When someone searches for “plumber near me” or “dentist in [town]”, Google doesn’t show a list of websites first: it shows a map with three businesses. That block, the local pack, takes a large share of the clicks, and a nice-looking website alone won’t get you into it.
That is local SEO: the work that makes your business show up when someone nearby searches for what you sell. Here is how we approach it, in the order that usually pays off.
1. Start with your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is what appears on the map. If you don’t have one, or it is half finished, everything else works far less well.
- Claim and verify it. If Google already created a listing for your business from public data, you can claim it at business.google.com.
- Pick the right primary category. It is the single strongest factor. Be specific: an accountant is not a “Consultant”.
- Fill in everything: opening hours (holidays too), services, service area, description and a link to your website.
- Upload real photos of your premises, your team and your work. Listings with their own photos feel more trustworthy and get more interaction.
2. Name, address and phone: always identical
Google cross-checks your listing against what it finds about you elsewhere: directories, social profiles, your own website. If one place shows a mobile number and another a landline, or the address is written differently, Google is less sure they are the same business.
Write down your exact name, address and phone number and use them everywhere. Then go through the directories you already appear in and fix the ones that are wrong. It is dull work, and one of the things small businesses notice most.
3. Reviews: plenty, recent and answered
Reviews affect your ranking and, above all, whether people choose you or the business next door.
- Ask for them. Most happy customers never leave a review because nobody asks. A direct link by message or a QR code at the counter works well.
- Reply to every one, bad ones included. A polite answer to criticism says more about you than ten stars.
- Never buy reviews or write them yourself. Google detects them and can suspend your listing.
4. A website that talks about your area
Your listing links to your website, and Google uses it to understand what you do and where.
- Put your town and address as text on the home and contact pages, not only inside an image.
- If you work in several towns, create one page per service or area with genuinely useful content. Copying the same page and swapping the town name doesn’t work.
- Add structured data (schema.org
LocalBusiness) with your name, address, phone and hours so Google doesn’t have to guess. - Make it fast on mobile: most local searches happen on a phone, often in a hurry.
5. Links and mentions from your community
A link from your town council, the local business association, a local newspaper or a nearby supplier is worth more for local SEO than a dozen links from generic blogs in another country.
- Sponsor a local team, event or activity.
- Partner with complementary local businesses and link to each other where it makes sense.
- Join the serious directories for your industry and region.
- Give local media a story: an opening, an anniversary, a project with a well-known client.
6. Measure what happens
Your Business Profile shows how many people saw you, asked for directions or called, and which searches brought them. Check it once a month. If calls go up, you are on the right track; if not, one of the steps above needs work.
How long does it take?
It depends on the competition in your area and industry. In small towns, fixing the listing and your details often shows results within weeks; in big cities or crowded industries it takes months. We go into more detail in how long SEO takes to show results.
Want us to review your listing and website? Get in touch and we will tell you what to fix first.