If someone searches for what you do in your city right now, would your business show up? For a lot of small businesses, the honest answer is “not really” and that usually comes down to local SEO, not bad luck.
Local SEO is how search engines decide which businesses to show when someone searches for something nearby, whether that’s “plumber near me” or “best bakery in [your city].” The good news: you don’t need a massive budget to improve it. Here are 7 things you can start doing today to show up more often on Google.
1. Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile
This is the single most important thing you can do for local SEO. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is what shows up in the “map pack” (the three business listings with a map that appear above regular search results for local searches).
To optimize it:
- Choose the most specific, accurate category for your business
- Fill out every available field including hours, phone number, website, services, attributes
- Add real photos regularly (exterior, interior, team, work you’ve done)
- Keep your information consistent and accurate at all times
2. Get Your Business Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) Consistent Everywhere
Google cross-checks your business information across the web. If your business is listed as “123 Main St.” on your website but “123 Main Street” on Yelp, that inconsistency can quietly hurt your local rankings.
Audit your listings on Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, and any industry-specific directories, and make sure your name, address, and phone number match exactly everywhere.
3. Get (and Respond to) Google Reviews
Reviews are one of the strongest local ranking signals and one of the easiest for customers to actually see and trust. Both the number of reviews and how recently you’ve received them matter.
- Ask happy customers directly for a review (most people don’t leave one unless asked)
- Respond to every review, good or bad because it shows you’re active and engaged
- Don’t buy or fake reviews; Google can detect patterns, and it’s not worth the risk
4. Add Location Pages (or a Location Mention) to Your Website
If you serve a specific city or region, that location needs to appear as real, readable text on your website and not just buried in an image or map embed. A simple paragraph naming your city and service area helps Google understand exactly where you operate and who to show you to.
If you serve multiple distinct areas, individual location pages (one per city/region) can help you show up in more than one local market.
5. Use Location-Specific Keywords Naturally
Your website copy should include your city or region in a few key spots such as your homepage headline, service page titles, and page content without forcing it in awkwardly. Think “SEO Services in Denver, NC” rather than just “SEO Services,” or “Denver, NC” repeated so often it reads unnaturally.
The goal is relevance, not repetition. One or two natural mentions per page is usually enough.
6. Build Local Citations and Backlinks
A citation is any online mention of your business name, address, and phone number even without a link. Getting listed in local directories (chamber of commerce, industry-specific sites, “best of [city]” roundups) builds credibility in Google’s eyes.
Backlinks, which are actual links from other websites to yours, carry even more weight. Local partnerships, sponsorships, and guest content on community sites are all realistic ways for a small business to earn these organically.
7. Make Sure Your Website Works Well on Mobile
Today, most local searches happen on a phone so someone searching “coffee shop near me” is usually standing somewhere, not sitting at a desktop. If your site is slow, hard to navigate, or not mobile-friendly, it hurts both your rankings and your ability to convert that visitor into a customer.
Test your site on your own phone. If it’s slow to load or awkward to use, that’s worth fixing before anything else on this list.
Putting It All Together
None of these 7 steps require a huge budget, they just require consistency. Local SEO isn’t a one-time fix; it’s an ongoing effort that compounds over time as your profile, reviews, content, and citations all build on each other.
If you’d rather have an expert handle this for you, that’s exactly what we do. Our SEO services are built specifically for local businesses that want to show up on Google without having to become an SEO expert themselves. Contact Northbound Marketing today and let’s get your business showing up on Google.