How Local Keyword Research Affects Your Ranking

Local keyword research is a fundamental aspect of local SEO that involves identifying relevant search terms and phrases that potential customers use to find local businesses, products, or services. By targeting these local keywords, businesses can optimize their online presence, improve their visibility in local search results, and ultimately drive more traffic and conversions. In this article, we will delve deeper into local keyword research, explaining what it is, how it’s done, and highlighting some powerful tools that can aid the process, such as KWFinder, Ahrefs, and Agency Analytics.

What is Local Keyword Research?

Local keyword research is the process of identifying search terms and phrases that people use to find local businesses, products, or services in a specific geographical area. These local keywords usually include a combination of product or service-related terms and geographical indicators, such as city names, neighborhoods, or landmarks. For example, “HVAC company in Dallas” or “dentist near Burleson.”

By understanding and targeting these local keywords, businesses can better tailor content, website structure, and marketing efforts to match the needs and preferences of their target audience in a specific location. This, in turn, can result in improved search rankings, increased online visibility, and more targeted organic traffic.

How Local Keyword Research is Done

1. Brainstorming: Start by brainstorming a list of keywords and phrases related to your products or services, and then add location-specific terms to create locally-focused search queries. Consider the language your target audience uses, as well as colloquial terms or slang that might be unique to your area.
2. Google Auto Complete: This is a search feature that offers real-time search suggestions based on popular queries and user behavior. It serves as a valuable keyword research tool by providing insights into trending search terms and long-tail keywords. SEO professionals and marketers can use these suggestions to identify relevant keywords for their niche and target audience, improving their content and optimization strategies.
3. Competitor Analysis: Analyze your local competitors’ websites and online presence to identify the keywords they are targeting. This can help you discover additional keyword opportunities and give you insights into the local search landscape.
4. Keyword Research Tools: Utilize keyword research tools, such as KWFinder, Ahrefs, and Agency Analytics, to generate a list of relevant local keywords, assess their search volume, and evaluate the competition.
5. Analyzing Data: Analyze the data provided by the keyword research tools to identify high-volume, low-competition local keywords that represent the best opportunities for your business.
6. Prioritization and Implementation: Prioritize the most relevant and valuable local keywords and incorporate them into your website content, meta tags, and Google Business Profile listing.

Tools for Local Keyword Research

Several powerful tools can significantly streamline the local keyword research process and provide valuable insights to guide your local SEO efforts. Some of these tools include:

1. KWFinder: KWFinder is a user-friendly keyword research tool that tracks specific keyword volume and difficulty, allowing you to identify the best local keywords to target. With its intuitive interface and robust filtering options, KWFinder makes it easy to find location-specific keywords and assess their search volume, competition, and potential value for your business.
2. Ahrefs: Ahrefs is an all-in-one SEO toolset that is particularly adept at competitor keyword and website analysis. By examining your local competitors’ organic keywords, backlink profiles, and content, Ahrefs can help you uncover untapped keyword opportunities and refine your local SEO strategy. Additionally, Ahrefs offers a comprehensive keyword research tool, known as Keywords Explorer, which provides search volume, keyword difficulty, and other useful metrics for local keywords.
3. Agency Analytics: Agency Analytics is a versatile SEO and marketing analytics platform that features geotargeted keyword tracking. With its local rank tracking capabilities, Agency Analytics enables you to monitor your website’s performance for specific local keywords and as a whole across different search engines and locations. This can help you assess the effectiveness of your local SEO efforts and make data-driven decisions to optimize your online presence.

Improve Your Customer Targeting and Increase ROI

At Nickel SEO, we understand the importance of local keyword research in helping small businesses increase their real ROI. By focusing on identifying and targeting the search terms and phrases used by your “perfect customer,” you can create a more effective and targeted online presence, ultimately driving more sales and boosting your bottom line. Here’s how local keyword research can contribute to this process:

1. Improved Website Content and Structure: By identifying the local keywords that your ideal customers are using to find businesses like yours, you can create content that directly addresses their needs, interests, and pain points. This not only improves your website’s relevance to search engines but also provides value to your target audience, increasing the likelihood of converting visitors into customers.
2. Better Targeting of Marketing Efforts: Local keyword identification enables you to tailor your marketing efforts to your target audience, ensuring that your promotional campaigns, social media posts, and other marketing initiatives are aligned with their preferences and interests. By using the right local keywords in your marketing materials, you can attract more qualified leads and ultimately drive more sales.
3. Enhanced Google Business Profile Listing: Optimizing your Google Business Profile listing with local keywords can significantly improve your visibility in local search results. This helps your business stand out from the competition, making it more likely for potential customers to choose your products or services over others.
4. Higher Local Search Rankings: Targeting selected keywords that are relevant and have high search volume but low competition can lead to higher rankings in local search results. This increased visibility means that more potential customers will discover your business when searching for local products or services, resulting in more traffic to your website and physical location.
5. Increased Brand Awareness: By consistently using local keywords across your website, marketing materials, and online presence, you can establish your brand as a local authority in your niche. This increased brand recognition can help build trust and credibility with your target audience, making them more likely to choose your business over competitors.
6. More Accurate Performance Metrics: Local keyword analysis allows you to track the performance of your SEO and marketing efforts more accurately. By focusing on the keywords that matter most to your target audience, you can better measure your success in attracting the right customers, driving more sales, and increasing your ROI.

By leveraging local keyword research, small businesses can create a more targeted and effective online presence that appeals to their ideal customers. At Nickel SEO, we recognize the power of local keyword research in helping businesses improve their ROI and drive more sales. With our expertise and strategic approach, we help small businesses harness the potential of local SEO and maximize their success in today’s competitive digital landscape with real increases in sales.

For example, over the past four months working with an HVAC company in DFW, we helped them increase their sales from $60,000 per month to over $240,000 per month. While we protect our clients confidentiality, we do provide referrals from our active and past clients so that business owners and marketing directors can get a real feel of our digital marketing capabilities.