Local SEO

Local SEO is search visibility for a business people find by place: the map pack, Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent name, address and phone, local pages, and proximity to the searcher.

It applies to businesses with a physical location or a defined service area. Think “plumber near me”, “coffee shop in Shoreditch”, or “accountant SW1”. Proximity is a major signal, so results change by where the searcher is.

A software product sold online has no local SEO to do. The only overlap with ordinary SEO is reviews on software directories and structured data on your site.

• Work on local if you have a shopfront, clinic, office with walk-ins, or you go to customers in a set area.
• Skip local if you are SaaS, a digital product, or a content site with no service area.
• Hybrid? If you run a local agency and a national software add-on, split the work: GBP and directories for the agency, ordinary SEO for the software.

Example: “yourplumber.co.uk” should build a “/areas/london” page, collect Google reviews, and keep the same phone number across listings. “yourproduct.com” should ignore GBP and build feature, comparison and use case pages instead.

• Map pack presence: search “service + area”, signed out, from the area. Note if you appear in the three-pack.
• Google Business Profile: track calls, messages and direction requests in its dashboard. Watch review count and average rating.
• Local rankings by grid: use a rank tracker with a geo grid if you have more than one area. Spot where you drop out of the pack.
• On-site: local page visits and calls or form fills from those pages in your analytics.
• NAP consistency: your name, address and phone should match across major directories.

A healthy local setup shows steady map pack impressions, rising review count, and traffic to “/locations/london” that turns into calls.

1. 1

   Claim and complete Google Business Profile

   Use your real business name, main category, hours, phone and address or service area. Add photos and a short description.

2. 2

   Build a clean location or service area page

   Create “/locations/london” or “/service-areas/southwark”. Include address, phone, opening hours, embedded map, and unique copy about services there.

3. 3

   Ensure NAP consistency

   Match name, address and phone on your site footer and on major directories. Fix mismatches. Use one primary phone number.

4. 4

   Collect and reply to reviews

   Ask recent customers. Link them to your GBP. Reply to every review. Do not offer incentives in reviews.

5. 5

   Add LocalBusiness structured data

   Mark up name, address, phone, opening hours and sameAs links. Keep it in sync with the page content.

6. 6

   Earn local links and mentions

   Sponsor a local event, join a chamber of commerce, or publish a local guide. Link back to your location page.

A fixed “/locations/london” page loads fast, shows the address, phone and hours above the fold, and uses the same details as your GBP and directories.

• Keyword stuffing your business name in GBP. Use the legal or storefront name.
• Thin city pages: cloning content across “/london”, “/manchester”, “/leeds” with only the city swapped. Write unique details or do not publish them.
• Tracking numbers everywhere. If you use a call tracking number, use it in GBP and put the real number as additional. Keep one canonical number on your site.
• Using a virtual office to rank in a city you do not serve. It risks suspension and poor conversions.
• For SaaS: chasing citations and local directories. It wastes time. Put effort into product SEO and reviews on software directories instead.