If your customers are mostly local, you don't need to rank for everything. You need to show up when someone nearby searches for what you do. That's local SEO, and the basics are more manageable than the industry makes them sound.
1. Set up your Google Business Profile
This is the single most useful thing you can do. It's free, and it's what shows up in Google Maps and the map results at the top of a search. Fill in everything: your services, opening hours, photos, and the areas you cover. If you work from home or travel to customers, you can set it up as a service-area business and hide your address.
2. Ask for reviews, every time
Reviews help you rank and help people choose you. The easiest way to get more is to ask at the right moment, when a customer is happy, with a direct link. Reply to them too, including the occasional grumpy one.
3. Keep your details consistent
Your business name, address (if you show one) and phone number should be written the same way on your website, your Google profile and anywhere else you're listed. Small differences make it harder for Google to be sure they're all you.
4. Give each service its own page
One page that lists everything you do is hard to rank. A page for each main service, explaining what it is, who it's for and what it costs, gives Google (and customers) something specific to work with.
5. Mention where you work, naturally
Say where you're based and the areas you cover, in normal sentences. What you shouldn't do is create dozens of near-identical pages for every nearby town. Search engines treat those as spam, and they're dull to read.
6. Set up Google Search Console
It's free, and it shows you what people searched for when they found you, which pages appear in results, and any problems Google has with your site. It's the best way to see whether any of this is working.
7. Make sure the technical basics are right
- a clear, specific title on every page
- a sitemap, so Google can find all your pages
- a site that's fast and works properly on phones
Every site I build launches with these basics set up. If you'd like someone to look at yours, tell us about your business.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change, so check the official guidance for your own situation.
