What is local SEO?
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation, which simply means helping Google understand and recommend your website) is the practice of making your business visible to people searching nearby. When someone types "bakery near me" or "plumber in Leeds" into Google, local SEO is what determines whether your business appears in the results.
For most small businesses in the UK, local SEO is more relevant than general SEO. You are not trying to beat Amazon. You are trying to reach the person two streets away who wants what you sell.
Why does Google Maps matter for small businesses?
The map results that appear at the top of a Google search (sometimes called the "local pack" or "map pack") are prime real estate. They appear before most standard website results and include your business name, star rating, address, phone number, and opening hours.
Studies by BrightLocal, a respected local search research company, consistently show that over 80% of consumers use Google to evaluate local businesses. If you are not in those map results, you are invisible to a large chunk of potential customers.
Step 1: Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is a free listing that controls how your business appears in Google Maps and Google Search. Think of it as your business's official entry in Google's directory.
If you have never set one up, or you are not sure whether someone else has already created one for you, visit business.google.com and search for your business name.
What to fill in completely:
- Business name: Use your real trading name, exactly as it appears on your shopfront or invoices. Do not stuff in extra keywords.
- Category: Choose the most accurate primary category (for example, "Bakery" rather than "Food Shop"). You can add secondary categories too.
- Address: Enter your full UK address. If you work from home or do not want to display your address, you can set a service area instead.
- Phone number: Use a local number if you have one. It builds trust.
- Website: Link directly to your website homepage.
- Opening hours: Keep these accurate and update them for bank holidays.
- Business description: Write 2 to 3 sentences describing what you do and who you serve, in plain language.
💡 Google will post a verification postcard to your business address with a code you need to enter. This can take up to 14 days to arrive, so claim your profile as soon as possible rather than waiting until you "feel ready".
Step 2: Add photos regularly
Businesses with photos on their Google profile receive significantly more direction requests and website clicks, according to Google's own data. Photos make your listing feel real and trustworthy.
You do not need professional photography. Decent smartphone photos of your shopfront, your products, and your team are perfectly good.
Types of photos worth adding:
| Photo type | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Exterior shot | Helps customers find you in person |
| Interior shot | Shows the atmosphere |
| Product or service photos | Gives people a reason to choose you |
| Team photos | Builds personal connection |
Aim to add at least one new photo every month. Google tends to favour active, regularly updated profiles.
Step 3: Get more reviews (and respond to them)
Reviews are one of the biggest factors in where you rank in local search results. More reviews, and higher ratings, generally mean better visibility.
The most effective way to get reviews is simply to ask. After a positive interaction, ask your customer directly: "Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It makes a huge difference to a small business like ours."
You can create a short link that takes people straight to your review page. Go to your Google Business Profile dashboard, find the "Get more reviews" option, and copy the link.
⚠️ Never offer discounts, gifts, or payment in exchange for reviews. This violates Google's policies and can result in your profile being suspended. It also breaks UK advertising standards rules around undisclosed incentives.
When someone leaves a review, respond to it:
- Positive reviews: Thank them genuinely and mention something specific from their comment.
- Negative reviews: Stay calm, apologise for their experience, and offer to resolve it offline. Never argue in public.
Responding to reviews signals to Google that you are an active, engaged business. It also shows potential customers that you care.
Step 4: Make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent everywhere
Google cross-references your business details across the web. If your address is listed differently on your website, on Yell.com, on Facebook, and on your Google profile, Google gets confused and trusts you less.
This consistency is called NAP (Name, Address, Phone number), and most people underestimate how much it matters.
Common places to check your NAP details:
- Your own website (usually the footer and contact page)
- Yell.com
- Bing Places
- Apple Maps
- Facebook Business Page
- Thomson Local
- FreeIndex
- Checkatrade (if relevant to your trade)
Pick one format for your address and stick to it. For example, decide whether you write "Street" or "St" and use that version everywhere, without exception.
If you have not already looked at why your website might not be appearing in general Google results, our guide on why your website is not showing up on Google covers the most common reasons in plain English.
Step 5: Add local information to your website
Your website and your Google Business Profile work together. Google uses your website to confirm that your business is legitimate and relevant to local searches.
Make sure your website mentions the areas you serve. A bakery in Sheffield should have the word "Sheffield" appearing naturally on its homepage and contact page. Not forced in awkwardly, but as part of sentences that make sense to a human reader.
If you serve multiple towns or areas, a short paragraph on each is more useful than a long list of place names crammed into a footer.
💡 Adding your business's structured data (a special snippet of code that tells Google your address, opening hours, and contact details in a format it can read automatically) to your website can give you an extra edge in local search. Your web developer can add this in an afternoon, or many website platforms have plugins that do it for you. While you are looking at your site's technical setup, it is also worth reading our guide on what Google Search Console is and how to use it to see what Google already thinks of your site.
Step 6: Use Google Posts to stay active
Inside your Google Business Profile, there is a feature called "Posts" that lets you share updates, offers, events, and news directly on your listing. Think of it like a very simple noticeboard that appears alongside your Google Maps result.
Posting once a week or even once a fortnight keeps your profile looking active. A bakery might post about a new seasonal product. A plumber might post about a winter boiler check offer.
Posts expire after seven days for standard updates, so make a habit of refreshing them regularly.
How long does local SEO take to work?
Local SEO results are not instant. For most small businesses starting from scratch, expect to see meaningful improvement over two to three months of consistent effort.
The businesses that do best are not the ones who do everything perfectly once. They are the ones who keep their profile accurate, keep asking for reviews, and keep showing up. Consistency beats perfection every time.
A quick summary: your local SEO checklist
| Task | Done? |
|---|---|
| Claimed and verified Google Business Profile | |
| All profile sections fully completed | |
| At least 5 photos uploaded | |
| Responded to all existing reviews | |
| NAP consistent across all directories | |
| Website mentions your town or service area | |
| At least one Google Post published |
One more thing before you start
Before you make any changes, it helps to know where you currently stand. A surprising number of small business websites have basic issues that quietly hold back their Google visibility. Things like missing page titles, broken links, or pages that load too slowly on a mobile phone.
You can run a free check at website.auditmy.co.uk to get a quick picture of how your site is performing. It only takes a minute and gives you something concrete to work from.
If you want to write better descriptions for your pages that help both Google and your customers, our guide on what meta descriptions are and why they matter is a good next step.
Local SEO is not complicated once you understand what Google is actually trying to do. It wants to recommend businesses that are real, relevant, and trusted by their community. Do those three things well, and you give yourself the best possible chance of appearing when a local customer is looking for exactly what you offer.
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