Local SEO is an optimization strategy that helps in optimizing a website for a local geographic area. This increases the online visibility within that area.
Businesses with a physical location are eligible for local SEO. Examples of such business include restaurants, bars, groceries, service oriented businesses and many more.
When a user carries out a search with local intent, then such businesses will be rendered within the local search results. Below is a sample illustration of such a search based on a Google search of “Restaurants in Toronto Canada”.
From the above screenshot, for a user looking for a restaurant around Toronto, he is presented with the above results as the first results. These results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence.
Demystifying Search Results
Still from our previous search term “Restaurants in Toronto Canada”, if you check on the first page results, you will notice that there are various results rendered. In general these are referred to as Local SERPS (Search results presented based on a search with local intent). These Local SERPS can be further classified into two sets of results:
- Local Pack
- Organic Results
Below is a sample illustration on the two sets:
Local Pack
These are the first three businesses with a map of their locations, that appear after a search is carried out, and are rendered just below the map.
This information is generated from the Google My Business profile.
Organic Results
These are the regular results rendered below the local pack.
The goal of local SEO is to have your business rank in local pack results as well as appear within the first page of the organic results.