Winning Local SEO: Optimize Your Website for Austin Customers

Here’s what Google has to say about local search results: “Local results are based primarily on relevance, distance, and prominence. These factors are combined to help find the best match for your search.” In simple terms, you can’t control distance, but you can control the other two factors, which essentially encompass your business’s reputation and visibility across the web and in real life, i.e., who’s talking about you, how often, etc.

Local search engine optimization (SEO) involves specific tactics designed to improve local search rankings relevant to your business. These strategies basically position your company to appear when nearby customers search for products or services you offer. Prioritizing Austin SEO helps local companies attract more foot traffic, calls, and other leads, while also building trust and credibility within the community.

Austin has been topping lists for decades, including one of the best cities to live in. A recent analysis of cities with populations exceeding 500,000 revealed varied patterns of growth across several key metrics. Which Texas city landed the top spot? You guessed it – Austin. Aside from keeping things weird, Austin experienced a 51% surge in its gross domestic product, fueled by rapid job creation in tech, manufacturing, and professional services. The data also demonstrated a 71% surge in new business applications, placing the city fifth nationwide.

For local businesses, this means competition continues to grow in and around Austin, making it that much more difficult to stand out and attract local customers online.

Today’s consumers, Austinites included, typically turn to online searches and mobile devices when making purchasing decisions, whether that means finding a reliable nearby electrician or comparing options before making a purchase. With each search, no matter the subject, users expect fast, accurate, and relevant results at their fingertips.

Visibility in local search results significantly helps drive business from customers within your trade area. A strong, locally optimized online presence ensures that when Austin consumers are ready to buy, your business is among the first they see and trust.

SEO strategies of any kind take time and patience. If there were one easy (and quick) solution to getting Google’s attention and keeping it, we’d know (and there isn’t one magical solution). Local search engine optimization is a strategy that involves a specific process. For those just getting started, here are a few key tactics that can help improve local search rankings.

Your Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), is a great place to start. This online business profile directly influences how your business appears in Google Search and Google Maps. Keeping your information accurate and up-to-date helps search engines find and trust your business data, which in turn improves your chances of appearing in local customers’ search results.

If you haven’t claimed your business profile on Google, log in to your account (we recommend creating a separate account for your business, rather than using a personal Gmail account) to create, claim, and manage your GBP.

Location-based keywords indicate your location beyond just your business address, helping search engines connect your business with searchers in the Austin area who are actively looking for your products or services. Therefore, incorporating Austin-focused keywords into your online content, including metadata, website copy, and Google Business Profile, only strengthens your local search engine optimization. For example, if you are a plumber in Austin, linking your service and location in website content, i.e., “Austin plumber” or “plumber Austin”, can help improve local search rankings.

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. As one of the strongest signals search engines use to determine authority and relevance, backlinks are considered SEO gold and a critical tactic in website optimization for local businesses. Building backlinks to improve your local SEO involves obtaining links to your business on other Austin-based websites, as well as local citations (i.e., mentions of your business name, address, and phone number across trusted directories). These backlinks and citations demonstrate to Google that your business is a trusted part of the local community and an integral part of the Austin digital ecosystem.

Building backlinks isn’t the easiest local SEO Austin tactic, but it’s worth the effort. The easiest way to start is via partnerships within Austin organizations and collaborating with other local businesses. Sponsoring community events can earn your business a backlink on the org’s website and other online promotional content. When collaborating with local businesses, always ask for a mention and a link on their website back to your website. For example, if an Austin wedding planner partners with a local florist, each business should link to the other online.

Authentic customer reviews are essential for building trust and strengthening your local Austin SEO. Google’s Search Quality Raters use a framework called E-E-A-T, i.e., Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, to evaluate the credibility and value of content, and customer reviews are considered part of your business’s online content.

When Google determines which businesses to feature at the top of local organic search results, reviews help demonstrate trustworthiness, the most important factor of EEAT. The more positive and genuine reviews your business receives, the stronger your reputation becomes in the local community. These affirmations will help increase the likelihood that Google will prioritize your listing in search results. Bottom line: make it a priority to both encourage and manage online reviews!

As mentioned earlier, local partnerships and community sponsorships can help boost your local Austin SEO by generating backlinks. However, it also signals to search engines that your business is a part of the Austin community, building the kind of trust that influences your position in organic search results.

Other opportunities for improving local SEO in Austin, besides partnerships and sponsorships, include utilizing well-known landmarks and neighborhoods in your online content. For example, a housekeeping service can pinpoint its areas of service by saying, “Keeping East Austin fresh and clean since 2015.“ Neighborhood and landmark references help search engines associate your business with specific areas, making it more relevant for nearby searches.

Austin hosts several high-profile events, including SXSW, the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, and the ACL Music Festival, all of which generate significant local interest and search activity. Creating content around these events can help your business appear in relevant local searches and attract both residents and visitors. For example, a restaurant in downtown Austin can publish a blog or create a social post about “Best SXSW Eats in Downtown Austin,” or another eatery further from downtown could create content about the best local dinner spots to escape the SXSW crowds.

Strategically generating event-focused content helps target high-intent searches during peak periods, while also strengthening your business’s digital relevance to Austin-based audiences.

Since improving Austin SEO is heavily dependent on content management, it’s wise to enlist some help. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available. Here’s a short list of options:

There are also Austin agencies that offer SEO Services, which include everything you need to improve your local rankings. When reviewing agencies, it’s essential to assess the trustworthiness of their services based on reviews and case studies, as there are many bad actors in the industry. A reliable local SEO agency should be transparent about its methods, provide measurable results, and act as a true partner in helping your business grow within the Austin community.

Austin-based businesses have plenty of options when it comes to local directories and platforms, which can help build citations and backlinks while increasing visibility.

As a local Austin SEO agency, Living Proof Creative excels in Austin search engine optimization, adapting to every new algorithm update and evolving with the changing landscape. For over a decade, we’ve been pioneering smarter, more innovative ways to improve local search rankings and drive measurable ROI.

Our trusted strategies explore every available avenue to improve a client’s local online rankings in their category, utilizing highly targeted and geographically specific keywords, link building, and other Austin SEO techniques. Our creative methods are rooted in integrity and best practices, designed to improve local search engine rankings while driving engagement with highly targeted audiences.

As your Austin SEO partner, we will work relentlessly to increase both website traffic and local rankings, driving lead generation and revenue growth. We pride ourselves on becoming an extension of the companies we partner with, leading with transparency and prioritizing communication. After all, we’re not just SEO experts, we’re neighbors and fellow business owners intent on keeping Austin’s business community thriving.