Local SEO services,
for the buyers searching nearby.
Your Google Business Profile, reviews, local pages and listings, kept complete and current so the business appears on the map for the searches that lead to work.
Search for a service nearby and Google shows a map and a short list of businesses, often above the first website. Which businesses make that list depends on three things Google names itself: relevance, distance and prominence. Distance is fixed. The other two can be worked on, every month.
Local SEO is part of our SEO service within Digital, and is often where an SEO plan starts. Every profile is looked after from our Norwich office, for businesses in Norfolk and well beyond it.
Your profile, treated as a page of your site.
Relevance comes from a complete, accurate Business Profile and a page on your site for each service you sell. Prominence comes from how well known the business is: its reviews, and the other sites that link to it and mention it.
So the profile is checked and added to every month, like any page that brings in work. There is no way to pay Google for a better position on the map, and we never suggest otherwise.
What local SEO covers.
Most of it is your Google Business Profile and what points to it. The plan sets out which parts your business needs, and in what order.
Profile set-up and optimisation
Your Business Profile claimed or created, verified, and optimised with the right primary category, services and hours.
Google Business Profile management
Kept complete and current each month, with posts, photos, products, offers and holiday hours.
Reviews
Google’s own review link or QR code in front of every customer, and a reply to each review. None is ever paid for or rewarded.
Local pages
A page on your site for each service and the places you genuinely cover, written for the people searching there.
Listings and citations
Your name, address and phone number made the same across the directories and listings that matter in your sector.
Local links
Links and mentions from local press, trade bodies, suppliers and events, which count towards how well known the business is.
Service areas
For businesses that travel to their customers, a service area shown in place of a public address, in line with Google’s guidelines.
Tracking
Calls, direction requests and website visits from the profile, and enquiries from local pages recorded in Google Analytics 4.
Claim, complete, then build.
What happens, and when, from the day the work begins.
Tell us where you’re goingClaim.
Week one.
We take management of your profile, or create one, confirm it is verified, and check how you appear today against the businesses shown above you.
You see where the business appears, search by search, across the area you cover.
Complete.
Weeks two to four.
Categories, services, hours, photos and descriptions are completed, listings are corrected, and a review request is set up for every customer.
Nothing is published on your profile until you have approved it.
Build.
Month two onwards.
Local pages, posts, photos and review replies are added each month, and local links are earned.
Each month’s report shows the calls, direction requests and enquiries the profile and pages brought in.
Local SEO, in practice.
All Projects
Questions about local SEO.
What does local SEO include?
Your Google Business Profile set up and managed, reviews asked for and answered, local pages on your site, consistent listings, local links, and tracking of the calls and enquiries the profile brings in.
How does Google decide which businesses appear on the map?
Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence: how well a profile matches the search, how far the business is from the person searching, and how well known it is, including its reviews and the sites that link to it.
Can we pay to appear higher on Google Maps?
Not in the unpaid results. Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads can appear on Maps, marked as sponsored, and are run separately through Google Ads.
We have no premises customers visit. Can we still have a profile?
Yes, if you travel to your customers. Google allows a profile for a business that serves customers where they are, with a service area shown in place of the address. A business with no face-to-face contact with customers is not eligible.
How do we get more Google reviews?
Ask every customer, at the point the work is done, with Google’s own review link or QR code. Google treats any reward or discount offered for a review as fake engagement and prohibits it, so none is offered.
Should we reply to negative reviews?
Yes, promptly and politely, without sharing anything private about the customer. A measured reply is read by every buyer who sees the review afterwards. Reviews that break Google’s policies can be reported for removal.
Do we need a page for every town we cover?
Only where you genuinely work and have something specific to say. Near-identical pages that change only the place name rarely rank, and risk being treated as doorway pages under Google’s spam policies.
How long does local SEO take?
A completed profile can begin appearing for more searches within weeks. Reviews and local links build over months. The monthly report shows calls and enquiries month by month, so you can see the trend.
How is it priced?
Every engagement has a defined scope and a stated fee, agreed in writing before any work begins. Tell us where you’re going and we’ll tell you what it would involve.
Alongside Local SEO.
All of SEOReady to talk about your next stage of growth?
Tell us where you’re going. We’ll tell you, candidly, whether we’re the right agency to take you there.
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