Local SEO

How businesses that serve an area get found in map results and "near me" searches: Google Business Profile, consistent name, address and phone, reviews and local pages.

2 min read · updated 24 September 2026

When someone searches "electrician near me" or "dentist Harrogate", the results are dominated by a map and three business listings, often called the local pack. Local SEO is the work of getting into that pack and into the ordinary results under it.

The three big local ranking factors

Google describes local ranking in terms of three things:

• Relevance: how well your listing matches what was searched.
• Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or from the place they named.
• Prominence: how well known and trusted the business is, from reviews, links, mentions and its website.

You cannot change distance. Everything else is in your hands.

Google Business Profile

Your Business Profile is the listing that appears in the map and the local pack. Get the basics exactly right:

• Business name as it appears on your signage, without extra keywords stuffed in.
• Primary category that describes the core business ("Plumber", not "Plumbing supply store").
• Address, or a service area if customers do not visit you.
• Phone number and website.
• Opening hours, including holiday hours.
• Photos of real work, your premises and your team.

Keep it active: add updates, answer questions, and reply to reviews.

Consistent name, address and phone (NAP)

Your business appears in many places: your website, Google, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Facebook, Yell, trade directories, suppliers' "find an installer" pages. Search engines cross-check these. When they disagree (an old phone number here, a previous address there) they are less confident the details are right.

• Choose one exact format for the name, address and phone.
• Update old listings when you move or change number.
• Remove duplicate listings for the same location.

Local SEO in the app compares every listing you add against your details, and the free local business checker checks a single page.

Reviews

Reviews influence both ranking and whether people choose you. Ask every happy customer, make it easy with a direct link, and reply to reviews, including the critical ones, calmly and helpfully. Never buy reviews or offer incentives for positive ones; it breaks platform rules and consumer law.

Your website's part

• Show your name, address and phone number on the site, as text rather than only in an image, usually in the footer.
• Add LocalBusiness structured data with the same details.
• Create a page for each main service, and for each main area only when you have something specific to say about it.
• Embed a map on your contact page.

Local links and mentions

Local newspapers, community groups, events you sponsor and local business associations all signal that you are an established part of the area. See links and authority for ideas.