Hot take: most local businesses are optimizing for the wrong search intent entirely
Most local SEO advice focuses on ranking for "[service] near me" — but the highest-converting local searches are actually intent-specific micro-queries like "best [service] open Sunday" or "[service] for [specific problem]."
A plumber ranking #1 for "plumber near me" competes with 40 listings. A plumber ranking for "burst pipe emergency same day" is competing with 3.
The specificity signals intent stage — someone searching the micro-query has already decided to buy, they're just picking who. The broad query still has research-mode traffic mixed in.
I've seen small local businesses double their conversion rate just by building out content around 8-10 of these long-tail intent queries instead of doubling down on the head term.
Are you optimizing for traffic volume or purchase-ready intent in your local campaigns?