Last Updated on September 22, 2024 by Admin
Standard SEO tactics may not help in drawing in local customers. That’s where local SEO keyword research comes in handy.
Local SEO keyword research is a process by which specific keywords and phrases are identified to target users with local relevance.
These are the terms that potential customers in your area are typing when they’re searching for businesses like yours.
Businesses should optimize their website or content with such local keywords to get maximum local visibility in the search results, which thereby leads to getting more customers for the business.
Consider these stats
- 46% of all Google searches are looking for local information. (Source)
- 72% of consumers who perform a local search visit a store within five miles of their current location. (Source)
- 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else. (Source)
In other words, if your business doesn’t appear in local search results, you could be missing out on many potential users.
By conducting thorough local SEO keyword research, you can ensure that your business is visible to local customers when they are searching for products or services.
In this article, we will learn more about local SEO keyword research and how to do it successfully. So, let’s begin!
Why is Keyword Research Important for Local SEO?
Let’s understand the importance of keyword research with an example!
Let’s assume you have a small bakery in New York City. You specialize in custom cakes for weddings and special occasions.
Now, let’s say a couple is getting married and wants to order a custom cake for the wedding. They will search Google for ‘wedding cakes near me’ or ‘custom cakes in NYC.’
Without keyword research, your bakery’s website may not be properly optimized with the right keywords to attract potential customers.
As a result, when the couple searches for wedding cakes or custom cakes in their area, your bakery might not show up in the search results. Instead, they might find other bakeries that have optimized their websites with these keywords.
If you’ve done some keyword research and found terms like ‘wedding cakes NYC’ or ‘custom cakes Manhattan,’ you can use these words smartly to make your website and content more visible.
As a result, when a user searches for these terms, your bakery is more likely to appear in the local search results.
This increases the chances of discovering your bakery, visiting your website, and ultimately choosing you to create their custom wedding cake.
How to Do Local Keyword Research?
Local keyword research for SEO involves several steps to ensure you’re targeting the right terms to reach your local audience effectively. Here are the steps:
1. Identify your primary offerings
Let’s start by discussing what your business offers. This is the foundation of your local keyword research. Write down everything you do, whether it’s one main service or multiple offerings. Think of it as introducing your business to a friend.
Say you run a landscaping company. Your list might appear like this:
- Landscaping
- Garden design
- Lawn maintenance
If you’re into something more specific, or if your business covers a wide range, write it all down. This isn’t just a to-do list—it’s the heart of your business, so have a little fun with it!
2. Build out the keyword list with specifics
Once you have listed a couple of core words, you can get even more specific to build out your list. Let’s continue with the landscaping business. Their core words were landscaping, garden design, and lawn maintenance.
We can get more specific here:
- Residential landscaping services
- Commercial landscape design
- Backyard garden planning
- Front yard lawn care
- Organic lawn fertilization
- Seasonal garden maintenance
- Custom landscape lighting
- Drought-resistant landscaping
- Hardscaping and pavers
- Tree planting and care
3. List location terms and areas
Next, list location terms. These are keyword modifiers searchers use to make their local intent explicit. People search locally using terms like ‘nearby,’ ‘local’, and ‘near me.’ So, add these to your list. Then, include names of places specific to your location.
The towns, areas and cities that customers might base their search around. If your business is located in a different area, you might consider adding relevant local cities to your list. For example:
- Denver
- Boulder
- Aurora
- Littleton
4. See what related searches show up
Now, it’s time to do a little research to see what’s already ranking on search engines for specific keywords. It’s preferable to use incognito mode for this.
Do a few searches on Google and Bing for the top-level and specific keywords you have outlined. Check out what’s showing up and if searches are related to your business and what you offer.
If you find searches that don’t match what you’re offering, it’s a hint that you should drop that keyword or tweak it a bit. Also, take a
look at the search results that pop up – there might be some good terms there that you haven’t thought of adding to your list yet.
5. Look for questions related to your business
By now, you should have a solid list of basic local keywords. Now, it’s time to expand that list by incorporating long-tail local keywords and phrases.
Long-tail keywords are like asking a full question instead of just a couple of words. For example, instead of searching “landscaping service,” someone might ask, “Where’s the best landscaping service in Dallas?” This kind of search is particular and helps people find exactly what they want.
Long tail keywords provide helpful content topic suggestions that you can add to your website, like on an FAQ page or in blog posts. This helps your website show up in search results for specific, local questions people have.
For example, if you’re a local restaurant, you could write about “The best dishes to try for first-time visitors in New York.” This kind of content can improve your visibility in local searches.
You can find questions related to your products or services by conducting a search on Google and looking at the ‘People also ask’ section on the search results page.
6. Search for your competition
Another tip for finding local keywords is looking at your competitors’ actions. Check which keywords they use, which places they focus on, and which searches show their website. This can give you ideas for your own keywords.
By identifying what your competitors are doing well, you can improve areas of work for your local SEO. This will give you more ideas about local keywords that you can add.
You can also look at the paid search ads that are showing up for your searches. This will give you an idea of what search terms competitors are likely bidding on to show up for potential customers.
Wrapping Up!
Well, we hope this article will help you understand the steps you need to take for local SEO keyword research. By doing thorough keyword research, your business can rank better on search engines and attract more customers. In case you need some assistance, it’s advisable to contact a reputable digital marketing agency like AlgoSaga. The experts will help you build a local keyword list and make your business appear in local search results.