Local SEO checklist for 2022

Step 1. Set up your Google My Company profile

Start implementing your local SEO strategy by creating a Google My Business (GMB) account.

A well-made GMB profile can have a significant impact on your local SEO. It helps Google understand where you have your business, and at the same time it can rank well on Google in its own right.

Enter your business name. If your business is already in Google, you can claim it. Otherwise, you can create a new business listing.

List your primary and secondary categories.
This will help you get discovered when someone searches in that category - for example, if you have a coffee shop, Google will know to recommend that when someone searches for 'coffee near me'. Google also lets you add category-specific features to your listing, such as a button to book a table if you are a restaurant.

Add your business address.
If you run a business where customers can walk in, such as a shop or a café, you want your address to be visible. But if your office is not somewhere customers go directly (e.g. you are an accountant, housekeeper, etc.) you can hide your street address. Google will instead display only the area where you do service.

Add your business phone number.
Make sure you add your phone number so customers can reach you easily. If the customer wants to ask you something and the number on Google Maps does not work, they will assume you are no longer in business and BAM - you have lost a customer.

Optional: Add your website.
If you have a website for your local business, you can add it to your GMB profile. Google makes it easy for searchers to find it by adding a "Website" button to your listing.

Pro Tip: Verifying your business location in GMB can improve your local ranking on Google Search and Google Maps.

Step 2. Optimise your GMB profile

Add any additional information about your local business to your GMB profile. This will help Google fully understand what your business is about and will inform potential customers about your services. Moreover, it makes your page more likely to rank & stand out.

Add your operating hours.
Make sure you list your exact working hours, both regular and holiday hours. If you end up changing your working hours, make sure you also change them on GMB to avoid disappointing / losing clients.

List your company characteristics.
In addition, add any attributes that apply to your business. Do you offer delivery? Can customers pay by card? Such attributes help your customers figure out what to expect from your business before they visit you.

Add products and services.
This is especially useful for service businesses, allowing you to inform customers about the services you offer without having to have a website.

Upload high-quality photos.
Good photos familiarise potential customers with your business before they visit. It is especially important to have photos if you run a business in the service sector, such as hotels, bars, and coffee shops. You should include the following:

• A photo of your business from outside, so that it is easy to find from the street.
• Multiple photos from inside, so people can get an impression of what the interior looks like (this one is especially important for cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs).
• Pictures of your products. After all, if you are a bakery, or a restaurant, your food is what sells your business!
• Team photos. Including photos of your employees at work shows the personal side of your company. This is especially important for professional services (e.g. advertising agency, accounting firm).

Write a description "Of the company".
Make sure you include local keywords related to your business so that customers can discover it in searches. E.g. if you are a car rental company, you can include keywords like "car rental in new york" "cheapest car rental in new york," etc.

Keep track of questions and answers.
Your customers can leave questions about your business that you can answer, or you can add questions that you think are relevant to your customers and answer them on their behalf. Bear in mind that your customers can also answer these questions. So keep track of the questions listed and make sure all the answers given are 100% correct.

Keep your GMB profile up to date.
Setting up a GMB profile is not a one-off task. If anything in your business changes, such as your name, phone, or service offerings, make sure your Google listing reflects that. Even the smallest details that don't get updated, such as closing 30 minutes early, can have a negative impact on your business, reviews, reputation, and rankings. And because anyone can suggest edits to your business listing (and Google may accept them), you should check your profile regularly to make sure there is no incorrect information.

Step 3. Publish posts on your GMB Profile

Google My Company can also act as a social media profile for your business. You can post updates, promotions, offers, events, news, and short informative articles there. These posts can positively influence your ranking on Google Search, and the most recent posts appear when someone opens your profile on Google Maps. Here are some ideas:

Updates.
Temporarily closed for refurbishment? Made a change to your opening hours? Inform your customers by posting an update on your GMB profile.

What's new?
Show off new products in your local business, such as new menu items in a restaurant, or new book titles if you are a bookshop. You can even post about new services you offer to keep customers informed.

