Local SEO
Local SEO for small businesses: where to start
When someone nearby needs what you sell, can they find you, understand your offer and contact you without hunting? Start there.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the work of making a business easier to find for searches connected with a place. That might mean a customer looking for a dog groomer nearby or a business owner comparing accountants in their town. A useful local presence answers three questions quickly: what do you do, where do you do it, and how can someone get in touch?
Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot choose where a searcher is standing. You can make your information clearer and give people more reasons to trust your business.
1. Check whether you qualify for a Business Profile
A Google Business Profile is generally for businesses that receive customers at a physical location or travel to customers. An online-only business is not eligible simply because its owner lives in a particular town. Read Google's eligibility guidance before creating a profile.
If eligible, use your real business name and accurate category, contact details, opening hours and service area. Keep the account under your control. Do not add extra keywords to your name or invent an office address.
2. Give each important service a useful page
Imagine a mobile dog groomer. A prospective customer may want to know which dogs they work with, what the appointment includes, whether water or electricity is needed, and which areas they visit. A page that answers those questions has a clear job.
Write your own equivalent. Explain the service, the customer it suits, the practical details and the next step. Use a descriptive title such as “Mobile dog grooming in [your actual area]”. Avoid copying the same paragraph across dozens of town pages. Add genuinely different local information only where it helps a customer.
3. Remove the small obstacles to enquiring
Open your site on your phone and try to contact your own business. Is the number easy to find? Does the form reach the right inbox? Is your service area visible before someone spends time writing? Ask another person to try it too. A page can receive visits and still lose customers if the next step is unclear.
4. Collect evidence from real work
Photograph completed projects with permission. Explain what the customer needed and what you delivered. Where reviews are supported, invite genuine feedback without asking people to say particular things. Respond thoughtfully to questions and criticism. A small collection of specific examples is more useful to a buyer than a page full of vague claims.
5. Check the technical basics
Make sure important pages have working links from your navigation or relevant articles. Check that your live site is not accidentally blocking search crawlers, and use Search Console to investigate indexing issues. A sitemap can help search engines discover pages; it does not guarantee inclusion or a particular position.
A manageable first-week checklist
- Confirm your contact details and service area everywhere you publish them.
- Improve the page for your most important service.
- Test the enquiry journey on a phone.
- Add one real project example.
- Check indexing and record the enquiries you receive.
Review qualified enquiries as well as visits. Ask new customers how they found you and record which service they wanted. That gives you a more useful basis for your next improvement than checking one search result repeatedly.
Building a new site too? Read our website cost guide before comparing quotes.