Segment Local Traffic in Google Analytics

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and provide robust guidance on How to segment local traffic in Google Analytics to empower you with more granular, actionable website data for your local SEO strategy.

Segmenting local traffic means isolating visitors who come from specific geographic areas, such as cities, regions, or postcodes. This allows you to assess how local users interact with your website, how well your local SEO is performing, and whether your digital marketing campaigns are attracting the right audience.

The process differs slightly depending on whether you are using Universal Analytics (the older version) or Google Analytics 4 (GA4), but the principles remain the same.

Why Segmenting Local Traffic Matters

For service-based and location-driven businesses, local traffic often represents the most valuable audience. Segmenting helps you:

• Measure the effectiveness of local SEO efforts.

• Understand how nearby visitors engage with your content or services.

• Identify which locations generate the most conversions.

• Optimise ad targeting and marketing budgets based on performance.

By focusing on data from your target area, you gain clearer insights into what drives sales or enquiries locally, rather than relying on global or irrelevant traffic data.

How to Segment Local Traffic in Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 is now the standard platform, offering improved tracking capabilities and more flexible audience segmentation. To analyse local traffic, follow these steps:

1. Access the Reports Section
Log in to your GA4 property and navigate to Reports > Demographics > Demographic details.

2. Filter by Location
At the top of the table, click the Add Filter option. Then choose Country, Region, or City depending on how specific you want to be.

For example, if you run a business in Bedford, select “City” and type “Bedford” into the field. This will narrow down your data to users from that area.

3. Create a Local Segment for Ongoing Use
If you regularly want to track local traffic, you can create a permanent segment:

• Go to Explore > Free Form.

• Click + Add segment and select User segment.

• Under “Geography,” select your desired location (such as City, Region, or Country).

• Name your segment clearly, for example “Bedford Visitors.”

• Save and apply it to your exploration reports.

Once saved, you can use this segment to filter reports such as acquisition, engagement, and conversions, focusing only on your local audience.

4. Compare Local Traffic Against Other Locations
One of the benefits of segmentation is the ability to compare areas. You can create multiple segments, such as “Bedford,” “Milton Keynes,” and “Cambridge,” then compare metrics like average session duration, bounce rate, or conversion rate to see which areas perform best.

How to Segment Local Traffic in Universal Analytics

Although GA4 has replaced Universal Analytics, many businesses still review older data. The process for segmenting local traffic is slightly different.

1. Open Your Audience Reports
In the left-hand menu, go to Audience > Geo > Location.

2. Filter by Region or City
Select your country, then scroll down to view cities or regions. Click on a city such as “Bedford” to see performance metrics from that area.

3. Create a Custom Segment
If you want to view this data across multiple reports:

• Click Add Segment at the top of your dashboard.

• Choose New Segment, then go to Conditions.

• Under “Filter,” select City, Region, or Country, and enter your location.

• Save it as “Local Visitors.”

Now, you can apply this custom segment to any report—such as traffic sources, landing pages, or conversions—to analyse how your local audience behaves across the entire site.

What Metrics to Analyse for Local Traffic

Once your segment is set up, focus on metrics that reflect engagement and lead generation within your local area.

1. Acquisition Metrics
Check where your local visitors come from. Are they finding you via organic search, Google Maps, social media, or paid ads? This helps determine which marketing channels are most effective locally.

2. Behaviour Metrics
Look at session duration, bounce rate, and pages per visit. If your local users are leaving quickly, it might suggest your content isn’t relevant to their needs, or your location details aren’t clear enough.

3. Conversion Metrics
Track local enquiries, bookings, or form submissions. If your business uses call tracking or contact form tracking, ensure these conversions are properly set up in Analytics to measure true local leads.

4. Device Data
Local visitors often browse on mobile devices. Review mobile performance separately to ensure your site loads quickly and offers easy navigation for mobile users.

Using Local Data to Improve SEO and Marketing

After segmenting your local audience, use the insights to enhance your SEO and advertising strategy.

• Optimise local landing pages: If most local users visit your homepage, consider creating dedicated pages for your area with targeted keywords and contact details.

• Refine Google Ads and Meta Ads: Use location performance data to focus ad spend on high-performing regions.

• Improve local SEO signals: Ensure your Google Business Profile, local citations, and schema markup are consistent with your key location data.

• Tailor content: Create blog posts or service pages that reflect regional trends, events, or search behaviour.

Advanced Local Segmentation with Custom Dimensions

For businesses with multiple service areas, you can use Google Tag Manager or GA4 custom dimensions to track visitors by postcode, store location, or service area. This provides even more granular insights for multi-location marketing strategies.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When segmenting local traffic, some businesses make errors that lead to inaccurate conclusions. Avoid the following pitfalls:

• Using overly broad locations such as “United Kingdom” when your business serves a specific city.

• Forgetting to exclude spam or bot traffic that skews results.

• Ignoring mobile versus desktop behaviour differences.

• Not aligning Analytics goals with local business objectives, such as calls or appointment bookings.

Final Thoughts

Segmenting local traffic in Google Analytics is one of the most powerful ways to measure how well your marketing efforts attract nearby customers. By analysing the performance of visitors from your area, you can make informed decisions about where to focus your SEO, content, and advertising strategies.

With regular monitoring and refinement, local segmentation helps service-based businesses identify opportunities, improve engagement, and ultimately increase leads and sales from their most valuable audience—customers right on their doorstep.

We have also written in depth articles on Common mistakes when setting up Google Analytics (and how to fix them) and How to use Google Analytics to track local SEO performance as well as our Google Analytics Hub to give you further guidance.