Local SEO checklist: get found by customers near you

Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the searcher) and prominence (how well known and trusted your business is). See Google's guide to local ranking.

You cannot change distance, so this checklist focuses on relevance and prominence: a complete profile, steady reviews, consistent details and helpful local pages.

Claim and verify your profile, then fill in every field: primary and secondary categories, services, service areas, hours, phone, website and a clear description.

Your primary category matters most for relevance. Choose the one that best describes your main service, not a broad one.

Follow Google's guidelines for business profiles. Keyword stuffing your business name or using a fake address can get the profile suspended.

Upload real photos of your team, vehicles, premises and work. Add new ones regularly.

Use Google posts for offers, seasonal services and updates, and answer common questions in the Q and A area.

Ask every happy customer for a review with a short link by text or email, right after the job. Google shares tips in Google's tips to get more reviews.

Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and specifically. Never buy reviews or offer rewards for them, which breaks Google's policies.

Use exactly the same business name, address and phone number (often called NAP) on your website, Google profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook and industry directories.

Search for your old phone numbers or addresses and update any outdated listings.

Create a dedicated page for each core service, and for each main town or area you serve, with genuinely local details: areas covered, local jobs, local reviews and FAQs.

Avoid copying the same page and swapping the town name. Thin, duplicate pages rarely rank. Google's Google's SEO Starter Guide covers writing helpful pages.

Link each service page to your contact or booking page so visitors can act.

Make sure your site loads fast and works well on phones. Google measures page experience with Core Web Vitals.

Add LocalBusiness structured data to your site with your name, address, phone and hours, and show the same details in your footer.

Our technical SEO audit checklist covers the rest.

Join your chamber of commerce and trade associations, sponsor local events and get listed on reputable local directories.

Local news coverage and partnerships with nearby businesses build the prominence Google looks for.

Check Google Business Profile insights for calls, direction requests and website clicks.

Use call tracking and form tracking on your site so you know which enquiries came from local search. For a done for you approach see our local SEO services, or industry pages like home services marketing.

Once the basics are in place, a short monthly routine keeps you visible: add a few new photos, publish one Google post, reply to every new review, check your hours and holiday times, and look at which searches brought calls in your profile insights. Small, regular updates signal an active, trustworthy business.