Exclusive offers.
You can attract new customers by running promotions like 15% discount, two-for-one sale, or free shipping. Add a catchy title and the validity period of the offer. Google will even add a "View Offer" button to these kinds of posts.

Events.
If you are organising a local event, you can gather an audience directly from your GMB profile. If a popular band performs in your bar next weekend, or you organise a big concert, you can add photos and videos to get visitors excited.

Step 4. Encourage customer reviews

Yep - customer reviews influence rankings. The better your reviews, the more likely you are to rank higher in Google.

However, this does not mean you should try to hack the process - don't ask for reviews in exchange for discounts or coupons, and don't set up a review station at your location. Google can (and will) penalise you for this!

Instead, you can try the following:

Offer a great customer experience.
This goes without saying, but having excellent customer service is the best way to get reviews.

Kindly remind your customers to leave reviews.
When interacting with customers at your site, ask if they enjoyed your service, and if so, let them know that you would really appreciate a Google review.

Create a short URL for reviews.
Make it easy for your customers to leave reviews by creating a review link. You can even turn it into a QR code that you can place around your location. E.g. if you are a restaurant, you can leave a flyer on all the tables with a QR code.

Ping customers to leave a review (via email or text message).
Send your customers text messages or emails after they visit your business, or show them in-app notifications if your business happens to have a mobile app. For example, if you are a gym with an app, you can set it up so that customers are asked to leave a review after they leave the business.

Respond to reviews.
Customers appreciate it when the owner of the business responds to their review. A simple thank-you note can go a long way to showing everyone that you care about your customers. And yes, you should respond to both positive and negative reviews.

Step 5. Use social media

While social media does not directly affect your search ranking, it does boost your online presence. You should create profiles on numerous social media sites and actively maintain them. These profiles can also act as (highly) credible NAP (Name, Address, Place) citations, as popular social media sites have high domain authority.

As a local business, you should at least have a social profile on the following sites:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Step 6. Research local keywords

Now let's talk about local SEO for your website. The first step here is to do your local SEO keyword research.

However, the keyword research here is a bit different from global SEO, because you want to rank primarily for services keywords VS other types. To make this a bit clearer, let's assume you are an accounting firm based in NYC.

You would want to rank for keywords like: [type of service] + [location], such as "accounting firm Zoersel" as opposed to educational keywords like "how to do accounting".

Here's how to do keyword research for local SEO:

Create a Google Sheet to keep track of your research.

Discover keywords. Start with common keywords you would want to rank for. For example, if you are a law firm in London, you would want to rank for keywords like "law firm london," "immigration law london," "litigation law firm london." Then run these keywords through UberSuggest and and find new similar keywords to add to your sheet.

Spy on your competition. Use Semrush to find out which keywords your local competitors are ranking for and add new ones to your list.

Ignore global keywords. It can be tempting to try to rank for global keywords like "best law firm" or "litigation law". Don't even try - global keywords are much harder to find. And to be honest, they are also useless for a local business - 99.99% of people searching for "litigation law" are NOT looking for a law firm in London.

Step 7. On-page SEO Optimisation

Once you have finished collecting your keywords, it is time to optimise your website according to best SEO practices:

Title tag.
Include the main keyword of the page in the HTML title tags.

Meta description.
Create a short but informative description for each page that includes the main keyword.

Single H1 header.
The H1 should only be used once per page, and it should be the main headline of the given page.

H2 headlines.
List the main keyword and variations of it in H2 headings.

Images.
Include the main keyword in part of the alt text in your images (where relevant).

Use short URL slugs on pages.
For example, if you are a photographer, you can use URL slugs like "/marriage-photographer/", instead of "/book-the-best-marriage-photographer-from-bruges/".

Create interlinks with your other pages.
Most of your web pages should link to each other where relevant. This helps search engines discover all your pages when they are crawling them. If there are no links to some of your pages - Google cannot see them. Moreover, interlinking helps with ranking - pages with higher value rank higher. And a page gains value if other pages link to it.

