Does your service-based business serve a specific local-based geographic area? If so, your success depends greatly on attracting local traffic.

Local SEO can be a great way to reach customers. While virtually any business can benefit from SEO, keep reading to discover five fields where this strategy can really pay off to reap great business rewards.

Looking for more Local SEO strategies for your business? Read our article: 13 Strategies to Optimize Your Website for Local SEO

1. Medical and Dental Clinics Love Local SEO

You can see a big jump in search engine rankings by targeting local keywords around health or wellness.

Think about what you look for when you need a new doctor or emergency dentist: you’re probably going to search your city plus "family doctor" or "emergency dentist."

However, you also need to target long-tail keywords on your website like "doctor’s office open Saturdays Vancouver" to reach more potential clients.

2. The Hyper-Targeted Hospitality Business

Own a restaurant, bar or hotel? Local SEO is a must. People often use Google’s suggested "near me" prompt that pops up in the search bar, so make sure your site content targets your location wherever possible.

Also, many people will check reviews on sites like Yelp before they click on your website - more than in any other type of business. Keep your business info up to date on these sites and respond swiftly to complaints.

3. Home Services (I Need Help NOW)

A local SEO campaign works well for people who solve problems.

It’s common for those searching for a plumber or locksmith to call the first listing that appears in Google, but it’s not as simple as creating a website with your contact info.

To get in front of customers, you need to focus on adding original content, optimizing your site and targeting long-tail keywords. Going with a paid SEM campaign is also a must for these types of businesses.

4. Neighbourhood-Specific SEO for Realtors

Real estate is a highly competitive category, especially with so many big companies out there plus platforms such as Zillow.

You’ll likely get a lot of your traffic from long-tail keyword searches, so as well as "house for sale Toronto" include "downtown waterfront Toronto condo for sale."

Do your keyword research and write about what families with young kids should look for when buying a home or dog-friendly neighbourhoods – whatever will resonate with your audience.

5. Lawyers

Another highly competitive category! The good news is that potential clients are generally looking for very specific information.

So your local SEO strategy can be built around long-tail keywords. For example, instead of "Calgary lawyer" go for "Southeast Calgary will and trust attorney" to convert searches into leads.

Get Local, Grab Long-Tail Keywords

This is by no means an exhaustive list of businesses that can benefit from local SEO, but it gives you a good idea of where it can really make a difference.

Focus on building your local SEO strategy and utilizing long-tail keywords and traffic will follow!

Have you implemented a local SEO strategy yet? If yes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.