The local SEO checklist we run before anything else

For a business that serves a specific area, local search is usually the fastest return available. It is also the area where most small businesses leave obvious points on the table.

This is the list we work through at the start of a local project, roughly in order of impact.

The list

1. Claim and complete the Google Business Profile: correct primary category, secondary categories, services, service areas, and hours.

2. Fix name, address, and phone consistency wherever the business is listed.

3. Add real photos, and keep adding them. Stale profiles look closed.

4. Build a review habit: a simple, repeatable ask after every completed job, and a reply to every review.

5. Give each core service its own page instead of one page listing everything.

6. Say where you work in plain language on the site, not only in a footer.

7. Make the phone number tappable and the directions link obvious on mobile.

8. Fix mobile speed before writing new content.

9. Add structured data that connects the site to the business entity.

What not to do

Do not create a page for every city within a hundred miles. Thin location pages with swapped city names are one of the most reliable ways to look untrustworthy to both Google and a human reader.

Do not buy reviews. The short-term lift is not worth the profile.