What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the digital marketing buzzword for 2015. Remember that post where we talked about how the algorithm worked and we mentioned the Pigeon update? Pigeon and local SEO go together like macaroni and cheese, people.

Pigeon has been active for about seven months now, so digital marketing pros are finally at a stage where we fully understand it. The thing is, local SEO was always important, but now it’s absolutely integral.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is all about Google delivering results based on locational triggers e.g. the query, the proximity of the searcher to the result. The Pigeon Algorithm update aims to provide more relevant and accurate local search results. The results are affected both in Google’s SERP and also in Maps. Here’s an example: let’s say I Google ‘digital marketing Dublin’. You’ll see the following:

How do I optimise my website for Pigeon/Local SEO?

Local SEO isn’t separate to regular SEO, so you can’t just do a bit of local SEO and presume your site will magically rank on page one. Your Local SEO strategy needs to be a part of your digital marketing overall. In a good digital marketing campaign, everything works together.

With that in mind, here are some quick tips on how to optimise your site for local SEO:

• Add contact details to your website. Your address, most importantly. Make sure your address is the same as the one on your Google+ page and Google My Business.
• Get your location into your content. Nothing spammy, mind. But if you’re discussing wedding planners, for example, you could do a list like ‘Best Wedding Planners in Dublin’. Keep it relevant and interesting.
• Submit your site to directions e.g. Yelp. Make sure any directory you submit to is relevant. There’s no point submitting your site to directories in China or non-industry relevant directories.
• Sort you Google My Business Page out. Google My Business used to be called Google Places. It’s now been renamed. If you don’t have a local Google+ page, get one. A tutorial as to how to set up your Google My Business Page is here.