What local SEO covers
When someone searches "emergency plumber", "dentist open Saturday" or "accountant for landlords" with local intent, Google usually shows a map with a small set of business profiles, followed by ordinary website results. Local SEO is the work of appearing in both: the map results driven by your Google Business Profile, and the organic results driven by your website.
The two are connected. A strong profile with a weak website tends to underperform, and a strong website with a neglected profile misses the map results that many local searchers click first. The tips below cover both sides. If you would rather hand the work over, our local SEO service handles it as one project.
How Google decides who appears locally
Google's own help page on improving your local ranking names three main factors and states that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Knowing which factor you can influence prevents wasted effort.
| Factor | What it means | What you can influence |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well your profile and site match the search | Accurate categories, complete services, clear service pages on your website |
| Distance | How far you are from the searcher or the place in the search | Very little: your real address is your address. Do not fake locations |
| Popularity | How well known and well regarded the business is, online and offline | Genuine reviews, links and mentions, a useful website, a recognisable brand |
Tips for your Google Business Profile
- Use your real business name. Google's guidelines for representing your business require the name you use in the real world. Adding "Best Plumber Manchester" to the name breaks the rules and risks suspension.
- Choose the primary category carefully. It is one of the strongest relevance signals. Add secondary categories only where they truly describe what you do.
- Fill in services and the description in plain language your customers use.
- Keep hours right, including bank holidays. Use special hours for Christmas, Easter and bank holiday Mondays so people do not arrive at a closed door.
- Add real photos of your premises, team and work, and keep adding them over time.
- Link to the most relevant page, usually the page for that location rather than your home page if you have several.
Our Google Business Profile guide goes through every field step by step.
Reviews: ask every real customer, never filter
Reviews influence both ranking and the decision to call you. The rule is simple: ask every genuine customer, and accept what they write. Google's prohibited and restricted content policy forbids discouraging negative reviews or selectively asking only happy customers. That practice, often called review gating, also includes tools that send satisfied customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private form.
Do not offer discounts, gifts or prize draws in return for reviews, and never write reviews for yourself or ask staff and friends to do so. UK consumer protection law also treats fake and undisclosed incentivised reviews seriously; the Competition and Markets Authority publishes guidance on this.
How to get more genuine reviews
- Ask at the natural moment: when the job is finished and the customer is pleased.
- Send the direct review link by email or text, so it takes seconds.
- Make asking a routine for every customer, not an occasional campaign.
- Reply to every review, briefly and personally. To a critical review, respond calmly and factually, and offer to continue the conversation offline.
Location and service pages that earn their place
Your website should have a clear page for each main service. If you have several real branches, each deserves its own page with its address, opening hours, how to get there, the team and anything specific to that branch.
What does not work is a stack of near-identical pages that only swap the town name: "Roofer in Bristol", "Roofer in Bath", "Roofer in Swindon", each with the same text. Google treats these as doorway pages, and they rarely help the reader. If you serve a region from one base, one strong service page that explains your coverage area honestly is usually better than twenty thin ones.
Keep your name, address and phone number identical on the website, the profile and directories, and add structured data for your business only with details that are true.
Citations, local links and community
Citations are mentions of your business details on other sites: established UK business directories, your trade body or professional register, and industry platforms. They matter less than they once did, but inconsistent details still confuse customers and search engines. Correct the old addresses and phone numbers first, then add a handful of relevant listings rather than hundreds of irrelevant ones.
Local links tend to carry more weight: a feature in the local paper, a mention by a chamber of commerce you belong to, a sponsorship of a club you genuinely support, a supplier who lists you as a stockist. These come from real involvement in your area, which is exactly why they are trusted.
Local SEO for dentists, clinics and doctors
Healthcare practices search the hardest for local SEO advice, and they carry extra responsibilities. The tips above apply, with a few additions:
- Patient confidentiality comes first. When replying to a review, never confirm that the reviewer is a patient or mention any treatment. A short, general reply that invites them to contact the practice is the safe route.
- Respect your regulator's guidance. Dentists should follow the General Dental Council's guidance on advertising and online communication, and regulated clinics must describe their CQC registration accurately. Advertising claims fall under the ASA and the CAP Code.
- Create a page per treatment that explains what it involves, who it suits, risks and what happens next, written or reviewed by a named clinician.
- Choose categories precisely so the profile reflects the type of practice and the services you really offer.
We cover this in more depth on our pages about dental SEO and websites and marketing for private clinics.
Service-area businesses and multiple locations
A builder in Leeds who works across West Yorkshire, or a mobile mechanic in Cardiff, serves customers at their address. Google allows such businesses to hide the address and set a service area instead. Do not register a virtual office or a mailbox address to appear in another town: Google's guidelines state that such locations are not eligible, and profiles built on them are often suspended.
Businesses with several genuine branches should create a profile per branch, managed under one business account, with a matching location page for each. Trades firms in particular benefit from a website built around services and coverage; our page on websites for builders and trades explains what that structure looks like.
Measuring local results and a short checklist
Look at the performance data in your Business Profile (calls, direction requests, website clicks), at Search Console for your service and location pages, and above all at enquiries: how many, from where, and of what quality. Rankings vary by the searcher's exact location, so a single check from your office says little.
- Profile complete, with the right primary category and real name.
- Hours and special hours up to date.
- A review request built into every customer journey.
- Every review answered.
- One strong page per service and per genuine location.
- Identical name, address and phone number everywhere.
- A few relevant directory listings and local links.
- Enquiries tracked, not only rankings.