Unlocking Local SEO: How to Rank Your Service-Based Business on Google

Another key factor for ranking in local searches is directory listings, often referred to as citations in the SEO world. Simply put, a citation is any online mention of your business’s name, address, and phone number, commonly known as NAP (Name, Address, Phone number).

Your business information can appear on business directories, social media profiles, or any other websites that list businesses. These citations help Google verify the legitimacy and accuracy of your business information, which can significantly impact your local search rankings.

Why are citations important? 

Citations are one of the few things that can confirm to Google that your business is legitimate and located where you say it is.

The key here is consistency. You want to make sure that your name, address, and phone number are exactly the same on every listing. Even a small discrepancy, like using “St.” instead of “Street,” can confuse search engines and hurt your rankings.

If you’ve ever moved or changed your phone number during the lifetime of your business, you likely have incorrect business listings online that you’ll need to fix as soon as possible. Citations are relatively easy to obtain compared to some other aspects of local SEO, but they can be time-consuming.

They’re really tedious and annoying to get, but they’re considered low-hanging fruit in the SEO world because they are accessible to everyone and not restricted by cost or other barriers. Many local businesses have citations as a result.

I consider citations to be table stakes in the game of local SEO. You need to have them. Make sure your business is listed on Google, Yelp, Bing, Apple Maps, and any relevant industry-specific or city-specific directories. Do the work to get this information distributed online.

Once you have them, double-check that your business information is correct, and you’re good to go.

SEO Strategy #3: Prioritize Google Reviews 

Reviews are crucial because they are one of the few ways Google can verify that you are who you say you are and that you deliver the quality you promise. In the SEO world, almost anything online can be manipulated. You can perfectly optimize your site, create stellar content, and ensure all your directory listings are claimed and filled out.

You can do all the SEO work, but if a business consistently receives one-star reviews claiming it’s shady, that it stole money, or that it didn’t show up, Google will prioritize these reviews over other factors. I consider reviews the checks and balances of SEO.

Google needs to understand what you do, factor in all your SEO efforts, and then verify it with genuine feedback from real customers. That’s the power of reviews. Acquiring reviews is a best practice for scaling your small business, but it also directly impacts your online ranking and can help you outperform your competitors.

Getting High Quality Reviews

The best reviews are those where people can mention who served them—like the team member’s name—and describe the service they received. These details can influence search results.

For example, if someone searches for “AC replacement in Denver” and you have a review mentioning your AC replacement services in Denver, those reviews will be highlighted and featured. This contributes to the overall context of your Google Business Profile.

This is why reviews are so crucial. I cannot emphasize this enough. In fact, we recently recorded an episode titled Eight Untapped Ways to Get More Reviews for Your Small Business. This podcast episode teaches you how to supercharge your review generation and encourage customers to leave reviews, which is often the hardest part of the process.

SEO Strategy #4: Add Local Keywords to Your Site

I’ve mentioned searches and different terms people type into Google. These searches or words are what we refer to as keywords or keyword phrases. Keyword phrases are anything a customer might enter into that empty search bar on Google.

You can imagine the versatility of the various words and phrases people might use. There’s actually a pattern to human behavior when it comes to searching, and you can optimize your keywords to target words with higher search volume. It’s a common practice that people type in the same thing in the same way, which produces search volume.

What are Local Keywords? 

Local keywords are those that include a specific location, such as “Chicago plumber” or “Los Angeles pet grooming.” These keywords help search engines understand where your business is located and what services you offer. As a result, you can rank higher when people search for businesses like yours.

So, How Do You Find Local Keywords with the Right Search Volume?

You can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner. This tool is part of Google Ads, so to access it, you’ll need to sign up for a Google Ads account. You do have to enter your billing information, but you don’t need to run any campaigns. Just be sure to pause all your campaigns and ensure nothing is active to avoid unexpected charges.

Once your Google Ads account is set up, you can access the Keyword Planner. This tool allows you to input your exact location and view keywords and keyword volume specific to your area. It’s one of the few tools that provides local data, which makes it quite valuable.

