If you run a local business, most of your customers search on their phone, close to where they are: "plumber near me", "garage Grantham", "web designer Lincolnshire". These ten tips make the biggest difference, in the order I would tackle them. None of them cost anything except a little time.
1. Claim and Complete Your Google Business Profile
This is the single most important thing you can do. Claim your profile, verify it, and fill in every section: description, opening hours, services, photos and contact details. A half-finished profile gets shown less often than a complete one.
2. Choose Your Categories Carefully
Pick the category that best describes your main service as your primary category, then add a few accurate secondary ones. Google uses your categories to decide which searches to show you for, so be specific. "Bathroom fitter" will do more for you than a general label.
3. Keep Your Name, Address and Phone Number Identical Everywhere
Your business details should match exactly on your website, your Google profile, Facebook and any directory listings. "Unit 9" in one place and "Unit Nine" in another may seem trivial, but inconsistencies weaken the signals Google relies on.
4. Ask Every Happy Customer for a Google Review
The number and quality of your Google reviews strongly affect whether you appear in the map results. Reviews on Facebook or your own website do not count towards your Google ranking, so send customers your Google review link straight after a job. Your profile has an "Ask for reviews" option that gives you a short link and a QR code.
5. Reply to Your Reviews
Thank people for good reviews and respond calmly and politely to bad ones. Replies show future customers that you pay attention, and an active profile looks healthier to Google too.
6. Put Your Town in Your Page Titles and Headings
Your page title is your advert in the search results. "Plumber in Grantham | Free Quotes" works much harder than "Home". Include what you do and where, keep titles under about 60 characters, and write a description of around 155 characters that gives one reason to choose you.
7. Give Each Town You Serve Its Own Page
A single page cannot rank for every town. If you cover Grantham, Newark and Sleaford, create a separate page for each with real local detail, such as examples of jobs, nearby villages and local landmarks, rather than the same text with the name swapped. Our Local SEO guide for Grantham explains how to do this well.
8. Add Real Photos, Often
Photos of your actual work, premises and team build trust and keep your profile fresh. Add a few after every job. Google prompts you to refresh your photos for a reason, and customers can tell a stock image from the real thing.
9. List Your Business in Trusted Local Directories
Free listings on sites such as Yell and Cylex, and on local directories like the Grantham Business Directory (which we run), give search engines more places to confirm your business details. Use the same name, address and phone number each time.
10. Make Your Site Fast on a Phone and Check Your Results
Most local searches happen on a mobile, and a slow site loses visitors before they read a word. Test yours on your own phone. Then set up Google Search Console, which is free, and check it once a week to see which searches bring people to you. Local rankings move over weeks, so look for the trend rather than daily changes.
Where to Start
Do tips 1 to 4 this week: complete your profile, choose your categories, check your details match and ask your last five customers for a review. Those four make the biggest difference.
If you would rather have help, read about my local SEO service for Grantham businesses. It starts with a free local SEO check and a fixed-price quote, so you know the cost before anything begins.
