Local SEO in Australia: Steps That Lift Your Ranking

Welcome to our guide on local SEO in Australia.

Our team at Matter Solutions has been helping Brisbane businesses appear in local search for more than a decade now. We’ve seen what truly improves your rankings and what just wastes time.

In this article, we’ll walk through:

• What local SEO is and why Australian businesses need it
• How to build your foundation with profiles, citations, and reviews
• How to scale with location pages, voice search, and Australian backlinks

Read on to learn about the ways to refine your local keywords and match your services with what customers are searching for.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of improving how a business appears in local search so nearby customers can find it when they need a service. It also helps your business profile become more noticeable on Google Maps.

Let’s get into more detail about how it works.

Local SEO vs Traditional SEO

The main difference between traditional SEO and local SEO is that the first one tries to reach a broad online audience. But local SEO focuses on people searching in your adjacent area who are genuinely ready to pick up the phone or walk through your door.

And search engines work in a specific way to ensure that local customers find you. For example, when someone searches “electrician near me” or “cafe in Paddington”, Google considers three factors: how relevant you are, how close you are, and how well-known your business is online.

In other words, traditional SEO might bring national traffic, but local SEO brings the customers who require your service immediately.

Why Australian Businesses Need Local SEO

Australian businesses need local SEO because it helps them get found at the exact moment when nearby people are actively looking for a service.

According to HubSpot’s research on “How Search Behaviors Are Changing”, people now search with clear intent instead of casual browsing. So when a pipe bursts, someone simply picks up their mobile device, searches “plumber Brisbane”, and chooses a business that appears close to them.

Local SEO ensures you are visible in that instant and able to connect with local customers who are ready to act (right when the decision time is seconds away).

Once you understand this change, it’ll become clearer that your SEO strategies should be centred around reaching people exactly the moment they need help. That’s how local businesses rank higher and win more opportunities in their area.

Pro tip: Your service radius should match where customers actually come from because mismatched boundaries can negatively influence your Google Maps ranking.

How Do You Build Your Local SEO Foundation?

You build your local SEO foundation by creating your Google Business Profile and keeping your business name and other details the same everywhere. 

You strengthen it even more when you add your information to trusted local directories. And search engines use this data to guide local users to your business.

Here’s what you need to set up for your local SEO foundation:

• Google Business Profile (GBP): Claim and verify your profile first, and then fill in your contact details and business hours and upload a few photos. You should also use Google Posts once a week to share updates or offers. Doing so will keep your profile active and show Google you’re engaged.
• Australian Directory Listings: Don’t forget to list your business on True Local, Yellow Pages and any suitable industry-specific directories. These citations help Google verify you’re real. Plus, the more places your information shows up consistently, the more Google trusts that you’re worth ranking.
• NAP Consistency: Your business name, address and phone number need to be identical everywhere (website, Google profile, Facebook, every directory). Even small differences, like a wrong digit or “St” instead of “Street”, can send mixed signals to Google and weaken its trust in your business details.
• Customer Reviews: It’s a good strategy to ask your happy clients to leave a review on your GBP because more reviews can improve your visibility. Also, we recommend replying to every one of them (positive reviews or negative) so people will see you actually care.
• Schema Markup: Did you know the LocalBusiness schema helps Google understand where you operate and display your business properly? It’s a bit technical, but include your exact details and service area through this schema. It’s worth the effort for better visibility in relevant searches.
• Local Keyword Targeting: People often use specific phrases (things like “plumber Brisbane” or “physio Paddington”) when searching for your services, so start by finding those keywords. Pick keywords that bring genuine customers, and add your location naturally in titles, headings and writing.

When these pieces work together, it becomes much easier for local customers to find you and feel assured choosing your business.

How Do You Maintain and Scale Your Local Presence?

Maintaining and scaling a local presence comes down to regular audits of local citations, refreshed location pages, and earning backlinks from trusted Australian sites. This approach keeps your information accurate as the business grows.

We’ll dig deeper into these processes in this section.

Audit Your Citations Regularly

The thing is, it’s pretty common for a business to move or change phone numbers. However, if you list your entities in directories and totally forget about them, suddenly you’ve got three different addresses floating around online. That’s a huge red flag.

So, the best approach is to check your citations every quarter to ensure the information is consistent and accurate. Look for duplicate entries while you’re at it (they mess with Google’s confidence in your data).

And if you spot two listings for your business on the same directory, claim one and kill the other.

Pro tip: When you change your phone number or address on your website, update every directory, listing, and social profile at the same time. This way, search engines won’t get mixed signals from the beginning, and your local search results will stay clean.

Create Location Pages for Service Areas

If you’re serving multiple locations, build a dedicated page for each area you operate in. You need to ensure that each page is genuinely different. Write about the specific area, mention local landmarks, and call out nearby suburbs you cover.

Besides, if you’ve got testimonials from customers in that location, use them in your relevant pages. Google is good at spotting templated pages where you’ve just swapped out the suburb name. That’s why the pages that truly feel local are the ones that rank these days.

Optimise for Voice Search

Voice search works differently from typed searches because people don’t talk the same way as they write. For instance, someone using voice might say, “Where’s the best cafe near South Bank?” instead of typing “cafe South Bank”. That difference is significant for searches.

So, you should answer questions directly in your content using natural language. Let’s say you’re a dentist. Don’t just stuff “Brisbane dental prices” awkwardly into a sentence. Rather, write a proper answer to “How much does a filling cost in Brisbane?”

Most local Google searches now happen on mobile devices, and voice search keeps on growing. Just make it simple for Google to find and use your answers.

Build Backlinks from Australian Websites

Once you’ve laid the foundations of your local SEO, focus on getting backlinks from Aussie sites. These sites carry more weight for regional rankings. Like, a link from a Brisbane news outlet or a .com.au industry association is more valuable than ten links from random international blogs.

Target local news, chambers of commerce, or industry bodies for your backlinks. In our experience, even a handful of quality Australian backlinks can help a smaller business compete with bigger corporations that have more resources and bigger budgets.

But how do you get these links? You can share something newsworthy, support a local event, or give helpful quotes to journalists when they need expert input. These actions earn you backlinks because they provide other websites a real reason to mention you and link to your business.

Last but not least, after you get the backlinks from them, follow up professionally, share the coverage, and keep the relationship active. It’ll help you build even more natural links over time.

Get Help from Local SEO Services

You now know the steps that rank you higher and get more local traffic in Australia. The businesses with better rankings are always consistent with these basics and patient with the results.

In our experience, most local companies start noticing improvements within three to six months after following the steps.

If you’re looking for a digital marketing agency with expertise in local SEO to help you, book a strategy call with our team today. At Matter Solutions, we’ve been helping Brisbane businesses improve their local visibility. Let’s build you a plan to bring in the right customers.