Another free tool you can use is Ubersuggest. Ubersuggest operates on a freemium model, providing free keyword data up to a certain limit before requiring payment, but it’s sufficient to get you started.

Search for keywords that include both your service and location. For example, if you’re a wedding planner in Orlando, Florida, you might target keywords like “Orlando wedding planner” or “wedding planning services in Orlando.” Apply this strategy to all your business categories and services, and thoroughly research your options.

Also, ensure you target keywords with significant search volume, as those with zero volume indicate no one is searching for them. Once you’ve identified your local keywords, incorporate them naturally into your website’s content.

This includes your homepage, service pages, title tags, meta descriptions, blog posts, and even image file names. Place keyword phrases naturally throughout your content to help Google understand who you are, what you do, and where you do it.

Keyword phrases are the language Google’s algorithm uses to connect the dots, so be sure to distribute them strategically across your paragraphs, headings, buttons, and other elements.

Don’t Fall Victim to Keyword Stuffing

Now, the mistake I often see small businesses make: keyword stuffing.

If you use too many keywords in your content, it can actually hurt your rankings. For example, you don’t want to say, “I am a veterinarian in Colorado Springs, and I provide veterinarian services in Colorado Springs. If you’re looking for the best vet in Colorado Springs, then look no further.” This approach is unnatural and makes for unpleasant reading.

Instead, sprinkle keywords in a way that sounds natural and conversational, as if you’re speaking to someone on the street. Place them in prominent areas like headings, but avoid overloading your content. The goal is to integrate keywords seamlessly, not to annoy your readers or create dense text.

SEO Strategy #5: Create Local Service Area Pages 

Next up, I want to share a content creation trick that has helped us rank several local businesses in various areas. These are called local service area pages. What I mean is, you have a website with pages like a homepage, services page, about us, and contact page.

When creating these pages, include key information such as the services you offer in that specific area, local testimonials (reviews that ideally mention the city they are based out of), and any relevant certifications or licenses specific to that location.

A pro tip is to mention local landmarks or community features. Any verbiage that demonstrates your familiarity with the area helps both the algorithm and readers understand that you truly know the local landscape. This builds trust and credibility, showing that you are well-acquainted with the area and trustworthy with their dollars.

Don’t Duplicate Your Local Service Pages

Another mistake I see people make is copying and pasting the same page while just switching out the city name. You do not want to do this.

In fact, if you do this, your pages won’t even get seen. We’ve observed many issues with local service area pages where duplicate content—essentially the same page with slight tweaks—fails to pass Google’s initial radar. These pages won’t even get indexed by Google, which means they won’t appear in search results.

Here’s what I mean by indexing: Google crawls your website to understand its content, associating pages with specific URLs. It then decides whether to index the page—essentially adding it to its search database. If your pages contain duplicate content, they may not get indexed at all or could even get de-indexed, making them invisible online.

To avoid this, ensure that each page is unique and heavily customized. These pages aren’t meant to be churned out with just a few word changes. Google is aware of attempts to spam with duplicate content, so be thoughtful and intentional in crafting each page. Tailor each one to provide real value to both search engines and potential customers.

SEO Strategy #6: Write Local Blog Content 

Blogging is a powerful tool for SEO, and when done right, it can drive significant traffic to your website. To connect this with local SEO, you can write blog posts about local events, news, or issues relevant to your industry.

By creating blog posts with engaging and location-specific topics, you can attract more local visitors to your site.

Here’s how it works: Google thrives on context. It looks at a lot of different signals to understand who you are, what you do, and where you do it. I’m going to talk about those three things a lot because Google is a machine, and it needs to rely on different cues to let it know that you are a local business serving this local area.

Blog posts are a great way to add those context clues to really showcase to Google, “Hey, I am in a local area, and I am an expert at what I do in my local area.” Blog posts are these informal educational places where you can talk about things related to your space and your services while sprinkling in a little bit of that local context to really help seal the deal when it comes down to showing up for local searches.

