Google is becoming increasingly local, which is why we do search engine optimization in Stockholm

Over the past year, we have seen a trend growing stronger: Google is becoming increasingly local. A few months ago, we could see the effects of this on certain keywords we monitor extra closely—keywords related to search engine optimization and SEO.

Google differentiates between what is considered locally relevant and what is considered nationally relevant (based on their communication and how this manifests in search results). For example, for keywords such as “hairdresser” or “Ica,” Google understands that you are more interested in a local result than one from a town 750 kilometers away. Many services or verticals have previously, at least in Sweden, not been treated as local. However, about eight months ago we noticed that we jumped significantly for the keyword “search engine optimization” when searching from the northern coast of Sweden. For those searching from Stockholm, on the other hand (which most tools do), we lost several positions.

We naturally have our headquarters in the north, but an effect like this means that we actually gain completely different advantages from also having an office in Stockholm. It is not only beneficial because we are physically close to many of our clients, but also because it helps our search engine optimization in Stockholm. Previously, this had not been an issue in most verticals that could be considered national, or even international. We have identified this as a weakness on our part and will now start working more actively to get Google to perceive our Stockholm office as truly important as well. Chances are that you may need to check that everything is in order across the country too.

The simplest way to check how you rank across the country is to open an incognito window in Chrome or a similar browser and, after performing a search, simply change the location in the results. This is not 100% reliable, but it provides a useful indication. Perhaps you are affected by local results, perhaps not. Either way, it is something you, as an SEO specialist, need to be aware of.

One might think that the search engine optimization vertical should be fairly national in nature, especially now that Google has even started to show some international sources for keywords like SEO. However, the algorithm has a different opinion, and so we have to adapt.