What is Local Search?
Dive in to learn what local search is, how it works, and why it is essential to small businesses. Learn how to enhance your online presence, get discovered by more local customers, and incorporate SEO. With the proper strategies, your business can appear in local top searches and receive better visibility.
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Local Search
Have you ever noticed and wondered how businesses near your local location appear when you are in search of a store, service, or restaurant? No matter your location, that is the power of local search! This unique marketing strategy and tool helps businesses reach nearby customers.
“The many goals of this form of promotion can include improving customer satisfaction, reputation, traffic, visibility, conversions, and revenue, with the underlying mission of engaging a greater number of nearby customers” (Mmeje 2024).
When people search for what they are looking for ‘near me’ or have their location services enabled regarding the area they are in, search engines will use those services to provide the most relevant results. However, even if you are not in search of a specific, social media settings can also show local ads, sponsors, etc, based on your nearby location.
Two Main Types of Local Search
There is organic and paid local search. Organic local search is non-paid results that appear through the platform or search engine algorithm naturally based on relevance, reviews, popularity, and distance. Paid local search is essentially sponsored ads, meaning businesses can pay for their content to be at the top of search results targeted towards convenience and location to try and get the searcher to engage with the first option they see, which is typical. The other forms of local search consist of maps such as Google Maps, voice such as Siri, and social media local search such as Facebook and Instagram, which we are all familiar with. For example, Google Maps will show a few top local results based on the area, along with basic information regarding phone numbers and website links. This is similar to the voice local search, that in a sense when you use Siri, ‘Find me the closest gas station’, essentially going to highlight keywords and locations to provide you an accurate result. This is popular for on-the-go necessities. Regarding social media local search, the concept here is that whatever you are searching for, the most highly rated, local, and common recommendations is what will be suggested. Usually, it will also be phrased as ‘Customer choice/pick’ or simply even ‘popular choice.
“Local SEO isn’t just about ranking higher in search results; it’s about building trust and convenience for customers. Statistics reveal that over 90% of consumers check online reviews before visiting a business, and nearly half of all Google searches have a local intent” (Harutyunyan, 2025).
No matter your business, utilizing local search is a great tool to promote your business, especially to those in the local area, whether it is travelers or residents.
What is SEO and How Does It Relate To Local Search
Search Engine Optimization helps enhance long-term marketing results for businesses by increasing their visibility. The way that it differs from local search is that a company must optimize its SEO strategies which means they must use relevant keywords, post quality and unique content, receive good reviews, add location details, etc. Local search is mainly based on location, whereas SEO is based on high-ranked keywords. When a business does this, the search engine takes over and will rank the results based on search relevance. High-ranked businesses become more trustworthy. SEO and local search can work as a powerhouse when implemented together. This can help build long-term visibility and boost standing in results.
A popular and helpful tool regarding SEO is the Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors.
An important factor that ties SEO and local search all together is truly focusing on the user- understanding what is important to them: accessibility, locality, speed/convenience.
Impact of Local Search
‘Open now near me’ searches have increased by 400%
42% of local searchers click into map pack results
Almost 64% of customers are likely to read Google reviews before visiting a local business
Over 1 billion voice searches are conducted every month
Mobile users conduct about 4.96 billion searches per day worldwide
14.1% of all keywords are phrased as a question
Over 90% of searches worldwide happen on Google
Less than 1% of users get to the second page of search results
*Google is the current leading search engine as of February 2025 according to this snapshot from Statcounter Globalstats*
Local Search for Small Businesses
Local search is a hidden gem for small businesses looking to grow and attract more customers. Given the current statistics above, it is clear that customers rely on search engines to make quick decisions. Having a strong brand presence ensures trust and reliability. With a minimal percentage of people who proceed to the second page, businesses must optimize the first page. When people search for a product or service ‘near me’ search engines show the results based on location which is helpful to small businesses that are looking to increase brand awareness and connect with locals. It is proven that local search improves foot traffic, engagement, and sales. While out and about many people use their phones to find quick results of stores and restaurants. Local Search is beneficial for small businesses as well because it is cost-effective. SEO can also be incorporated to improve visibility by location-based keywords, good reviews, and customer care. With that combined, it can be ensured that customers can find quality, convenient, and accessible businesses at all times. Social media specifically plays a huge role, think of how many people have the apps. Local awareness ads on social media can promote and target their business to people in nearby areas. With social media, the ads are open for interaction and so commenting and sharing is encouraged which can help spread awareness and the post, as well as build customer and brand relationships.