Local SEO and Google Business Profile

When someone nearby searches for what you do, the first thing they usually see isn't a list of websites. It's a map with a handful of businesses pinned on it, each with hours, reviews, photos, and a button to call. That box comes from Google Business Profile, and it's often a local customer's first impression of you, before they ever reach your website.

Local SEO is the work of making sure you show up there, with information that's correct everywhere people look, and a website that backs it up.

Who it's for

• Businesses that serve a local area: trades, salons, studios, clinics, restaurants, shops, and anyone customers find by searching "near me".
• Owners who've never claimed their profile, or aren't sure who set it up years ago.
• Profiles with the wrong details: old hours, an old phone number, a missing website link, or the wrong category.
• Businesses that moved, renamed, or changed phone numbers and now have mismatched listings all over the web.

What I do

Your Google Business Profile, set up properly

• Claim your existing profile, or create one if you don't have it yet, in a Google account you own.
• Walk you through verification. Google decides how you verify (it might be a short video, a phone call or text, an email, or a postcard), and I help you through whichever it picks.
• Choose the right primary category and supporting categories. The primary category is one of the most important choices on the whole profile.
• Fill in the details customers look for: hours (including holiday hours), your address or service area, phone, website, services, and a clear description in plain language.
• Add your logo, a cover photo, and real photos of your work, your team, or your space.
• Set up a short link you can send customers so leaving a review takes them seconds.

Listings that agree with each other

Search engines compare your business name, address, and phone number across the web. When they match, it builds confidence that the information is right. When they don't, customers call old numbers and drive to old addresses. I list you in the main directories and correct the ones that are wrong, starting with the places your customers actually use: Apple Maps (through Apple Business Connect), Bing Places, Yelp, Facebook, and the directories that matter in your industry.

A website that backs it up

If I host your site, I make sure it says exactly what your profile says: the same business name, phone number, hours, and service area, on pages search engines can read. I also add structured data, a small bit of behind-the-scenes information that tells search engines what your business is, where it is, and when it's open.

What you have when it's done

• A verified profile in your own Google account. I'm added as a manager so I can help later, and you can remove me any time.
• A list of every listing I created or corrected, so nothing is scattered or forgotten.
• Your review link, and a simple routine for asking customers for reviews.
• A walkthrough of the profile's performance numbers: how many people found you, called, asked for directions, or clicked through to your site.

What it isn't

Nobody can promise you the top spot on Google, and anyone who does is guessing. Google says local results depend mainly on three things: how relevant your business is to the search, how far you are from the person searching, and how well known you are, which includes your reviews. I make sure you're relevant and your information is complete and correct everywhere. Distance is geography. Reputation you build over time, and I'll show you how to do it without breaking Google's rules.

I also won't do the things that get profiles suspended: stuffing extra keywords into your business name, listing an address where you don't actually work, or buying reviews.

Pricing

• Local SEO: $199, one time. Available as an add-on to any plan.
• On Business or Business + Tools? Google Business Profile setup is already included in those plans. The add-on adds the directory listings and the cleanup of listings that are wrong.

See every add-on on the pricing page.

How it works

1. A quick check. I search for your business the way a customer would and note what's missing, wrong, or duplicated.
2. Your details, confirmed. You confirm the exact name, address or service area, phone, hours, and services you want everywhere, so every listing matches.
3. Setup and cleanup. I set up the profile and listings and correct what's wrong. You complete any verification step Google sends to you.
4. Handover. I show you how to update hours, add photos, post news, and reply to reviews from your phone.

Most of the work takes a few days. Verification and directory updates run on Google's and each directory's schedule, so some changes can take a few weeks to show everywhere.

Rather do it yourself?

You can. My guide to Google Business Profile walks through every step the way I'd do it.