What is local SEO and why is it important

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Let's start by giving a definition of “Local SEO”. Local SEO is the discipline that deals with optimizing the positioning of a local/geolocalized business on search engines . A local business is a place where the public/customers are received or whose interventions or services, even at home, are limited to a particular geographical area, such as:Hotels, B&Bs and accommodation facilities in generalCraftsmenMedical studiesGymsRestaurantsShopsMechanics, tire dealers…etc…


Local SEO, especially in recent years and with the spread of Special Data smartphones and voice search (a topic that we have also recently addressed on the blog)has acquired particular importance. In fact, searches such as "restaurant near here" , "pharmacy nearby" and similar are increasingly frequent , as also demonstrated by Google Trends :Google Trends Screenshot Restaurants local seoGoogle Trends data from the last 5 years shows that searches such as "near here" have increased The trend is also growing in Italy, although obviously less significantly than searches in English:Google Trends Screenshot Ristoranti Local seoEven in Italy, as shown by Google Trends, searches for nearby businesses have increased in the last 5 years.





Google, in its study on user behavior in local search , also notes that even in the case of paid ads, users expect geolocalized results , declaring that " 4 out of 5 users want ads on the search network to be personalized based on their their city, postal code or immediate vicinity ”.The Google study states that 4 out of 5 users want ads on the search network to be personalized based on their city, postal code or immediate vicinityIn this article, however, we will not focus on all the elements to take into consideration for effective Local SEO, such as claiming and completing the information on your My Business listing (Google maps) or optimizing the site for mobile devices, but we will focus on the usefulness and importance of Schema.org for Local SERPs .