Local SEO is the practice of optimizing a website in order to increase traffic, leads and brand awareness from local search.

Common tasks associated with local SEO include finding local keywords, optimizing a business’s Google My Business profile, and building “NAP” citations.

How Does Local SEO Work?

At a high-level Local SEO works like “normal” Google search.

When someone does a search, Google scans through its index to provide the best results for that person’s query.

What makes Local SEO unique is that Google uses a different set of ranking factors to rank the local search results.

In fact, local SEO has a set of unique ranking signals, including:

  • The location that the person is searching from
  • NAP citations
  • Presence of Google My Business listing
  • Keywords used in Google My Business profile
  • Sentiment of online reviews
  • Keywords used in online reviews
  • Number of “check-ins” at that location
  • Shares on social media
  • Google Maps star rating for that business