Topic Ideas for Local Blog Content

So, what are local blog topics you might write about? You could:

• Cover local events that relate to your business
• Write case studies of local clients
• Discuss how local regulations affect your industry

For instance, if you are an HVAC company, you could write a blog post about “How to Prepare for the Local Climate” or “Changes in Local Energy Efficiency Laws.”

Whatever you choose to write, you want to make sure that you are involving your local community in every piece of content that you produce in a real, authentic way.

What not to do is write posts about your local area that have nothing to do with your business or your industry. This actually goes against Google’s helpful content guidelines, which is an algorithm update that has been continuously rolled out in multiple iterations. Google wants to see high-quality content that is written with value and provides an enriching experience for its users. You don’t just want to write about a trending topic for the sake of it being trending.

So, make sure that it ties together, that it is relevant to your space, your business, and your local audience. Also, don’t forget to optimize these posts for SEO by including local keywords in that content.

SEO Strategy #7: Build Backlinks from Local Sites

We want backlinks from local sites. A backlink is a link from another website to yours, and these are a very powerful rank signal when it comes to Google’s algorithm. These backlinks are the hardest things to acquire, which is why I’ve saved them for last, and it’s often last on people’s minds when it comes to SEO. However, they can actually be the moving factor that pushes your business in front of the competitors and makes all the difference in the world when it comes to that long-lasting visibility that SEO can give you.

Something to keep in mind is that not all backlinks are created equal. You want quality links, not bad links. It is about quality over quantity. You don’t just want random backlinks from irrelevant places; you want to make sure that you’re ideally getting high-authority backlinks from reputable sources.

Now, there’s a strategy called local link building, and I love this because it ties in the local context to really solidify your presence in the community, which is what we’re trying to do to show up for those local searches. So, if you can get links from local reputable sites, this can actually give you a significant boost in local search rankings.

How do you get these local backlinks?

One effective strategy is to reach out to local businesses or organizations and offer to write a guest blog post. In exchange, they will link back to your site. You can also sponsor local events, join local business associations, or collaborate with local influencers to gain more backlinks. 

Another great way to earn local backlinks is by getting featured in local news outlets or online publications. You can do this by doing something newsworthy and pitch a story, share a press release, or simply just be engaged in your community. Ideally, news outlets will then pick your story up and you will be featured on the news or whatever publication that you have chosen to be featured on.

This is beautiful because this builds trust and authority within your local community, gives you an incredibly high authoritative backlink, and helps you gain those customers because they see you in multiple places. They see you on the news and they see you when they search. So that really just seals the deal.

When it comes down to getting more clients from online, local link building is all about building relationships. The more connected you are, the easier it will be to earn those valuable local backlinks.

Local SEO for small businesses

So there you have it—seven powerful strategies to help you unlock local SEO and rank your service-based business on Google.

Let’s recap, because I know that was a lot!

SEO Strategy #1: Optimize Your Google Business Profile
SEO Strategy #2: Show Up in Directory Listings
SEO Strategy #3: Prioritize Google Reviews
SEO Strategy #4: Add Local Keywords to Your Site
SEO Strategy #5: Create Local Service Area Pages
SEO Strategy #6: Write Local Blog Content
SEO Strategy #7: Build Backlinks from Local Sites

Each of these tactics can significantly improve your local search rankings and help you attract more customers in your area. There is truly nothing better in the world than hearing those sweet words, “I found you on Google.” Local SEO can be the fuel to launch your business into success.

If you found this helpful, we would love it if you shared it with other small business owners who could benefit from these tips. Let’s help more small businesses reach their goals.

And if you or someone you know is looking for help with local SEO, we would love to serve you. We specialize in local SEO for service-based businesses at Succeeding Small, and we help companies all over the country rank in their local areas and drive revenue through online marketing.

You can Request A Free Audit to see how your local SEO is performing and where you stand. Simply send us an email with the subject line, “Local SEO Audit.”

Until next time, 

Keep Succeeding Small