Local SEO That Works: How I Got the Number One Spot on Google [Case Study]

Estimated reading time: 7 minuti

Local search is here to stay.

According to statistics, 46% of all Google searches are local searches and 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.

All marketers know the importance of having a solid local SEO strategy, backed by real data.

Unfortunately, SEO and data don't always go hand in hand. They should, but that's not always the case.

To help you optimize your business for local SEO, I've created this case study covering local SEO tips and tools.

But first let's see:

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving the search engine visibility of local businesses, primarily those with physical locations.

By following local SEO best practices, businesses can increase organic traffic from searches performed by users in nearby areas.

Search engines rely on signals like local content, social profile pages, links, and citations to provide users with the most relevant local results to gather information for local searches.

With local SEO, businesses can position their products and services to local potential customers and customers searching for them.

How I positioned a notary's website at the top of Google

1. Local SEO Audit

First, I conducted an in-depth SEO analysis that included multiple elements, both on-site and off-site, for the client's website. To achieve this, I used essential tools: Screaming Frog, Ahrefs and Google Search Console.

In this case I used Screaming Frog, ideal for finding errors on the site and configuring both the On Page SEO and the technical SEO.

You can use the free version in most cases as it offers an audit of 500 pages per website.

Anyway, once the audit was finished, I exported the data file. This was very useful for improving my On-Page SEO.

I then went to the “Problems” section and found all the errors present on the site.

The major problems were related to:

• Low content pages (<350 words)
• Missing H1s and generally pages without a well-defined Headings structure
• Lack of a page structure that coincides with internal linking
• Same keywords optimized on different pages
• Slow pages
• Images: Missing alt text and image size too large
• Page titles (SEO) that exceeded 65 characters
• Insufficient backlinks from few sources

The system I used is completely free, I could also use paid tools like Ahrefs or Semrush for a thorough and complete audit.

Once I had a clear idea of the site, I conducted a Keyword research to determine the best SEO approach.

2. Local SEO strategy development

I have divided my strategy into three main actions:

• On-Page SEO Optimization and Technical SEO Corrections
• Content improvements and restructuring
• Backlink profile improvements

On-Page SEO Optimization and Technical SEO Corrections

Never underestimate the importance of good On-Page SEO optimization.

An article or page must be optimized following the “3 kings” rule:

1. URL
2. SEO Title
3. H1

Everything must be done based on the word(s) chosen.

So I followed this arrangement for the SEO title, URL and H1

✅ SEO Title: “Keyword” | “Location” | “Law Firm Name”

✅Good H1: “Place” “Keyword”

✅URL: ” “Keyword”

I then took into account the 4 On Page Ranking elements:

1. Primary keyword and where it is inserted
2. Variation of the primary keyword
3. Contextual Terms / (LSI)
4. Word count

I have been optimizing the various SEO titles as well as the meta descriptions.

Next, I worked on the site structure. I needed to restructure the website so that Google's spiders could better understand it, so I implemented internal linking.

Then we had to fix the technical issues found during the first phase of the audit. I started with a huge problem: page speed. See the results below:

Speed first

Speed after

Content improvements and restructuring

I defined the main and support pages based on keywords.

In addition to the main pages and support pages, I have created FAQ sections.

The ideal would be to always look at what the competition is doing, that is, how they structure their content.

Backlink Profile

The third part of the strategy is probably the most talked about in the SEO world. First, I looked at the existing backlink profile with Ahrefs. The purpose of this inspection was to determine whether the backlinks were valid or whether they were harming the website's authority. Some things to check are:

• DR (Domain Rating)
• Traffic
• Spam Score
• TF (Trust Flow) and CF (Citation Flow)

In this client's case, I actually needed to remove some backlinks that were harming the website. After cleaning them, I created 100 backlinks from various platforms within a month.

3. Campaign results (comparison with the initial)

I reached the top spot for most of the keywords I optimized. The entire process took about two months, which exceeded my expectations!

There are certainly no guarantees when it comes to SEO. Ranking on the first page of Google doesn't mean you'll stay there forever.

Continuous analysis and optimization are required to stay on top.