If you serve clients in your city, your region, or even just in Australia, local SEO is the most important thing you can focus on when it comes to getting found online.
Yet most small business owners I work with have barely scratched the surface of it. Either they haven’t heard of it, or they’ve heard the term and assumed it was too technical to be worth exploring. It is not. And in this post I am going to show you exactly why local SEO matters and what you can start doing about it today.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the practice of optimising your online presence so that your business appears in search results when people are looking for services in a specific location.
When someone searches for “nutritionist Brisbane” or “accountant for small business Melbourne”, they are making a local search. Google knows they want results that are geographically relevant, so it serves up a mix of the map pack (those three local business listings with a map) and regular website results below.
Local SEO is about making sure you appear in both, especially that map pack, because that is prime real estate that sits above most website results.
How is it different from regular SEO?
Great question. Regular SEO (sometimes called organic SEO) is about ranking for search terms that are not location-specific. For example, “how to write a business plan” or “best project management tools.” These are searches where location does not really matter.
Local SEO is specifically about location-based searches. And for most service businesses, especially those working with clients in a particular city or region, local SEO is far more relevant and often easier to win.
There is less competition at a local level than at a national or global level. A naturopath in Hobart is not competing with every naturopath in Australia for local searches, just those in Hobart. That is a significantly smaller pool.
The 3 pillars of local SEO
1. Your Google Business Profile
This is the biggest lever you have for local search visibility. Your Google Business Profile is the listing that appears in the map pack, and it is completely free to set up and maintain.
An optimised, active, well-reviewed profile is the foundation of strong local SEO. If you have not set yours up yet, or if yours is gathering dust with minimal information, that is the first thing to fix.
2. Your website
Your website needs to clearly communicate your location and what you do. That means:
- Your city or region mentioned naturally in your homepage copy, not buried in the footer
- A dedicated “Service Areas” or “Location” page if you serve multiple areas
- Your business name, address, and phone number (called your NAP) listed consistently on your website and matching what is on your Google Business Profile
- Location-specific keywords used naturally throughout your content
If you work from home and do not want to share your home address publicly, that is completely fine. You can hide your address in your GBP and set a service area instead. Your website can simply state the region or city you serve.
3. Reviews and citations
Reviews are powerful social proof, and they are a genuine ranking factor for local search. Google pays attention to how many reviews you have, how recent they are, and what they say.
Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites – directories like True Local, Yellow Pages, and industry-specific listings. Consistent citations across the web help Google verify that your business is legitimate and where you say it is.
Do you need local SEO if you work with clients online?
This is a question I get asked a lot. The short answer: yes, often.
Even if you do all your work via Zoom and your clients are spread across Australia, you are still a local business. You are based somewhere. The people who live and work near you are often your warmest leads – people who have seen you at an event, heard about you from a friend, or feel a connection because you are in the same city.
Being visible in local search means being findable to people who are already in your orbit, even if they have not met you yet.
Where to start
If you are brand new to local SEO, here is your priority list:
- Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile. Complete every section, add photos, and start collecting reviews.
- Make sure your website clearly states what you do and where you are based.
- Check that your NAP (name, address, phone) is consistent everywhere online — website, GBP, social profiles, directories.
- Ask your happy clients for reviews, and respond to every single one.
And if you want a deeper dive into SEO in general, start with my post: SEO for small business owners in Australia — the beginner’s guide.
