Quick answer
What is local SEO?
It's helping Google and customers understand what you do, where you work and why you can be trusted. It usually means your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your details all working together.
The jargon
The words you'll come across, in plain English.
- Local SEO: showing up in Google and Google Maps for people searching near where you work.
- Google Business Profile: your free business listing on Google Search and Maps.
- Relevance: how well you match what someone searched for.
- Distance: how far you are from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known you are, including links to your website and your reviews.
- Service area: the towns or postcodes you list as where you work.
Three things
What decides who shows up locally?
Relevance: how well you match the search. Distance: how far you are from the person searching. Prominence: how well known you are.
- Help relevance with the right categories, services and useful pages
- You can't change distance with keywords
- Become better known through real reviews, mentions and links
No checklist picks your position, but these three explain why being accurate, local and well thought of matters.
Be consistent
Why do my details need to match everywhere?
Use the same name, main phone number and website everywhere that matters. Describe the area you cover the same way too. Small differences aren't a disaster, but three different names confuse people.
Do this
Oak Electrical uses the same name, number, website and Bristol area on its website and its Google profile.
Not this
Different directories show three names, old numbers and offices in towns the business has never worked from.
Google profile
How should I fill in my Google profile?
Pick the closest categories, hide your home address if customers don't come to you, list the towns you really cover, keep your hours right and add real photos of your work. See How to Set Up a Google Business Profile.
More towns doesn't move you closer to anyone, and Google says your area shouldn't be more than about two hours' drive from your base. Profiles at PO boxes or friends' addresses break Google's rules. And there's no way to pay Google for a better local ranking.
Your website
What should my website say about where I work?
Your website should say where you're based and where you cover, in normal sentences, with photos of real local jobs. A service page can mention your area and still be about the job.
Do this
A rewiring page explains the process, the mess to expect, your qualifications, some real jobs and that you cover Bristol.
Not this
Thirty pages with the same paragraph for Bristol, Bath, Keynsham and every town around, with only the town name changed.
A page for one town is worth it when there's something real to say: a real base there, real jobs there, or a different service there.
Reputation
How do I build a local reputation?
Ask every customer for an honest review and reply properly. Get mentioned by suppliers, trade bodies and local groups you genuinely work with. Never buy reviews or links.
In order
What should I do first?
- Make sure your Google profile is yours and verified
- Check your name, number, website, hours and area
- Make your main service pages good
- Add real jobs, photos and proof
- Make calling or messaging you easy on a phone
- Ask every customer for an honest review
- Count enquiries by service and town
- Improve weak pages before adding new ones
Keeping track
How do I check if local SEO is working?
Local results change depending on where the person searching is. Count real calls and enquiries, check the numbers on your Google profile, and use Search Console for your website.
Sources
Where this guide comes from.
Checked against these official pages on 27/10/2026. Next check due 27/01/2027. Things can change sooner, so check the official page before an important decision.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Do I need a page for every town?
No. Only where you've got something real and different to say about that town.
Do reviews help?
Google says more reviews and good ratings can help, but no number guarantees a position.
Should I list every town in my footer?
No. One clear sentence about the area you cover is more useful.
Can I show up in a town where I've no office?
You can for some searches, but distance still counts. Don't invent an address there.
Is a Google profile enough?
No. It's important, but your website, reviews and details all matter too.
Can an agency guarantee the top three on Maps?
No. Google controls the results, and they change with every search.
Got a question?
Send us a message and we'll point you in the right direction.
We're happy to help, even if it's not about a website.
