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Local SEO: Business Tips for ‘Near Me’ Searches

January 30, 2025
Search Marketing Digital Marketing
Local SEO: Business Tips for ‘Near Me’ Searches

5 Ways to Rank Higher in ‘Near Me’ Searches with Local SEO

When someone types “self storage near me” or “best car rentals in California” on Google, you want your business to be the first thing they see in local search results. This way, you don’t miss out on the 75% of people who don’t click past the first page of search results. Local SEO can help you achieve favorable rankings and connect your business to nearby customers searching for your services when they’re most ready to make a purchase.

Local SEO is an effective way to reach high-intent customers, as 76% of people who search for local businesses will visit that same day. With the right local SEO strategy, you can get your business in front of more people, stand out from local competitors, and drive foot traffic to your physical stores and clicks to your website. 

There are three main spots your local business can show up in search results: at the top as sponsored ads, in the local pack (a highlighted list of local businesses), and in the organic search results. While local SEO offers many strategies to make your business stand out, we thought we’d do you a solid and share our top picks.

1. Build your Google Business Profile

Businesses often know they should have social media profiles, but a Google Business Profile is just as important. A Google Business Profile is a free listing that lets you manage everything about your business, from reviews and messages to bookings and ads. Plus, it’s a great addition to your local SEO strategy, helping to capture leads and drive traffic to your physical location.

However, it’s not enough just to make a profile, you’ll also need to optimize it. Here’s how:

  • Sign in with your Google account and fill out the necessary business information, making sure it reflects your business accurately—this includes your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number), working hours, website, and category.
  • Use your business description to introduce your business, incorporating local keywords your audience is likely to use when searching for your service. Keep it concise, under 750 characters.
  • Keep your business profile up-to-date by posting content users will find useful (many businesses like to repurpose content from their social media). Always include links and CTAs to prompt action from your audience (e.g., Learn More, Order Now, Call Now).
  • Update your profile with new images every week so users see the latest photos when browsing your service. Regular updates on your Google Business Profile also signal to Google that your profile is active, which can help improve your local SEO ranking.
  • Your Google Business Profile is often one of the first things customers see, so make sure you provide key information right away. The Q&A feature on Google Business Profile lets you answer common questions, helping customers easily make informed decisions about your local business.

2. Optimize your website with keywords

Local SEO works best when you know how to make keywords work for you, just like in traditional SEO. Optimizing for local SEO involves identifying high-volume keywords that people in your area are using when searching for your service. Keyword research tools like Ubersuggest, WordStream, Ahrefs, Serpstat, and others can help you find those keywords and phrases.

Once you’ve picked the keywords to rank for, incorporate them into your website, including location-specific terms (e.g., street, city, state). Make sure they’re spread across critical pages of your website, like your contact, About Us, location page, and services. Sprinkle your keywords organically throughout your webpage—titles, body, tags, and metadata included.

The same goes for your blog posts. Write local content that speaks to your local audience and weaves in the keywords you’re targeting, like how-tos, event updates, press releases, or customer stories. And don’t forget, local link-building backlinks can give your local SEO an extra boost. Adding schema markup will also help Google better understand your business offerings and location.

3. Grow your Google reviews

People tend to trust businesses with positive reviews, and Google reviews play a huge role in that. In fact, 99% of consumers read online reviews before buying. So, encouraging positive Google reviews is key for improving your local SEO and appearing in search engine results, particularly in the Google local pack.

Encourage local customers to leave online reviews—make the process convenient by sending emails or displaying QR codes in your stores. Just remember to avoid offering incentives for local business reviews, as it’s against Google’s policy and can lead to penalties. While more reviews give you a better shot at appearing in search results, don’t forget that quality matters too. Make sure your reviews are mostly positive and detailed, as this helps your local SEO. Plus, responding quickly to each customer review is a simple yet effective way to improve your local search ranking. Learn how to improve your Google Reviews based on the most recent update from December 2023.

4. Get your business listed

Improve your local SEO performance by listing your NAP on key data aggregators like Foursquare, Data Axle, Neustar Localeze, and the like. These services share your business details across local directories and search engines. Getting your business and information on these platforms makes you more visible in local SEO. Your information should match up across directories and platforms to stay reliable. Keeping your information consistent across the web tells Google you’re a legitimate business, improving your credibility and local ranking.

Don’t stop at data aggregators; list your business in local listings and online directories such as Yelp, Nextdoor, Yellow Pages, Bing Places, and so on. When people search for local services, these directories often appear at the top of search results. Being listed increases your visibility in organic search results and helps you connect with high-intent customers. 

5. Leverage Local Service Ads

Like with anything in digital marketing, there’s both an organic approach and a paid option to optimize for local SEO—and that paid option is through Local Service Ads (LSA). Whether you’re in plumbing, pet training, fitness, or education, this ad type is designed to help you reach the right people in your area. What makes it stand out from regular Google Ads is its focus on location—meaning, you choose the area, and your ads will appear for people in that region searching for your service. It’s a targeted, efficient way to get your business in front of the right audience.

To make the most of your LSA, you’ll want to make sure your Google Business Profile is fully optimized. A strong profile increases your chances of showing up in sponsored ads, the local pack, and organic results. The more visible you are, the more leads you’ll get. Plus, with LSAs, you only pay for actual leads, so there’s no waste in your budget.

Local SEO is the key to connecting with the right customers at the right time. If you want to attract more local customers, follow these simple local SEO tips and integrate them into your content marketing strategy. Make your business easy to find, and you'll connect with the right market in your location.