Local SEO checklist for service businesses

For plumbers, surveyors, clinics, landscapers and other service businesses, most valuable searches are local: “near me”, a city name, or a neighbourhood. This checklist covers the essentials in the order we usually work through them.

1. Google Business Profile

• Choose the most accurate primary category, then add relevant secondary ones.
• Fill in services, service areas, opening hours and a clear description.
• Add real photos of your team, work and premises, and keep adding them.
• Use Posts for offers, projects and updates.

2. Consistent business details

Your business name, address and phone number should be identical on your website, Business Profile and directories. Small differences, such as an old phone number, create confusion for customers and search engines alike.

3. Reviews

Ask every happy customer for a review, and make it easy with a direct link. Reply to every review, especially critical ones, calmly and specifically. Never buy reviews or offer incentives for positive ones; it breaks Google’s policies and erodes trust.

4. Local pages on your website

Create a page for each main service, and for each area you genuinely serve, with useful local detail: projects you completed there, typical prices, travel times. Avoid copy-pasted pages that only swap the city name.

5. Local links and mentions

Local news sites, trade associations, suppliers, sponsors and community organisations are natural sources of relevant links. They also send customers, not just signals.

6. Technical basics

• Fast, mobile-friendly pages with a click-to-call button.
• LocalBusiness structured data that matches your real details.
• An embedded map and clear directions on your contact page, if customers visit you.

7. Measure what matters

Track calls, direction requests and website clicks in your Business Profile insights, and enquiries in Google Analytics 4. Rankings are a guide; leads are the goal.