Local SEO: your Google Business Profile, reviews and maps

Local SEO is the work of getting your business to show up when people nearby search for what you offer: on Google Maps, in the map results at the top of Google and in “near me” searches. It starts with a complete Google Business Profile, continues with genuine reviews, and relies on a website that backs up everything the profile says. Get those three right, keep your details consistent everywhere, and you give Google every reason to show you.

How does local SEO work?

According to Google, local results are based mainly on three things:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for
• Distance: how far your business is from the searcher, or from the location named in the search
• Prominence: how well known and trusted your business is, based on reviews, mentions across the web and your website

You cannot move your shop closer to every customer. But relevance and prominence are very much in your hands.

How do you set up a Google Business Profile properly?

Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a local customer sees, before your website. Work through it in this order:

1. Create or claim your profile, and verify it. A profile may already exist for your business. Claim it and complete whichever verification method Google offers you.
2. Use your real business name only. Do not add keywords or town names. It breaks Google’s guidelines and can get your profile suspended.
3. Choose a precise primary category. “Pilates studio” beats “Gym” if that is what you are. Add secondary categories for other services.
4. Set an address or a service area. Businesses that welcome customers on site show their address. Businesses that travel to customers, such as plumbers or cleaners, can hide the address and set service areas instead.
5. Keep opening hours accurate, including special hours. Public holidays, early closing and seasonal changes. A customer who finds a locked door may not come back, and may leave a review about it.
6. Add your phone number, website and booking link. Any contact route that genuinely works for you.
7. List your services or products. With a short description for each, in the words customers use.
8. Upload real photos. Your shopfront so people recognise it from the street, the inside, your team and your work. Stock photos help nobody.
9. Write a business description. A few clear sentences about what you do, for whom and where.

Why do reviews matter so much for local SEO?

Because they influence both your prominence in local results and the customer’s decision. People read reviews before they call, and look for recent ones describing an experience like theirs.

What counts: reviews that arrive steadily rather than in one burst, that are genuine and detailed, and that each get a reply from you. A calm, helpful reply to a negative review shows future customers how you behave when something goes wrong.

How do you ask for reviews without it feeling awkward?

Ask every customer, at the right moment, with a direct link. The right moment is just after the job is done and the customer is happy, not two weeks later. A WhatsApp bot can send a short, personal message after every appointment, visit or delivery, with a link that opens the review form directly.

Two things are against Google’s rules: offering anything in return for a review, and only asking customers you know are happy. Our Google reviews guide covers this in depth, including how to reply to a bad review.

How do you show up on Google Maps and other map apps?

Google Maps uses the information from your Google Business Profile, so a complete, current profile covers most of the work. Check that your pin sits exactly where your entrance is, not in the middle of the block.

Other map apps matter too. Many iPhone users navigate with Apple Maps, where you can manage your details through Apple Business Connect, and Bing Places for Business feeds Microsoft’s maps. If customers drive to you, check navigation apps such as Waze as well, and make sure the route ends at your actual door.

What does your website need for local SEO?

Your website reinforces what the profile says, and gives Google and customers the detail a profile has no room for.

• Matching details. Name, address, phone and hours exactly as on your profile.
• A page for each location or area. With genuine content for each place: how to get there, where to park, which neighbourhoods you serve. Not the same text with a different town name.
• Structured data. LocalBusiness markup that tells Google your business details in a language it understands. See our guide to structured data for small businesses.
• The right link from each profile. A business with several branches links each profile to that branch’s own page.

Consistency matters beyond your own site too. Your name, address and phone number should match on Facebook, Instagram, Apple Maps, Bing Places, general business directories and the ones specific to your industry, such as TripAdvisor for hospitality. When you move or change your number, update them all. Conflicting details confuse Google and customers alike.

Example: a plumbing business with no shopfront

Take a small plumbing business run from home. Its profile showed the owner’s home address, sat under the vague category “Contractor”, had no photos and listed hours nobody had updated in a long time.

They start with the basics: primary category “Plumber”, the home address hidden and service areas set to the towns they actually cover, accurate hours including when they take emergency call-outs, and photos of real jobs and the van. Each service, from boiler repairs to bathroom fitting, goes in with a short description. After every job, the WhatsApp bot that sends appointment reminders also sends a short message asking how it went, with a link to leave a review. The owner replies to every review personally.

On the website they add a page for each main town they cover, with real details: the kind of jobs they see in older houses there, how they handle urgent calls, and answers to the questions new customers ask. Nobody can guarantee the top spot on the map, but Google now understands exactly what they do, where they work and that real customers are happy with them.

What do you do once the profile is set up?

You keep it alive. A profile that changes tells Google and customers that the business is active, and a few regular minutes a week are enough:

• Before every public holiday, set special hours a few days ahead, not on the morning itself.
• Once a month, add a few new photos: a finished job, a new product, the team.
• When there is news, publish an update on the profile: a new service, an event or an offer.
• Every week, read new reviews and reply to all of them.

It is also worth looking at the profile’s performance data, where Google shows how many people called, asked for directions or visited your website from the profile. Add a tracking tag (UTM) to your website link and you can see in Google Analytics what visitors from the map did on your site, and how many of them got in touch.

Which mistakes hurt local SEO?

• Stuffing keywords into the business name
• Using a virtual office or PO box instead of a real location that serves customers
• Creating several profiles for the same business at the same address
• Writing your own reviews or buying them
• Forgetting to update hours for public holidays
• Ignoring reviews, good or bad

The bottom line

Local SEO does not need an advertising budget. It needs a complete and accurate profile, a steady habit of asking for reviews, and a website that tells the same story in more detail. At Kaede Digital we build small business websites with local pages and structured data, and connect them to a WhatsApp bot that asks for reviews and sends reminders on its own, so your local presence keeps working even in your busiest weeks. If you are just getting started, our SEO starter guide for small businesses is a good next read.

FAQ

Can I appear on Google Maps without a shopfront?

Yes. Businesses that travel to customers, such as plumbers, cleaners or mobile hairdressers, can set service areas and hide their address. You still need a real address for verification, but customers will not see it.

How many reviews do I need?

There is no magic number. It matters more that reviews keep arriving, that they are recent and genuine, and that you reply to them. Look at the businesses that appear next to you on the map and aim for a steady flow rather than a one-off spike.

Am I allowed to ask customers for reviews?

Yes, and you should ask all of them. What is not allowed is offering an incentive in return, or only asking customers you know are happy. Fake or bought reviews can lead to reviews being removed and to restrictions on your profile.

What if someone changes the details on my profile?

Anyone can suggest edits to a business profile, and Google sometimes updates details on its own. Check your profile regularly, review any pending updates and correct anything wrong. Profiles with an active owner tend to stay more accurate.