Google has consistently focused on three key factors in determining local search results:

Relevance: This refers to how well a business listing matches the searcher’s query. Ensuring that your Google Business Profile (GBP) contains accurate and detailed information about your services or products is essential for matching relevant search queries.

Proximity: A user’s physical location in relation to your business continues to be an important ranking factor. This means optimizing your online presence to target local customers, ensuring you show up in search results when potential clients nearby are searching for businesses like yours.

Prominence: Google rewards businesses that demonstrate trustworthiness and authority. This is measured through online reviews, local citations, and backlinks to your site. Consistently managing your online reputation is essential for improving prominence.

Marketers should regularly audit their business information to ensure it is relevant and optimized for local SEO. Keep in mind that consistency across all platforms (Google Business Profile, social media, etc.) is critical in maintaining relevance and trust.

For local businesses, optimizing your Google Business Profile is more important than ever. A well-optimized and up-to-date profile can significantly enhance your visibility in local searches. Focus on the following elements:

Complete Profile: Make sure your business profile is fully optimized with up-to-date information such as your address, business hours, photos, services, and categories. The more complete your profile, the higher the likelihood you’ll appear in relevant searches.

Engagement: Regularly posting updates, responding to customer reviews, and adding fresh content such as photos or offers can help boost your profile’s ranking. Interaction shows that your business is active and engaged with its customers, which Google favors.

Google has expanded its content evaluation criteria by introducing E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This update emphasizes the importance of content that not only demonstrates expertise but also shares real-world experience.

For local businesses, this means optimizing their content and online presence to reflect these factors. Here’s how you can apply E-E-A-T to local SEO:

• Experience: Showcase your practical experience in your industry by sharing case studies, testimonials, or showcasing completed projects.
  
• Expertise: Demonstrate your industry knowledge by providing valuable, accurate information that helps users solve problems or make informed decisions.
  
• Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: Build a robust online reputation through positive customer reviews and maintaining a consistent, high-quality Google Business Profile.

Local Services Ads (LSAs) are a prominent feature in local search results for service-based businesses such as plumbers, electricians, and realtors. These ads appear at the top of search results, with a big green badge, and can help businesses secure a top position in local searches.

Businesses running LSAs that have verified licenses and meet Google’s criteria for trustworthy service providers may see an increase in visibility and rankings in 2024. Consider adding LSAs to your local SEO strategy if they’re available for your industry.

User experience (UX) has become an integral part of search engine optimization, and this trend is expected to continue in 2024. Local businesses that deliver a superior user experience online are more likely to rank higher in search results. Key aspects of user experience include:

Mobile-Friendliness: Mobile traffic now dominates online searches, and Google emphasizes mobile-responsive design. Ensure your website is optimized for mobile devices, with fast load times and easy navigation.

Page Speed: Slow websites are more likely to see a drop in rankings. Google prioritizes websites that load quickly, as they provide a better experience for users. Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can help you optimize performance.

User Reviews: The quantity and quality of your reviews directly impact your local rankings. Businesses with consistent, positive reviews on platforms like Google Business Profile (formerly GMB) tend to perform better in local search results. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and respond promptly to both positive and negative feedback to show engagement.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are becoming more prominent in Google’s search algorithms. Technologies like BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and MUM (Multitask Unified Model) have revolutionized how Google understands search intent and context.

In 2025, you can expect AI and ML to play an even bigger role in local SEO:

Smarter Search Results: Google is getting better at understanding natural language queries, including voice searches. This will lead to more accurate local search results, so businesses must ensure their content aligns with the way people speak and ask questions.

Personalized Results: Google increasingly uses AI to offer more personalized search results based on users’ behavior, interests, and search history. To capitalize on this, businesses should provide valuable, relevant content that appeals to their target audience’s specific needs.

In 2024, we may see visual search technology and augmented reality (AR) play a larger role in local searches. For example:

Visual Search: Google Lens and other image-based search technologies allow users to search based on images, which may increase the importance of high-quality visuals in search results.

AR Features: Businesses, especially in industries like real estate and restaurants, may begin utilizing AR features to offer customers immersive experiences, such as virtual tours or 3D product views. These features could give businesses a competitive edge in local searches.

Google continues to rely heavily on reviews to determine rankings, but the importance of review recency and review frequency is expected to increase in 2024. Regular, positive reviews can help establish credibility and trust, key factors for ranking higher in local search.

Additionally, sentiment analysis—Google’s ability to assess the tone and context of reviews—may become more sophisticated. It’s not just about star ratings anymore. Encourage customers to leave detailed reviews that highlight their positive experiences.

Warning: Buying fake reviews and incentivising is now FTC-regulated. Click the button to see more on this!