It wasn’t too long ago that those of us offering local SEO services were planning for big changes in 2025. But now that the new year has actually arrived, some of the changes experts were predicting don’t appear as imminent as they did last summer. Here is the question: what will local SEO services look like over the next twelve months or so?
The answer matters to any small business running a search on ‘local SEO services near me’. Here at Webtek, we serve a lot of those clients in both Utah and Texas. We work with small businesses whose entire customer bases are built on local populations. They want to know what local SEO is going to look like in 2025.
A Potential Google Breakup
If you have not heard, Google lost a historic antitrust lawsuit last year. As recently as this past October, the federal government was considering the actions it could take to remedy Google’s problems. One potential solution is to break up Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
If that were to happen, we wouldn’t expect a whole lot of changes to SEO in broad terms. But local SEO providers might have to learn to re-navigate Google and its competitors to make the best use of local practices. How that would actually play out is unknown. We wouldn’t be able to even start thinking about it until we knew what the actual breakup would look like.
With all of that said, a breakup seems less likely with a new administration entering the picture. Multiple news agencies, including Reuters, have reported that a Trump administration is reluctant to break up Alphabet out of a fear of causing irreparable harm. But the new administration has still signaled a desire to make things fairer for Google’s competitors.
The Rise of Alternate Media
Another thing to pay attention to is the rise of alternate media and the commensurate decline of its legacy counterpart. Search Engine Land’s Miriam Ellis briefly discussed it in her own analysis of the local SEO landscape for 2025.
Ellis pointed out that consolidation within the legacy media has left a majority of communities with limited or no access to local news. As a result, people are turning to alternate media to stay abreast of what is happening within their own communities. That seems like an opportunity to expand local SEO by targeting alternate media.
It could be that ‘local SEO services near me‘ will have to start looking at a greater emphasis on alternative marketing channels. Ellis suggested looking at podcasting. Organizations can either start their own podcast or advertise on a third-party podcast. It is an interesting concept.
Don’t Throw Google Overboard Yet
Regardless of what transpires over the next year or so, don’t throw Google overboard just yet. It is too soon for that. Maximizing the benefits of local SEO services near me still requires giving Google its due. After all, the search engine giant is still responsible for a vast majority of all search traffic.
It is still important to create and maintain a Google business profile. It is still important to get as many local citations as possible. For now, local SEO service providers should continue pursuing the strategies that have worked all along.
In the meantime, paying attention to a possible Google breakup is a good idea. It is also smart to begin looking at alternate media and how it might be leveraged to improve visibility, drive traffic, and convert casual visitors. Local SEO will undoubtedly look different at the end of the year. We just don’t know how different.
