Do you want to attract more customers locally without spending a fortune on ads? Local keyword research is your secret weapon.
By knowing what potential customers are searching for online, you can make your business more visible to those who matter most: local shoppers.
This article covers local keyword research and guides you step-by-step on how to apply it to your business.
Why is local keyword research important?
Local keyword research is important because you need to understand what people are typing into search engines like Google when they are searching for your business’s products or services.
Most people simply guess at these keywords and assume they know how people are searching for their business. This often leads them to target the wrong keywords or completely neglect those that could positively impact their profits.
For example, if you’re a plumber in Delhi, you’ve probably already figured out that you want to rank for keywords like “Plumber in Delhi.” But what about the other services you offer? Do you have a page dedicated to drain unblocking? Do you know how people search for those services?
Local vs. General Keyword Research
When you do general keyword research, your goal is to understand the terms people use to describe companies, products, or services like yours. This is the best approach for businesses that operate nationally or globally and don’t have a local model.
Local keyword research helps you understand how people search for businesses, products, or services like yours in a specific geographic area.
The main difference between general and local keyword research is the structure of the keywords.
General keywords might be “best coffee beans” or “dental floss brands.” Local keywords include location-specific terms, such as state, city, or neighborhood (e.g., “best coffee shop in Medellin” or “dentist near me”).
An important part of local keyword research is identifying the exact location modifiers your audience uses in their searches. Especially for businesses like yours.
Local intent: implicit vs. explicit keywords
Local intent refers to a searcher’s desire to find results relevant to their geographic location. Google is pretty good at figuring this out. It uses several signals to determine when someone is searching for local businesses or information.
A clear clue for Google is the presence of explicitly local keywords in the search. For example, “bakery in Miami” or “restaurants near Miami Zoo.”
However, Google also considers implicit local intent. This happens when a search doesn’t explicitly mention a location, but the user is specifically looking for results near them.
Google uses a variety of factors to determine local intent. Such as:
- The type of business: Phrases like “bakery” or “dry cleaners” typically indicate local search intent.
- Searcher location: Google may use your IP address and other signals to understand where you are located.
- Search history: If you’ve been searching for local businesses recently, Google is more likely to assume you’re doing so again.
When researching keywords, you’ll definitely want to focus on those with explicit local intent. Like “bakery in Miami.”
But don’t forget about implicit local intent, too. Many people simply search for “bakeries” while they’re in your area. And you want to make sure your business shows up in those results, too.
How do I find local keywords?
Keyword research tools will help you find a list of relevant terms. They will generate a list of related keywords. From this list, you can discover ideas about what kind of keywords to include on your site.
For example, if you’re an event planner in Delhi, you might start by searching for “event planner Delhi.” By entering that information into a free keyword tool, you’ll get a list of suggested keywords related to that search.
From this list, you can select local keywords that you think will help you rank in the right results. In general, for local searches, you’ll want to stick to phrases like:
- [type of business/product/service] in Delhi
- [type of business/product/service] Delhi
- Delhi [type of business/product/service]
- Best [type of business/product/service] in Delhi
So if you were an event organizer, you might see those keywords appear as:
- Event organizers in Delhi
- Wedding planner Delhi
- Party planning in Delhi
- Best event planner in Delhi
By conducting local keyword research, you’ll help your business appear in geographically targeted search results so more local customers can find your business.
Alternatively, if your business already ranks for localized search terms, you can use a position checker tool like Google Search Console to assess your existing rankings and prioritize localized keywords from there, such as “event organizers in [city], [state].”
How do I choose and rank for the best local keywords?
When you do keyword research, you get a results page full of keyword ideas, and it can quickly become overwhelming trying to filter through them. Let’s look at three steps to choosing local SEO keywords that will help you generate more local customers.
1. Specify your location
The first, and perhaps most important, step in finding local SEO keywords is to specify your location. You need to establish what areas you want to target for local searches. You can target location keywords that are close to your business or where you travel to provide service.
For example, let’s say your event planning business is located in Medellin. If you offer service in Medellin and nearby suburbs, you could target locations with local SEO as well. It’s essential to include all the places you serve so you can reach people in those areas.
When doing local keyword research, focus on industry-related keywords.
For example, let’s say you notice that “talent agents in Delhi” is a high-volume keyword, so you try to rank for it to increase traffic to your site. Even if your event planning business isn’t a talent agency, you still want to increase traffic to your site.
When this traffic comes to your site, these users will discover that your page is not relevant to their search query. They were looking for a talent agent and didn’t find one on your page. As a result, they leave your page and return to the search results to find another listing.
So, not only did you not get any leads, but now you have increased your bounce rate. A high bounce rate sends a signal to Google that your page doesn’t fit the search query, so Google will rank your page lower. Lower rankings mean less traffic and reliable leads for your page.
Instead of trying to rank for these irrelevant terms, focus on industry-related keywords. Industry-related keywords will ensure that you attract the right customers who are searching for your products or services. So, if you were an event organizer, you could focus on terms like:
- Event organizers in Delhi
- Party planners Delhi
- Event organizers Delhi
- Event coordinator in Delhi
3. Include keyword modifiers
As you find keywords for local searches, you’ll want to add keyword modifiers to some of your terms. Keyword modifiers add more to your main keyword and help expand your reach, so you can attract more relevant traffic and generate more leads. There are four types of keyword modifiers you can use with your keywords:
- Quality: As the name suggests, quality modifiers refer to the quality of your business. These include phrases like “best” or “top.” An example of a key phrase is “best event planners in Delhi.”
- Occasion: Occasion modifiers focus on a specific event or point in time. These include phrases like “fall,” “birthday,” or “Christmas.” An example of a keyword is “Delhi Wedding Planner.”
- Type: The type modifier focuses on something your business offers. If you were an event planner at a specific location, you might offer catering or an event hall. An example of a keyphrase is “wedding halls Delhi.”
- Special Offer: Your business is unique and you can use special offer modifiers to help people find what’s unique about your company. These keywords can include offers like same-day shipping, all-inclusive, and more. An example is “all-inclusive wedding venues in Delhi.”
These keyword modifiers help you connect with locals who are searching more specifically.
