What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the work of getting a business found when people nearby search for what it offers: "coffee shop near me", "emergency plumber Portland", "dentist open Saturday". These searches show a map with a short list of businesses, often called the local pack, above or among the regular results, and the same listings appear in Google Maps.
It matters for any business that serves customers in a specific area, whether they come to you (a cafe, a clinic) or you go to them (a plumber, a cleaner). Local SEO combines two sets of work: your Google Business Profile, which drives the map results, and your website, which supports the profile and ranks in regular results.
How Google ranks local results
Google says local results are based mainly on three factors:
- Relevance. How well your profile matches the search. Accurate categories, services, and a complete description help.
- Distance. How far your business is from the searcher, or from the location named in the search. You cannot change this, which is why rankings differ from street to street.
- Prominence. How well known the business is, online and off. Reviews (their number and rating), links, mentions in local press and directories, and your website's overall search presence all feed it.
Google also states that paying for ads does not improve local rankings.
The core tasks
- Claim and complete your Business Profile: primary category, hours, services, photos, and a website link.
- Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere. See NAP consistency.
- Earn and respond to reviews. Ask real customers; never buy or gate reviews.
- Build pages that match local searches: a clear homepage with your location, and a page per core service. Businesses with several locations should have one page per location with its own address, hours, and details.
- Add Local Business schema with the same details. See LocalBusiness.
- Get listed and mentioned locally: chamber of commerce, local directories, sponsorships, and local news.
In WordPress
Your website supports the profile. Put your address and phone in the footer or on a contact page as text, not only inside an image, and embed a map on the contact page if it helps visitors. Hydrogen SEO's Local Business schema outputs server-rendered JSON-LD with your name, address, phone, opening hours, and coordinates, and the setup wizard can create a starting entry. The local SEO guide walks through the full setup.
Common mistakes
- Adding keywords to the business name on the profile, which breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
- Thin city pages that swap the town name into the same text for dozens of places you do not serve. Google can treat these as doorway pages.
- Mismatched details between the profile, the website, and directories.
- Using a PO box or an unstaffed virtual office as the address, which Google's rules do not allow.
Common questions
Do I need a website for local SEO?
You can appear in the map results with only a Business Profile, but a website strengthens prominence, supports your details, and ranks in regular results for service searches.
Why do my local rankings change depending on where I search?
Distance is one of the main local ranking factors, so results shift with the searcher's location. Checking from one spot shows only part of the picture.
Can a service-area business do local SEO without a storefront?
Yes. Service-area businesses can hide their address in the Business Profile and list the areas they serve instead.