What is local SEO?

When someone types “electrician near me” or “hair salon Chichester”, Google shows a map with a short list of businesses (the map pack), then the normal list of websites. Local SEO is everything you do so that your business is one of the ones it shows, and so that people who see you have a reason to tap.

It matters most for businesses that serve a patch: trades, clinics, salons, gyms, cafés, driving instructors. Your customers are close by and often ready to call today. National SEO is about competing with the whole country for a topic. Local SEO is about being the obvious choice in your area.

This guide explains the whole thing. If you already know your business is missing from Google and want to find out why, the checklist for businesses not showing on Google is the quicker read.

Google publishes this itself. Its help page says local results are mainly based on three things:

• Relevance: how well your Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. The right category, a full list of services and a clear description all help Google match you to more searches.
• Distance: how far your business is from the person searching. You can’t change where you are, which is why a rival across town can show above you there while you show above them here.
• Prominence: how well known your business is. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and it looks at information from across the web too, such as links and articles.

Google also says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up, and that there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So local SEO is never a trick. It’s giving Google clear, consistent, believable information and earning a good reputation over time.

For most small businesses, local SEO is five things done properly.

• Google Business Profile. Your listing on Google Maps and Search. It needs the right primary category, your services, hours, photos and a description that follows Google’s rules. If you visit customers rather than having them come to you, set it up as a service-area business. The guide to writing your profile description covers that part in detail.
• Reviews. A steady flow of genuine reviews, with replies from you. Ask every customer with a direct link, and never offer anything in return. The guide to getting more Google reviews explains how.
• Consistent name, address and phone number (NAP). The same details on your website, your profile and every directory listing, or citation, such as Yell, Checkatrade or Facebook.
• Local pages on your website. A page for each main service that says what you do, where you work and how to get in touch. If you cover several towns, say so in plain words on the page, with real detail rather than the same text with the town swapped.
• Schema markup. A few lines of code that tell Google your business name, address, hours and phone number in a format it reads directly. Google’s own documentation says local business markup can tell it about business hours, departments and more.

A lot of local SEO is housekeeping, and you can do the first round yourself.

1. Check your profile is verified and complete. Sign in, fill every section that applies, and check your hours, phone number and website link.
2. Check your main category. Pick the one that best finishes the sentence “this business is a…”. Add only a few secondary ones.
3. Add real photos. Your work, your van, your premises, your team. Skip stock images.
4. Get your review link and send it. Send it to your last ten customers with a short, personal message.
5. Search your old details. Search your business name and any old phone number or address. List every directory that shows the wrong details and start correcting them.
6. Read your home page on your phone. Does the first screen say what you do and where? Is the phone number a tap-to-call link?

Some parts can’t be rushed, and anyone who promises a date for a map position is promising something Google doesn’t.

• Reviews build one customer at a time. The habit of asking matters more than any single push.
• Fixing old listings can take weeks, because some directories are slow to respond and some need you to claim the listing first.
• Service pages take real writing: what you do, what it roughly costs, where you work, photos and answers to common questions.
• Prominence grows as more people know you, mention you and link to you. Local press, sponsoring a club or being listed by a trade body all count, and none of it happens in a week.
• Keeping it active. A profile that gets regular posts, new photos and replies to reviews shows Google and customers that you’re open and busy.

For trades, the trade directories matter as much as Google. If you’re a plumber, electrician or roofer, make sure your listings there match your Google profile exactly.

If you’d rather hand the first round over, the Local Search Fix is a fixed £800. I fill in your Google Business Profile properly, make the key fixes on your website, add schema markup so Google can read your business details, and set up review requests that ask every customer. It’s paid £400 to start and £400 at launch, typically 1 to 2 weeks.

To keep it active every month, the Foundation Plan is £500 a month, with a 3-month minimum. It includes 4 Google Business Profile posts a month, small changes to your site and a review call with me every 3 months. If you want to compare costs first, see the guide to what local SEO costs.

I can’t promise a ranking, and neither can anyone else. Not sure where you stand? Take the Scorecard. The Enquiry Leak Scorecard is 12 questions and takes about 3 minutes. You don’t need to give an email to see your score.

• Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help, accessed 30 September 2026
• Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help, accessed 30 September 2026
• Local Business (LocalBusiness) structured data, Google Search Central, accessed 30 September 2026