.Master Local SEO Keyword Research in Just Five Steps
If you’re looking to boost your local SEO rankings in 2024, keyword research is key.
Local SEO keyword research is the process of identifying the terms and phrases that your target audience is searching for online.
Knowing the right keywords to target can help you create content visible to your potential customers.
In this blog post, we’ll show you how to master local SEO keyword research in just five easy steps.
What Is Local SEO Keyword Research?
Local SEO keyword research is the process of identifying and analyzing search terms that potential customers use when searching for products or services in a specific geographic location. This form of keyword research focuses on finding keywords with local intent—those that indicate a user is looking for something in a particular area, such as “plumber near me” or “best coffee shop in [city name].”
By targeting local keywords, businesses can optimize their online content to appear in local search results, which increases visibility to potential customers in their area. Effective local keyword research involves using keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Keyword Magic Tool, and Google Search Console to find explicit local keywords, which include location modifiers like city or neighborhood names, as well as implicit local keywords, which are terms where local intent is implied but not stated outright.
Why is local keyword research important?
Local keyword research is crucial for any business that serves a specific geographic area. By understanding the search terms your potential customers are using, you can create content that is highly relevant to your business, which will help you rank higher in local search results.
Improves Local SEO Efforts: Local keyword research tells you which keywords to target to optimize your website and Google Business Profile for local searches. When you target the right local SEO keywords, you increase your chances of appearing in the local pack—the top three local business listings that appear in Google search results.
Drives Local Traffic: By targeting local keywords that are relevant to your business, you can attract more organic traffic from potential customers in your area. For instance, if you own a bakery in New York, targeting specific keywords like “best cupcakes in NYC” can help you attract customers who are searching for cupcakes in your local area.
Enhances Local Business Ranking: Conducting local keyword research helps you track local keyword rankings and adjust your strategy as needed. Local SEO ranking signals include Google Business Profile optimization, local keywords, reviews, and consistent NAP information. This can lead to better search engine results, making it easier for potential customers to find your business. Monitoring keyword difficulty and local search volumes is essential to finding the best local keywords that have high search volume but are not too competitive.
Increases Local Search Visibility: Effective local keyword research allows you to map keywords to specific business categories, products, or services that are relevant to your business. This ensures that your content is optimized for local searches, helping you stand out in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attracting more potential customers.
Supports Multi-Location Strategies: For businesses with multiple locations, local keyword research helps tailor content for each geographic location. By finding explicit and implicit local keywords, you can optimize your content to rank well in each location’s search results, improving your overall local rankings.
Provides Actionable Insights: Keyword research tools provide keyword data, such as search volume, keyword difficulty, and related keywords, which can inform your local SEO strategy. Understanding what people are searching for allows you to create content that meets the needs of your target market, ultimately leading to more conversions.
Strengthens Business Listings: Local keyword research can also be used to optimize your business listings on Google Business Profile and other platforms. By including relevant keywords in your business description, categories, and contact page, you can improve your local business ranking and attract more potential customers.
How to do local keyword research
1. Define Your Industry-Related Keywords
Local keyword research is an important part of optimizing your website for local searches.
It involves researching and selecting the most relevant keywords for your industry and local area.
This helps you to ensure that your content is properly optimized for search engine results pages (SERPs).
Local SEO keyword research requires common words and phrases your customers would use to search for your local business.
For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, terms like “homes for sale near me” or “real estate agents in [town/city]” are likely to be used by people looking for services in your area.
By defining your industry-related keywords, you can ensure that your content is optimized for local SEO searches and drive more traffic to your site.
2. Use Google Suggest (Google Autocomplete)
When it comes to local SEO keyword research, Google suggest is a valuable tool.
It’s also known as Google autocomplete, and it can be used to uncover long-tail keywords for your industry.
To use Google suggest, simply enter in a keyword related to your business into the search bar.
As you type, you’ll see suggestions from Google that are related to the keyword.
These suggestions can help you to uncover more specific keywords that is relevant to your business.
3. Research Your Competition
One of the best ways to do local SEO keyword research is to look at what your competition is doing. What keywords are they using?
You can start by searching for your competitors on Google, looking at the titles and descriptions of their pages, and seeing which words they are using.
By researching their target keywords, you can get an idea of what search terms they’re targeting and how successful they are at doing so.
You can use this research to find out what words have the highest search volume in your local area and which ones you should be targeting with your own campaigns.
This type of research is invaluable when it comes to optimizing for local keywords, and it’s something that all business owners should take advantage of.
The Google Keyword Planner is a great tool you can use (more on that below.)
Just pop in the homepage URL of your competitor(s), and Google will give you a bunch of keywords based on the terms that appear on that page.
4. Utilize Google Keyword Planner
This tool gives you search volume data for specific geographic areas.
It is great for finding new keywords to target (as mentioned above) and picking the right SEO keywords out of a list you have already made.
Using the Google Keyword Planner, you can see how many people are searching for specific keywords related to your industry in your target location.
Keep in mind that you need to have a Google Ads account.
This gives you valuable insight into what potential customers are actually searching for in your area.
You can then use this information to create content tailored to your local market and focus on keywords with high search volume.
Another great feature of the Google Keyword Planner is the ability to filter keywords by competition level.
This helps you identify the keywords that are easy to rank for and those that may require more effort or resources to achieve higher rankings.
5. Use Keyword Research Tools
If you’re looking to understand how to do local SEO keyword research, then using keyword research tools for SEO is one of the best ways to get started.
Local SEO keyword tools help find the most relevant and highly-searched keywords for your industry.
You can find a detailed guide for finding your favorite tools for 2023 here.
These tools can provide valuable insights into the types of keywords people use in their search queries when looking for a business like yours.
However, it’s important to remember that simply finding the right keywords isn’t enough. You need to make sure that you’re optimizing your content for those keywords as well to succeed with local SEO truly.
Bottom Line
No matter which route you decide to take, make sure that you stay focused on your goals and keep track of the keywords that you find during your research.
With the right local SEO keyword research strategy in place, you’ll be well on your way to achieving higher rankings. You will gain visibility for your business in 2024 and beyond.
