Local SEO
What Is Local SEO?
How local search differs from traditional SEO, and which parts of it actually move customers.
7 min readUpdated 2026-08-14
Local search is a different question
Traditional SEO answers informational questions for anyone, anywhere. Local SEO answers a narrower one: who should I hire, visit, or call near me, right now. That changes what matters — proximity, relevance, business information accuracy, reviews, and how quickly someone can act.
The three surfaces you compete on
Local results usually involve a map pack, organic results, and your business profile. They pull from overlapping but different signals, which is why a business can rank organically while barely appearing in Maps, or vice versa.
Want to know how your business looks locally?
Get your free Locora auditWhere most local businesses lose
Rarely in one place. Incomplete profile information, thin service pages, no clear service area, slow mobile pages, and no review flow each cost a little. Together they cost the customer.
What to work on first
Accuracy before ambition: correct business information, one clear page per service you actually sell, obvious ways to contact you, and a repeatable way to ask happy customers for reviews.