Google Business Profile — the most important single action

If you do nothing else in this guide, do this. Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that determines whether you appear in Google's Local Pack — the map result with three businesses at the top of local searches.

A complete GBP means: verified listing, specific primary category, full list of services, business description with your services and location mentioned naturally, hours, phone number, website URL, and a minimum of 10 photos. Most GBP listings are 40-60% complete. Fully completing yours puts you ahead of a large proportion of your local competitors immediately.

See our step-by-step GBP setup guide for the full process.

NAP consistency

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Google cross-references your business information across every place it appears online. Your website, your GBP, Yell, Thomson Local, Yelp, Companies House, Facebook — everywhere your business is listed.

Inconsistencies create doubt. If your phone number on Yell is an old number you no longer use, or your address on Facebook shows your previous business location, Google sees conflicting signals and may lower your local ranking as a result.

How to check: search your business name on Google, look at the first page of results, and visit each listing. Write down the name, address and phone number shown. Compare them all. Fix any that don't match exactly — including how you abbreviate things like "Street" vs "St" or "Limited" vs "Ltd".

Local keyword strategy

Local keyword targeting means building your website content around the specific search terms your customers use. For a trade business, these are almost always service and location combinations:

Each of these combinations should have its own page on your website. Not a single "Services" page that mentions all of them — separate pages, each with a clear title tag, H1 heading, and body content that addresses that specific service in that specific location.

The most common mistake: One "Services" page instead of individual service pages. Google can only rank a page for searches that the page is clearly about. "Services" isn't clearly about anything specific enough to rank.

Location pages

If you cover multiple towns or a regional area, create a separate page for each main location you work in. "Plumber in Sheffield", "Plumber in Rotherham", "Plumber in Barnsley" — each as its own page.

These pages need genuine content, not just a template with the location name swapped. Mention specific areas of the town you cover, refer to local landmarks or postcodes if relevant, and include any job examples from that area. Thin location pages (just a paragraph with the location name repeated) don't rank and may actually be penalised.

Reviews

Google reviews affect both your GBP ranking (in the Local Pack) and how likely visitors are to contact you when they find your listing. A business with 35 reviews averaging 4.8 stars consistently outperforms competitors with fewer or lower-rated reviews.

The strategy is simple: ask every customer, every time. After completing a job, say: "Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It really helps the business." Then send them your direct review link by WhatsApp or text. A QR code on your business card pointing to the review page removes friction further.

Aim for 2-5 new reviews per month consistently. A slow, steady stream of genuine reviews over time is more valuable than a burst of 20 in one week (which can look suspicious to Google).

Citations

Citations are online mentions of your business NAP. Directories like Yell, Thomson Local, Yelp UK, Bing Places and others contribute to your local SEO by confirming your business exists and your details are consistent.

Are citations still worth spending time on? Partially. The major directories (Yell, Bing Places, Apple Maps, TripAdvisor where relevant) are worth having. The dozens of minor directories have less value than they once did. Focus on the top 10-15 and ensure they're accurate, rather than trying to list your business on every directory that exists.

What not to waste time on

A few things that get talked about in SEO circles but don't move the needle much for local small businesses:

Link building: Acquiring backlinks from other websites is a major factor in organic SEO. For local businesses, it matters much less than GBP, reviews and consistent NAP. Don't spend money on link-building services targeted at small local businesses — the ROI is poor.

Social media for SEO: Posting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter doesn't directly improve your Google rankings. It has other value, but if your goal is local search visibility, time spent on social media doesn't translate into better rankings.

Keyword density: The idea that you need your keywords mentioned a certain number of times per page is outdated. Write naturally. Mention your service and location where it's relevant. Don't stuff keywords into paragraphs in ways that read awkwardly.