Local SEO for service businesses: a starter guide

For businesses that serve customers in a local area, local search is often where most new customers come from. Here is where to start, in order of impact.

1. Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile controls how you appear in local search results and on Maps, so it comes first.

• Name: your real business name, without extra keywords.
• Categories: the primary category matters most; choose the one that best describes your main service, then add relevant secondary ones.
• Service area: if you visit customers and do not serve them at your address, you can set a service area and hide the address.
• Hours, phone, website: accurate and kept up to date, including holiday hours.
• Services and photos: real photos of your work, team and vehicles help people choose.

2. Reviews

Reviews influence both whether people choose you and how you appear.

• Ask every happy customer, at the moment they are happiest, with a direct link.
• Reply to every review, good and bad, briefly and professionally.
• Do not offer incentives for reviews and do not post fake ones; both are against Google's policies and can get reviews removed.

3. Consistent business details

Your name, address and phone number should be the same everywhere: your website, your profile, directories and social profiles. Inconsistent details confuse customers and search engines alike.

4. A website that answers local questions

• A clear service page for each main service, saying what you do, where, and how to book.
• Location pages only where they are genuinely useful. Pages that only swap the town name are thin and can be treated as doorway pages. Make each one specific: the areas covered, local projects, reviews from customers there.
• Your contact details on every page, and a fast, mobile-friendly site: most local searches happen on phones.

5. Local links and mentions

Links and mentions from local sources help: local news, business associations, sponsorships of local events, suppliers and partners. Being listed in a few relevant directories helps too; see SEO agency directories: which are worth listing on for how to judge them.

6. Measure it

• Business Profile performance: calls, direction requests and website clicks.
• Search Console: queries that include your services and locations.
• Ask new customers how they found you, and write it down.

What not to do

• Adding keywords or locations to your business name.
• Creating profiles at addresses where you do not actually operate.
• Buying reviews or reviewing yourself.

Each of these can lead to suspension, which is far more damaging than any short-term gain.

Working on local SEO for clients? Compare notes in the Local SEO community.