The pandemic has emerged with a variety of new digital behaviors. When users want something, they want it now and easily reachable. Google Trends has shown that the search for “news near me” increased 3x over the past five years worldwide.
According to the research platform, the new local search features aim to improve visibility to local news, help small media businesses profit, and bring more awareness about what is happening in a particular region.
This is a huge opportunity for local newspapers such as The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Herald, but this may be the beginning of something much more significant for digital marketing, especially when it comes to content creation. Read on!
What has changed with these new Google features?
Before deep-diving into details about what has changed, it is essential to highlight that this update is not mere Local SEO improvements.
Local SEO work is still a long-term practice for those who want to appear on top for search results in your area with no need of investing money in it.
These new features for news put in evidence local publishers, creating a macro view in real-time of what is happening in the user’s area.
Local News Carousel
Available globally and in all languages, this carousel feature will display local publishers to be easily found by communities who truly matter to that.
Source: Google
Top Stories
Google has also improved its systems so authoritative local news gets displayed alongside national publishers on Top Stories. By that, local websites are endorsed by those with a broader range of viewers, strengthening their relevance and reach.
You might have noticed local news articles sneaking in next to the big outlets on some national stories. That’s one of the more tangible changes lately. It doesn’t just highlight small, homegrown newsrooms—it realigns the balance a bit, giving readers a closer view of things happening in their actual neighborhoods. If anything, it nudges people to be just a little more curious (or nosy) about their own backyard, which honestly isn’t so bad in an age of endless scrolling past places you’ll never see.
Plus, the competition for visibility is different now. Instead of only battling with heavyweights like The New York Times or the BBC, smaller local publishers are rubbing digital elbows with them on the same page. That might sound intimidating, but many local reporters have a knack for angles and voices you just can’t fake, so there’s a real shot for new stories to get noticed. It’s way too early to say how this shakes out for ad revenue or paywall models, but the shift has a very “let’s see what happens” energy to it in 2025.
From broad to local
Another feature this update brings is transforming a wide search term into narrower results related to the user’s area. For instance, when they look for football, local subjects about that matter will also be added to the list instead of showing national results only.
What do local search features have to do with content marketing?
This new Google feature for local news is an offshoot from the COVID-19 news center, launched last year on the urge of providing a safe source of news about the pandemic.
Having a website page shown as a search result for the COVID-19 news center automatically meant that the page had accuracy and reliability. In that sense, publishers started improving the quality of their content, adding more relevance to the information provided. That practice helped those portals to become authorities about COVID-19 matters.
Following the same steps, local news websites are just about to get into the spotlight. And those pages built with the best practices of content marketing will benefit more from it.
How to improve the content marketing strategy for local search?
It’s been a while since Google also measures content relevance when it comes to SEO mechanisms. So, it is not surprising that the quality of content is a must-have to reach success in this field. But here are two new things to take advantage of:
For Local News Publishers
You still have time to amp your content marketing strategy up. Map the best practices Google uses to categorize a content/blog/webpage as relevant for its search results. Then, you can create a content calendar to build frequency on new posts.
Besides posting local news, capitalize on new visitors coming from Google’s feature for lead generation, advertising, selling, or whatever you need. Once you offer a high-quality experience, you can now “ask” for something in return.
For other local services
It is just a matter of time for Google to increase its range of business segments on display for local results. And instead of waiting for it to happen to improve your content strategy, how about starting now?
Through a solid content marketing strategy, you can expand your blog traffic, increase conversion rates, grow new sessions, and become a more profitable business.
The sooner you start to take advantage of Google’s new local search features, the higher the chances to get better and more relevant results with it.
If you are a local news publisher, this is your big chance to be seen and build the reputation you deserve. And if you are from a different segment, time is in your favor to enhance your content marketing strategy and be ready for future updates.
So, how’s it going to be?
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