For most Italian SMEs serving a local or regional market, local SEO is the digital channel with the most favorable cost/benefit ratio. Not because it’s “easy” (it’s not), but because competition is structurally less intense compared to national keywords, and the user’s search intent is highly qualified — someone searching for “accountant Pisa” or “car repair shop central Turin” knows what they want and where they want it.

What Local SEO Is and How It Works

Local SEO is the optimization of a business’s digital presence for geographically specific searches. It includes two distinct but connected ecosystems:

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business): the listing that appears in the “local pack” — the map results with three local businesses that Google shows for searches with local intent. It’s the most visible entry point for those seeking a business in their area.

Organic Local SEO: website optimization for keywords with a geographic modifier (“criminal lawyer Florence”, “sushi restaurant central Turin”). Results appear in the standard SERP, below or next to the local pack.

For many local queries, Google shows both: the local pack (3 businesses) and the organic results below. Being present in both maximizes visibility.

Google Business Profile: The Foundation of Local SEO

The GBP (Google Business Profile) is free, relatively fast to optimize, and has an immediate impact on local visibility. It’s the mandatory starting point.

Complete Profile Optimization

Basic Information:

Exact business name (no keyword stuffing in the name — it’s against Google’s policies and can cause suspension)
Precise primary category (choose the category that best describes the main service)
Secondary categories for additional services
Exact address, consistent with the one on the website
Updated hours, including holiday hours and extraordinary closure days
Main phone number (preferably local, not a toll-free 800 number)
Website URL

Business Description: 750 characters available — many leave them blank. A description that naturally includes primary keywords, describes the main services and the differentiator, improves relevance in searches.

Photos and Videos: Businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos (source: Google). Photos of the interior, exterior, team, products/services — updated and of real quality (not stock photos).

Google Posts

Google allows you to publish updates directly to your profile — offers, events, news, COVID updates. Posts are visible on the listing and increase engagement. Ideal frequency: 1–2 posts/week.

Review Management: The Most Underrated Lever

Google reviews are a confirmed local ranking factor and the main conversion lever for local businesses. 93% of consumers check online reviews before choosing a local business.

Review Strategy: You cannot buy or simulate reviews (Google policy, risk of suspension). However, you can actively generate them:

Explicitly ask the satisfied customer to leave a review, with a direct link to the Google form
Automate the request via email or SMS after the transaction/service
Respond to all reviews — positive and negative. Responses to negative reviews that are professional and solution-oriented often convert better than just positive reviews

The average star rating matters (4.0+ is the psychological threshold for most users), but the number of reviews and their recency matter even more — a business with 50 recent reviews often beats one with 200 old ones.

Organic Local SEO: How to Optimize Your Website

Local Keyword Research

Local keywords typically have three components: service + geographic area + modifiers. But the pattern isn’t always so explicit.

Keywords with explicit local intent:

“divorce lawyer Milan”
“in-home painter Rome north”
“beauty salon open Sunday Naples”

Keywords with implicit local intent (Google recognizes local intent even without the geographic modifier):

“best dentist”
“BMW repair shop”
“men’s hairdresser”

For these keywords, Google uses the user’s geolocation to show local results — even without the user specifying the city. Optimizing for these keywords is equally relevant.

Site Architecture for Local SEO

Location-specific pages: if the business serves multiple geographic areas, create dedicated pages for each area with genuinely useful content for that area — not duplicates with the city name changed. “Accounting services for SMEs in Lucca” must contain specific information relevant to SMEs in Lucca, not just mechanically inserted city names.

NAP Consistency (Name, Address, Phone): name, address, and phone must be identical on the website, GBP, local directories, and any other online mention. Inconsistencies in NAP confuse Google and penalize local ranking.

LocalBusiness Schema Markup: structured markup that communicates business information to Google in a machine-readable format. Not visible to the user, relevant for search engines.

Local Citations

Citations — mentions of the business with NAP on third-party sites — are a local ranking factor. Main sources:

Italian local directories (PagineGialle, Tuttocittà, Virgilio, Yelp Italy)
Industry directories (TripAdvisor for hospitality, Doctoralia for doctors, Immobiliare.it for agencies)
Local Chamber of Commerce
Trade associations
Local news portals (editorial links)

The quality and consistency of citations matter more than quantity. Better 30 accurate citations on authoritative sites than 200 on low-quality directories.

The Local Pack: How to Conquer It

The “local pack” — the three map results that Google shows for local queries — is the most valuable visibility space for a local business. Being among the top three is the primary goal.

Local pack ranking factors (in approximate order of importance):

Relevance: how well the GBP matches what the user is searching for. Optimization of category, description, services in the profile.

Distance: how close the business is to the user’s location or the area specified in the search. Not directly controllable — but you can expand the relevance radius with location-specific pages on the site.

Prominence: how well-known and authoritative the business is online. Fed by: number and quality of reviews, citations, links to the site from local sources, activity on GBP (posts, photos, Q&A).

Local SEO and Local Advertising: Working Together

Google Ads with precise geographic targeting (radius in km from the address, specific ZIP codes, neighborhoods) is the natural complement to local SEO. While SEO builds organic visibility over time, local campaigns can bring qualified traffic immediately.

Effective Local Google Ads Campaigns:

Search ads with local keywords and ad extensions with address and call button
Performance Max for local signals (particularly effective for physical businesses)
Local Services Ads (available for specific categories) with pay-per-lead instead of pay-per-click

How to Measure Local SEO Success

Google Business Profile Insights:

Searches (how many times the profile was found for keywords)
Views (total profile views)
Actions (calls, requests for directions, clicks to the website)

Google Search Console:

Local queries with position and clicks
Impressions for geographic keywords

Business KPIs:

Calls generated from the digital channel (trackable with tracking numbers)
Quote requests from online forms with source attribution
Online bookings generated

Marfcode supports SMEs in building and optimizing their online local presence: GBP audit, local SEO optimization, review management, and local Google Ads campaigns.

→ Request an audit of your online local presence

Local SEO for SMEs: How to Be Found by Customers in Your Geographic Area

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