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SEO. Three letters that make most business owners glaze over.
I get it. It sounds technical. It sounds expensive. And half the people who talk about it make it sound like you need a degree in computer science to do it properly.
You don’t.
If you’re a service business that works in a specific area, local SEO is simpler than you think. And it’s one of the highest-return things you can do for your business.
What is local SEO, in plain English?
It’s making sure that when someone in your area searches for what you do, they find you.
That’s it. No jargon needed.
When someone types “electrician in Bolton” or “dog groomer near me” into Google, the results they see are determined by local SEO. Your job is to make sure you’re one of the businesses that shows up.
The things that actually matter
I’m going to skip the technical stuff and give you the things that’ll make the biggest difference.
1. Your Google Business Profile.
This is the big one. If you haven’t set it up properly, none of the rest matters. Fill in every field, add photos, post regularly, get reviews. I’ve written a whole separate post on this - go and read it.
2. Your website needs to say where you are.
Sounds obvious. But I’ve seen hundreds of service business websites that never mention their location. Not on the homepage. Not in the page titles. Nowhere.
Google can’t read your mind. If your website doesn’t mention Wigan, how is Google supposed to know you work in Wigan?
Put your location on your homepage, your title tags, your service pages, and your footer. “Plumbing services in Wigan and the North West.” Not hidden. Not buried. Right there.
3. Get listed in local directories.
Yell.com, Thomson Local, Checkatrade, Bark, your local council’s business directory, your trade association’s directory. Wherever your business can be listed with a consistent name, address and phone number - get listed.
The keyword is consistent. Your business name, address and phone number need to be exactly the same everywhere. If your website says “12 High Street” and Yell says “12 High St”, Google sees that as two different things. Tidy it up.
4. Write content about local topics.
A blog post about “5 signs your boiler needs replacing” is useful. A blog post about “5 signs your boiler needs replacing (and what to do if you’re in Wigan)” is useful AND tells Google exactly where you work.
Mention local areas naturally in your content. Not stuffed in awkwardly - just naturally. “We recently completed a full heating install in Standish” is perfect.
5. Get reviews that mention your location and service.
“Jamie did a great job on our website” is good. “Jamie built us a brilliant website for our plumbing business in Bolton” is much better for local SEO.
You can’t control what people write. But you can nudge them. “If you’ve got a minute to leave us a Google review, it’d really help. Bonus points if you mention what we did and where you’re based!”
What you don’t need to worry about
- You don’t need to pay an agency £1,000 a month for SEO
- You don’t need to understand meta tags and schema markup
- You don’t need to obsess over keywords
Do the five things above consistently and you’ll be ahead of 90% of your competitors. Most local businesses do none of them.
Where to start
Go and Google yourself right now. Search for what you do plus your town. Are you on the first page? Are you in the map pack?
If not, start with your Google Business Profile and your website. Those two things alone will make a noticeable difference within a few weeks.
Local SEO isn’t complicated. It’s just something most people don’t bother doing properly.
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