Local SEO may seem confusing, but it is a way to optimize your website and other online properties so local searches can find you. 

Whether you have a physical store for customers to visit or even a service-based business serving the local or multiple areas, then this guide is perfect for you. Also, if you’re a chain, franchise, or family-owned business, this guide will help you with your Local SEO.

There are many factors that this guide will walk you through. These will be how to rank your website highly in searches with better optimization, how to get your business to show up in the map pack, and how you can draw more business by showing up more in search engines.

If you use the strategies and resources in this online guide, you’ll be able to ensure that your target customers will find your business whenever they search online.

^{What Does Local SEO Look Like?}

Local SEO is ranking your business in search results, so they are localized where you do business. 

Depending on your business, it’s essential to take a look at the places where you’ll want to show up in search results. To help you further, here is what a Google search typically looks like:

If you’ve noticed, the first few lines are nothing but paid ads.

While this may come off as annoying, it does hold a lot of truth. For some time now, Google has been pushing for more ads to rank higher in local search results. You may want to remember this as you move forward in this guide.

So, after all those ads, your search results will look more like this:

This is what many SEO specialists refer to as a “Local 3 Pack”, “Map Pack,” or more commonly known as a “Snack Pack.” Mmm, snacks. Here, you’ll see a map pack with three listings and underneath them, the usual results from organic searches.

This is not the only place that influences searches for Local SEO.

Ranking in Maps

Many of your searches for local businesses will use Google Maps. The resource and strategies that you’ll find in this guide with help rank higher in this area:

Knowledge Graph

Local SEO also affects the knowledge graph:

Searches Without any Geo-Modifier

Geo-modifiers aren’t needed as you can still get localized results when you search.

Take a look at the image below. The term pharmacy was searched without entering any city or other localized data. Google will know where you are and will display all the local results.

Local SEO is everywhere. Even if you have a physical location for your business or if it’s a service area-based business, this guide will help you show up where you need to in all search results.