Local SEO for E-commerce: Your Complete Guide To Optimising Your Online Store 

Understanding local SEO and its importance for e-commerce 

Local SEO focuses on reaching potential customers in a specific geographical area. If you have an e-commerce business and a physical store, this is often highly beneficial for not only driving traffic and sales through your online store but to drive visits to your physical location too. 

Unlike broader SEO strategies that cater to a global audience, local SEO hones in on reaching potential customers within a specific geographical area. 

Statistics show that 60% of consumers contact businesses directly from the local search results. Plus, 76% of people visit a business within a day of searching. So, if you want to reach customers in your local area and drive people in-store, local SEO is an essential strategy. 

Benefits of local SEO for e-commerce 

Here are just some of the benefits of investing in a local SEO strategy for your business. 

• Increased visibility in local search results - by optimising your website, product or category pages for location specific terms, you ensure that people who are searching in your local area find your store when they’re searching online. For example, you might optimise your website for ‘electrical store in sheffield’ or a category page for ‘buy 42 inch television in sheffield’. Using these terms across your website will not only drive customers to your website, they may also come and visit you in-store too, so they can take products away on the same day.
• Higher conversion rates due to targeted local traffic - broader SEO strategies mean targeting customers in a range of geographical areas and, if you have a physical location, targeting customers who are never going to visit you or buy from you. However, targeting local traffic means you’re targeting people who are actively searching for your product in their area so they’re much more likely to convert. 
• Competitive advantage in your local market - when you optimise for local SEO, you appear above your competitors in the local search rankings. General keywords target a much broader audience and can be much more competitive, making it tricky to rank highly for those keywords. On the other hand, keywords with local intent tend to have lower competition, making it easier for your website to rank and for potential customers to find you rather than your competitors when they’re searching online.
• Enhanced trust and credibility through local reviews and ratings - when you have a Google My Business account (which is an essential part of your local SEO strategy) your customers can leave reviews and ratings on your page. Research shows that 93% of customers will read online reviews before making a purchase so when you’re trying to compete in the search results and drive people to buy from you, gathering positive reviews is essential. 

Developing your local SEO strategy for your e-commerce store 

Once you’ve decided whether or not a local SEO strategy would suit your e-commece business, it’s time to implement your strategy. Here are our top tips on where you can get started. 

Optimise on-page SEO 

The first step to a local SEO strategy is conducting keyword research to find the keywords your potential customers are using in relation to products, business and local area. 

Once you have these keywords, you’ll need to use them to optimise your website. This includes page titles, page descriptions, on-page content and even your URL structure to help both search engines and users understand where your business is located. 

If your main website is targeting broader keywords but you also have a physical store, build landing pages that target specific locations and keywords so you can target both national and local keywords. 

Set up and optimise your Google My Business profile 

Having a Google My Business profile is essential if you want to target local customers. 

It appears in the search results when users search either specifically for your business or for the keywords related to your business. It looks like this: 

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As you can see, the profile contains all the information potential customers need to contact you or visit you. They can also use Google Maps to find your store location from wherever they’re currently located. 

Make sure the information you add is as accurate as possible. Your brand name, address and phone number should match across all your online profiles and your website. It should also tell people exactly what your business is, where you are and how they can contact you. You can also collect reviews here which are essential for driving local customers. 

Optimise your website for mobile 

If you want to ensure success for your local SEO strategy, you will need to ensure that your e-commerce site is fully optimised for mobile. 57% of local searches are conducted on mobile so this is essential. 

But, what does it mean for your website to be mobile friendly? 

• Loads quickly 
• Easy to navigate 
• Responsive design 
• Simple design 
• Buttons optimised for touch screen

Ensuring your website meets these criteria will help you to drive success for your e-commerce business. 

Local content marketing 

When you conduct your keyword research, you should also take note of the longer-tail keywords relevant to your area. Alongside optimising your website and product pages for local search terms, create blog posts, videos or other content that will resonate with a local audience. Think about the content that your local target audience will want to see and how you can build trust and relationships in your local community. 

Track and measure your local e-commerce SEO results 

SEO is a long-term strategy so you’ll have to continually tweak your website, make improvements and create content on an ongoing basis to see results for your business. 

To ensure that you stay on the right track, utilise tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and SEMrush to find out how well your website is performing and where you might need to make tweaks to further drive results. 

Key takeaways 

Local SEO is a strategic aporoach that can dramatically increase your online visibility, attract more geographically targeted traffic, and increase your sales conversions. By focusing on local SEO, you’re not only making your e-commerce store accessible to local shoppers but also boosting your chances of bringing them into your physical locations. 

Remember that SEO is an ongoing process, requiring continuous effort and refinement. Whether you choose to optimise your e-commerce site yourself or seek the expertise of an experienced SEO agency, the key is to start now and keep improving. 

Local SEO is an essential strategy for any e-commerce business looking to thrive in a crowded digital marketplace. Start optimising today, monitor your progress, and adjust your strategies accordingly to keep your business growing. 

To find out more about how your e-commerce SEO strategy is performing, why not request a free 30-minute consultation with one of our experts? We’ll tell you how your strategy is currently performing and the improvements you can make to drive performance. 

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