Local SEO checklist for small businesses: what to do first

A local SEO checklist for a small business comes down to five jobs, in this order: get your Google Business Profile complete and verified, make your website say the same things your profile says, keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere, collect and answer reviews within Google's rules, and measure calls and form leads so you know whether any of it is working. Most of that you can do yourself in a few afternoons. A few items, like structured data and site speed, usually need a developer. Below is the full list, split into what to do this week, this month and from then on.

What local SEO covers

Local SEO is the work that helps you show up when someone nearby searches for what you do, in Google Maps and in the map pack above the normal results. Think "emergency plumber" or "bookkeeper in Albuquerque".

Google is open about how it ranks those results. Its own help page on improving your local ranking says local results are mainly based on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the searcher) and prominence (how well known you are, which includes how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have). The same page says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

You can't move your shop closer to every customer, so distance is out of your hands. Relevance and prominence are what this checklist works on.

This week: start with your Google Business Profile

Your profile is what people see in Maps, so start here. Google's help page says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results.

You can do all of these yourself, and for most businesses they take an afternoon:

1. Claim and verify the profile. Google treats verification as proof you're allowed to represent the business, and an unverified profile is less likely to appear. If verification is stuck or your listing has vanished, our guide to a Google Business Profile not showing up walks through each cause.
2. Use your real business name, exactly as it appears on your sign, website and invoices. Google's guidelines say the name should reflect your real-world name. Adding "best plumber Denver" to it breaks those guidelines and risks a suspension.
3. Pick the most specific primary category you can, then add secondary categories only for services you really offer.
4. Fill in hours, including holiday hours, plus your phone number and website link.
5. Decide how to show your address. If customers come to you, show it. If you go to them and work from home, Google says to hide the address and set a service area instead.
6. Add real photos of your premises, your team at work and finished jobs.

This month: make your website back up your profile

Google gets information about businesses from more than your profile, and your own website is the obvious place to make the details match. A profile that says one thing and a website that says another makes both look less reliable.

Things you can do yourself:

• Put your business name, address (or service area) and phone number on every page, usually in the footer, as plain text a search engine can read. A phone number inside an image doesn't count.
• Make the page your profile links to useful. For a single location that's usually the homepage. It should say what you do, where you do it and how to get in touch, within the first screen.
• Write one clear page for each main service, in the words your customers use.
• Add your hours and a map or directions to your contact page.

Things to hand to a developer:

• LocalBusiness structured data. This is a small block of code that tells Google your name, address, phone and hours in a format it reads directly. Google's documentation lists name and address as the required fields, and recommends testing the code with its Rich Results Test before you rely on it.
• Site speed and mobile layout. People looking for a local business are often on a phone, and a slow page can lose the caller before it loads.
• A Google Search Console account, if you don't have one, so you can see which searches you show up for.

Keep your name, address and phone the same everywhere

SEO people call this NAP consistency. It means your name, address and phone number read exactly the same on your profile, your website, Yelp, Facebook, the Better Business Bureau, industry directories and anywhere else you're listed.

Old listings are the usual problem. A previous address, an old phone number or a former business name sitting on a directory you forgot about can confuse both Google and customers. Search your business name and your old phone number, make a list of every listing you find, and fix or claim each one. It's tedious, and it's entirely do-it-yourself.

Reviews: how to ask and how to reply

Reviews feed prominence directly. Google's ranking page says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, so a steady habit of asking is worth more than any trick.

Google's rules for reviews on Maps are strict, and owners break them without realizing. Under that policy you can't:

• Offer anything in exchange for a review, including a discount, a freebie or entry into a draw.
• Ask only happy customers for reviews. Google calls this selectively soliciting positive reviews, and it's prohibited.
• Tell people what to write, or set staff a target number of reviews.
• Post reviews yourself, or have family and employees do it.

What you can do is ask every customer, the same way. Google lets you create a short review link or QR code from your profile, so send that link in your follow-up email or put the QR code on your invoice. Customers need a Google Account to leave a review, which is worth mentioning to people who say they couldn't do it.

Then reply, to the good reviews and the bad ones. Keep replies short and specific, never share a customer's private details, and move complicated complaints to a phone call. Your replies are public, so future customers see them next to the reviews.

Should you make a page for every town?

Owners often ask whether they need a separate page for every town they serve. We'd only make one when you have something different to say about that town: jobs you've done there, a team based there, different hours or prices.

Twenty near-identical pages that swap the town name are a bad idea. Google's spam policies name this directly as doorway abuse, giving "pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page" as an example. They also give a visitor nothing the main service page didn't.

A service page per main service, plus a genuine page for each real location, is enough for most small businesses.

How to tell if it's working

This is where most checklists stop, and it's the part that decides whether you keep paying for SEO. Rankings on their own are a poor measure. What you care about is calls, bookings and form enquiries.

Track these, and you can set most of them up yourself:

• Check the performance section of your Google Business Profile each month. It shows how many people called, asked for directions or clicked through to your website from the profile.
• Add a tracking tag to the website link on your profile so your analytics can separate visits from the profile from everything else.
• In Search Console, look at which searches bring people in, and watch for ones that include your town or "near me".
• Ask new customers how they found you, and write it down.

Give it time. Profile and website fixes can show up within weeks, once Google revisits your pages. Reviews, content and links build over months.

When to do it yourself and when to get help

If you have a few hours a month and you're comfortable editing your own website, you can do most of this list. The profile, the listings, the reviews and the monthly check are all owner jobs.

Get help when the work is technical (structured data, speed, a site you can't edit) or when you've done the basics and calls still aren't coming in. A good starting point is an SEO audit, from $59, which gives you a written, prioritized fix list, including a structured data and AI-search check, that you can hand to anyone. If you'd rather someone handled it every month, our monthly SEO plans start at $300 a month and include local SEO and your Google Business Profile, with a plain-English report on what changed. We can't promise a ranking, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

For a sense of what SEO usually costs elsewhere, see how much SEO costs for a small business.

FAQ

What is local SEO, in plain words?

It's the work that helps your business show up when people nearby search for what you offer, mostly in Google Maps and the map results at the top of Google. It covers your Google Business Profile, your website, your listings on other sites and your reviews.

How long does local SEO take to work?

Fixes to your profile and website can show up within weeks, once Google revisits them. Reviews, content and links build over a few months. Anyone promising page-one results in days is guessing or breaking Google's rules.

Does local SEO still work now that AI answers show up?

As far as we can tell, yes. AI answers rest on the same foundations as good SEO: clear pages, accurate business details and structured data. Getting your profile, website and listings consistent helps in both places.

Do I need a separate page for every service and town?

One clear page per main service is a good idea. A separate page per town only makes sense when you have something different to say about that town. Copy-and-paste town pages count as doorway pages under Google's spam policies.

How do I get more Google reviews without breaking Google's rules?

Ask every customer the same way, with a review link or QR code from your profile, and never offer anything in return. Don't ask only the customers you think are happy, and reply to every review you get.

Can I do local SEO myself, or should I hire someone?

Most owners can handle the profile, listings and reviews themselves. Hire help for technical work like structured data and site speed, or when the basics are done and the phone still isn't ringing. If you're not sure which camp you're in, send us a few lines about your business and we'll tell you.