Local SEO Guide: How Nearby Customers Find You

How does local search work?

When ranking results for a location-based search, search engines generally look at three things:

• Relevance: how closely does your business match what was searched? A bakery is relevant to a "birthday cake" search.
• Distance: how close is your business to the person searching, or to the place named in the search?
• Prominence: how well known is your business? How consistent and up to date are the reviews, links and information about it?

You can't change distance, but you have direct influence over relevance and prominence. Most local SEO work focuses on these two areas.

The foundation: Google Business Profile

The most important step towards being visible in local search is creating a Google Business Profile for your business and filling it in completely. Much of the information shown on maps and in local results comes from this profile. We explain how to set up and manage the profile in detail in our Google Business Profile guide. This article focuses on the steps beyond the profile.

Write your business details the same way everywhere

An important but often overlooked part of local SEO is the consistency of your business details. Your business name, address and phone number should be written the same way on your website, social media profiles, map listings and any directory sites you appear on.

• Even small differences, such as "St." in one place and "Street" in another, can look inconsistent; use the same spelling wherever possible.
• If you've moved or changed your phone number, update every place where the old details remain, one by one.
• Keep opening hours up to date, especially over public holidays.

Consistent information helps search engines recognise your business correctly. More importantly, it stops customers turning up at a closed shop or calling a number that no longer works.

Include local information on your website

If you have a website, a few simple steps make it better suited to local searches:

• Address and contact details: show them clearly in the footer of every page or on a separate contact page.
• Service area: state which districts or areas you serve. Clear wording such as "Nationwide shipping, local hand delivery in two neighbouring districts only" helps both customers and search engines.
• Page titles: naturally mention what you do and where you are in the titles of your home and service pages, for example "Shoe Repair in Riverside".
• Map: adding a map to your contact page makes it easier for customers to find you.

While doing this, don't stuff keywords into the text. Repeating the same district name in every sentence annoys readers and can also be judged negatively by search engines.

Think about local keywords

Think about the words customers use when searching for you. There are usually two kinds of search:

• Service + place: "hair salon Riverside", "breakfast in the harbour district"
• Proximity phrases: "bakery near me", "nearest stationery shop"

In the second kind, the location comes from the searcher's device, so your profile and website simply need the correct address. For the first kind, it helps to use your district or neighbourhood name naturally in page titles, descriptions and content. You can keep this perspective when writing product descriptions too; for details, see our article on how to write product descriptions.

Reviews: for customers and search engines alike

Genuine customer reviews are an important trust signal in local search. You can ask happy customers to leave a review, and make it easy with a small note at the till, a polite message after an order or a card with a QR code. Offering discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews, or having fake reviews written, breaks platform rules and harms your business.

Reply to every review, positive or negative, with a polite, personal response. A calm, solution-focused reply to a negative review often leaves a positive impression on other potential customers who read it. We cover how to reply to reviews in our guide to replying to customer messages and reviews.

Local content and links

Creating content about where you are helps you connect with customers and builds local prominence. Taking part in neighbourhood events, collaborating with nearby businesses or supporting a local association can lead to your business being mentioned naturally in different sources. Real relationships like these are worth far more than bought links.

Be patient and check regularly

The results of local SEO work rarely appear overnight. It takes time for search engines to notice new information, for reviews to build up and for your business to become better known. So instead of giving up when results don't come quickly, get into the habit of checking regularly. Once a month, search for your business from your own phone using different words: which searches do you appear in, does your information look correct, and what details do your competitors highlight? This simple check helps you spot gaps and point your efforts in the right direction.