Insights
Local SEO for small businesses: a practical checklist
When someone searches for a service “near me”, search engines lean heavily on a handful of local signals. Most of them are free to fix. Work through this checklist and you’ll be ahead of many of your competitors.
Your Google Business Profile
- Claim and verify it, then make sure the business name matches your signage and website exactly
- Pick the right primary category, plus a few relevant secondary ones
- Fill in everything: hours, service areas, services, description, photos and a link to your site
- Ask happy customers for reviews, and reply to every review, good or bad
- Post occasional updates, such as projects, offers or news, to show the profile is active
Consistent details everywhere
Your business name, address and phone number should read exactly the same on your website, your Google profile and directories like Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and industry listings. Inconsistencies make search engines less confident about which details are right.
A website that supports local search
- One page per core service, each with a clear title, a specific description and an obvious way to get in touch
- Location or service-area pages where they genuinely add information, never copy-pasted with the town name swapped
- Structured data that describes your business, services and FAQs to search engines
- Fast, mobile-friendly pages, since most local searches happen on phones
- Contact details in plain text, not only inside images
Measure what matters
Connect Google Search Console and analytics, then track calls, form submissions and direction requests, not just visits. That shows which searches and pages actually bring in work, and where to focus next.
Want help putting this in place? Our SEO services cover technical fixes, local search and reporting, or get in touch to talk it through.