors. Simply check out for the best findings and top relevant link donors, which are already employed at least by two local websites owned by your niche rivals. Ultimately, that must give you a sure-fire solution – all you need is to determine their estimated PageRank and Domain Authority, then make up a draft list with the most promising candidacies. After all, simply complete link outreach with equally good chance of getting a positive answer – and you’re done.