For Google, the most important thing is the user experience. To strengthen the latter, the number 1 in research in France decided a few years ago to geolocate its results. Indeed, a mobile user carrying out a search for a hairdressing salon, for example, obviously wishes to obtain suggestions close to where he is, and not at the other end of France. This is what SEO professionals call local SEO. An opportunity for entrepreneurs, SMEs, and ETI but also large accounts with many local branches.
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Geolocation is one of the criteria of your visibility
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an anglicism defined as the set of criteria and optimizations essential to enhance the visibility of a web page or website in Google’s search results. The final objective is obviously to be among the first results on key queries for the company.
Among the thousands of criteria taken into account by Google to estimate the degree of relevance of websites on a particular query, we find in particular:
- user experience (UX): the bounce rate, the ergonomics of the site on all types of screen (mobile-first), the loading time, or the user journey positively influence your SEO. For some professionals, the number 1 criterion will soon be the user experience (UX)
- the technical elements specific to the site such as the quality of the code, the weight and the speed of loading of a page, the tree structure and the structure of the site or the HTTPS
- on-page or on-site optimization: this is the set of techniques aimed at improving the quality of the content of a page or a site such as the organization of information (structure Hn), the quality editorial content or internal networking
- off-site optimization which concerns everything related to the environment of a site, and especially external links (net linking), both in terms of origin and quality of anchors for example
- Local SEO: Appearing in 2006, local SEO has grown considerably in recent years as Google seeks to provide its users with results based on their geographic location whenever relevant. It is now a powerful lever of visibility for all companies whose customers are located in a well-defined catchment area.
How is local SEO an opportunity for your visibility?
The geolocation of the results offered from the outset according to the location of the users is one of the notable developments in search engines in recent years. An evolution as important as the transition from blind advertising stuffing in mailboxes to the sending of targeted mailings.
Local referencing is above all a powerful lever of visibility that can be appropriated by all structures and companies whose customers are located in a defined catchment area. This is particularly the case for the artisan pastry chef, the caterer, the driver’s license point recovery center, the fitness room, or even the SME specializing in the delivery of firewood.
Integrated into any good SEO strategy, the geographical positioning of these entrepreneurs, craftsmen and other SMEs is, therefore, a tremendous opportunity for visibility in their catchment area and in their search engines.
How does local SEO work?
For Google, there are two types of localized searches:
- requests without geographical precision but which are logically linked to your geographical position. This is particularly the case for all queries such as “Indian restaurant”. For the search engine, whether you are on a fixed or mobile browser, it is the place where you stand that makes it possible to geolocate the results. If we take the previous example, it does indeed seem logical to offer the addresses of Indian restaurants located near the Internet user, and not nationwide. The results displayed by Google, therefore, differ depending on where you are standing.
- queries including geographical precision such as “Indian restaurant Rennes”. In this case, the results offered are composed of the contacts of the companies located in the specified area or city. This time, the results are identical because they are not linked to the geographical position of the applicant, but to that specified in the search.
It should also be noted that Google is able to differentiate a general request such as “video games” from another of a local nature such as “Paris video games”.
Geolocated referencing: advantage for local professionals
The objective of any company is the same, to appear in the first search results for queries targeted and related to their activity. However, it can be very complicated to position yourself on very competitive and generic terms related to a business or a city (the larger the city, the greater the difficulty).
For a company working in a targeted catchment area, the problem is different since its interest is to be only well positioned on requests related to its activity + a specific city or department. If we take the example of the Indian restaurant, a good web visibility strategy integrating a significant part of local SEO allows it to appear prominently on all requests related to its activity, regardless of the geographical area. that is :
- specified: in this case, the company is legitimate to appear in the geolocated results
- not specified: the professional appears in local Google results if and only if the search is carried out by a mobile user or an Internet user in his catchment area
In either case, the target is precisely that of the company, which increases the conversion rate. This can take the form of telephone contact or even a visit by the Internet user to the establishment.
