Local SEO

Local SEO optimises your online presence for geographically specific searches — "coffee shop near me", "plumber in Austin", "dentist open Sunday". For businesses serving a local area, local search is often the primary source of new customers.

Google Business Profile (GBP)

A complete, accurate Google Business Profile is the single most impactful local SEO action. GBP data feeds directly into the Local Pack (the map results shown above organic results).

• Claim and verify your listing at business.google.com
• Fill every field: categories, description, hours, services, photos
• Use your primary keyword in the business description (naturally)
• Add photos regularly — businesses with photos get far more direction requests
• Post weekly updates (offers, events, news) — GBP posts appear in search results
• Respond to every review within 48 hours

NAP Consistency

Your business Name, Address, and Phone number must be identical across every online mention — GBP, your website, Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places, industry directories. Inconsistencies confuse Google about which information is canonical and can suppress local rankings.

<!-- Structured NAP in your website footer -->
<address itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/LocalBusiness">
  <span itemprop="name">Acme Plumbing Co.</span>
  <span itemprop="streetAddress">123 Main St</span>,
  <span itemprop="addressLocality">Austin</span>,
  <span itemprop="addressRegion">TX</span>
  <span itemprop="postalCode">78701</span>
  <span itemprop="telephone">+1-512-555-0123</span>
</address>

LocalBusiness Schema

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Plumber",
  "name": "Acme Plumbing Co.",
  "url": "https://acmeplumbing.com",
  "telephone": "+1-512-555-0123",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "123 Main St",
    "addressLocality": "Austin",
    "addressRegion": "TX",
    "postalCode": "78701",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 30.2672,
    "longitude": -97.7431
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    { "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification", "dayOfWeek": ["Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday"], "opens": "08:00", "closes": "18:00" }
  ],
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "aggregateRating": { "@type": "AggregateRating", "ratingValue": "4.8", "reviewCount": "127" }
}

Local Landing Pages

If you serve multiple areas, create a dedicated landing page for each location — not thin auto-generated pages, but genuinely useful pages with local content: staff photos, local testimonials, area-specific services, directions.

Good structure:
  /austin-plumber  — local content, local testimonials, area served map
  /san-antonio-plumber
  /dallas-plumber

Bad: auto-generated pages that only swap the city name in a template

Review Strategy

Review quantity and recency are strong local ranking signals. A business with 200 reviews averaging 4.7 stars consistently outranks a competitor with 20 reviews at 5 stars.

• Ask every satisfied customer for a Google review (a direct link makes it easy)
• Never offer incentives for reviews — Google will remove them
• Respond to negative reviews professionally and offer to resolve offline
• Aim to receive new reviews at least monthly

Local Citations

Citations (mentions of your NAP on other sites) build trust signals. Prioritise: Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Facebook, industry-specific directories, Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau. Use a tool like BrightLocal or Yext to audit and fix inconsistent citations at scale.