Local SEO doesn’t make for exciting dinner conversation. Nobody’s ever leaned over at a barbecue and said, “Mate, you should see my NAP consistency.”
But for local businesses, it’s often the thing that brings in the most calls for the least money. And most of it is just boring jobs, done properly and kept up.
Here’s my checklist.
Your Google Business Profile
This is the big one. It’s what shows up in the map results when someone searches “electrician near me.”
- Claim and verify it, if you haven’t already.
- Pick the right primary category. Be specific: “Emergency electrician” beats “Contractor.”
- Fill in everything: services, service areas, hours, holiday hours, description, website and booking link.
- Add real photos of your work, team, vehicles and premises. Not stock photos.
- Post updates now and then. Offers, recent jobs, news. It shows the profile’s alive.
- Answer the questions people ask on your profile.
Reviews
Reviews help you rank and they help people choose you. Double win.
- Ask every happy customer. Most people are happy to help; they just forget. Send a direct link by text after the job.
- Reply to every review, good and bad. Keep it short and genuine.
- Never buy fake reviews. It’s against Google’s rules, it’s against Australian consumer law, and people can usually tell anyway.
Your business details everywhere
Your name, address and phone number (that’s the “NAP” from earlier) should be exactly the same on your website, Google profile, Facebook, Yellow Pages, True Local, industry directories, everywhere.
Moved premises or changed numbers in the past few years? Old details floating around confuse Google. Hunt them down and update them.
Your website
- One page per main service. “Hot water systems,” “blocked drains” and “gas fitting” each deserve their own page, not one page that lists everything.
- Location pages, done properly. If you cover several areas, a page for each main one can work, but only if it’s genuinely useful: jobs you’ve done there, local details, local reviews. Copy-pasted pages with the suburb name swapped don’t cut it.
- Your phone number at the top of every page, tappable on mobile.
- Fast and mobile-friendly. Most local searches happen on phones, often in a hurry.
- Schema markup that tells Google your business type, address, hours and service areas. Your developer or SEO can sort this.
Local links and mentions
Links from other local websites tell Google you’re part of the community. Think sponsoring the local footy club, joining your industry association, being featured in local news or partnering with complementary businesses. These are real relationships that also happen to help your SEO.
Track what matters
Watch your calls, form enquiries and direction requests from Google Business Profile, not just rankings. A business ranking third that gets lots of calls is doing better than one ranking first that nobody rings.
The secret is consistency
None of this is complicated. The businesses that win at local SEO are just the ones who actually do it, and keep doing it, month after month.
If you’d rather hand it to someone who’ll keep on top of it for you, have a look at my local SEO services or get in touch and I’ll put together a quote. You can also see how I approach SEO for tradies and retail businesses.
