Local SEO is how your business shows up when people nearby search for what you do. Work through this checklist in order; the first items matter most.
Google Business Profile
- Claim and verify your profile
- Use your real business name only, with no extra keywords
- Pick the most specific primary category
- Set your service area (or real address), hours and phone
- Add services, real photos and a description
- Post an update every week
Reviews
- Ask every customer, with a direct review link
- Reply to every review, good or bad
- Never pay for reviews or only ask happy customers; it breaks Google's rules and the FTC's rule on fake reviews
Your website
- One page per main service, with the service and city in the title and heading
- Your business name, address or service area, and phone, written the same everywhere
- Tap-to-call or text buttons
- Fast on phones
- Business details for Google (LocalBusiness structured data)
Directories
- Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Nextdoor
- Trade sites that fit your business
- Same name, address and phone on all of them
Avoid
- Copy-and-paste city pages that only swap the town name
- Keyword stuffing
- Buying links
A monthly local SEO routine
- Post one or more updates on your Google Business Profile each week.
- Ask every customer from the month for a review and reply to new reviews.
- Add new photos of real jobs.
- Check your hours, phone and services are current everywhere.
- Review Search Console and Business Profile insights for what people searched.
City and service pages, the right way
Pages for the towns you serve can help, but only if each one has real, different content: jobs you did there, local details and photos. Pages that just swap the city name are treated as spam and can hurt the whole site.
Measure progress
Track calls and direction requests from your Business Profile, website enquiries, and where you appear for a handful of "service plus city" searches checked from your area. Expect gradual gains, not overnight jumps.
Questions
How long does local SEO take?
Profile and website fixes can help within weeks; reviews and reputation build over months. No one can honestly guarantee a ranking.
What matters most for local SEO?
Expert surveys consistently put your Google Business Profile and reviews at the top, followed by your website's content.