For example, in your navigation bar on your website, it is good practice to have a "Services" dropdown where you link all your different services. And if you have different locations, you can link to them in a "Locations" dropdown. Finally, add your services and locations in your footer, and most of your pages will be interconnected.

Use schema markup.
Schema is structured data markup code that you can add to various elements of your website - that tells search engines what those elements are. You can mark up your name, address, phone, working hours, ratings and reviews. This makes it easier for Google to find your information and include it in rich snippets. Google has an excellent Structured Data Markup Helper tool, which will simplify the process.

Step 8. Create landing pages

To rank in Google, your website must have the following pages:

Landing pages for services.
Apart from locations, create landing pages for different types of services you offer. This is where the keyword research in step 7 comes in - you want to create a services page for each keyword you've discovered. So going back to the "law firm in Antwerp" example, you could create pages for: /criminal law-antwerp/, /migration law-antwerp/, and so on.

In addition, every services page should have a contact option. This could be a simple "Contact us" button, or a small contact form. If potential clients landing on your website cannot easily contact you, they will abandon your page.

About us page.
This is where you introduce your business to someone who may be seeing it for the first time. Include information that describes your company - such as your mission, areas you specialise in, and your key achievements - that will give you credibility. And of course, highlight your employees. That said, a well-written "About Us" page is more important for a company that provides professional services (e.g. a law firm) than for a typical local business (e.g. a bar).

Contact page.
It is important that you have a page where potential customers can find out how to reach you. Make sure you include your phone number, your email address, or add a contact form where anyone can send you a message. Also link to your contact page from your location and services pages, so anyone who lands on it can easily reach you.

Step 9. Build (local) backlinks

Having other websites link to yours signals to Google that your website is a credible source, and hence Google ranks your pages better. Here are some tips on how to build backlinks for local SEO:

Find other local businesses with blogs
... and collaborate with guest posts or ask them for links. E.g. If you are a tour company in NYC, you can find 1) travel bloggers in NYC, or 2) blogs with activity reviewers and talk to them about possible collaboration.

Reverse-engineer your competition.
Use SEMrush to find websites that link to your competitors. Talk to them and ask them to link to you too.

Guest posts on popular publications
...and link to your website. E.g. local news website, businesses in similar (but not competing) niches, etc.

Get included in Podcasts.
Find people who interview people in your niche and become a podcast guest.

Step 10. Make sure your page is fast and mobile-friendly

How well your website put together has a very big impact on your SEO.

On the one hand, Google does mobile-first indexing. So, if your website does not work on Mobile, your rankings will be seriously harmed. Use Google's own tool to check whether your website is mobile-friendly.

At the same time, speed is also a factor. If your website takes 30 seconds to load, most people will just bounce away and go to your competitor instead.

So - here are some tips to solve both problems:

• Compress your images. Smaller-sized images load faster, especially on mobile. If your site is built in WordPress, you can use the plugin Smush to compress your images. You can even enable "lazy loading" for your images, meaning they only load when the user scrolls down the page.
• Remove unused code. If there is unnecessary code on your website, it will take longer for browsers to load it. Remove all unused CSS and JS files.
• Compress your HTML, CSS, and JS files with Gzip so they can load faster.
• Optimise CSS delivery. Instead of using inline CSS code (directly in your HTML code), combine it in an external stylesheet. You can then reuse CSS code from your external file, instead of including it in your HTML code every time you want to use it.

Bonus - Use Google ads to generate traffic ASAP

Want to start driving traffic before SEO takes hold? Then use local ads. From my personal experience, 90% of local businesses can make good profits by using local ads. Here's how to do it:

Google Search Ads
Let simple advertisements run at the keywords you want to rank for. This is also a good way to check how profitable a particular keyword can be without spending 5-6 months trying to rank for it. E.g. if you are an accounting firm in Hasselt, you can run ads for the relevant keyword "accounting firm Hasselt".

Google Maps
Listings on Google Maps are especially useful for place-based businesses. Your listing will appear above the rest, no matter how many reviews you have. This one is extra useful for walk-in businesses. E.g. someone Googles "restaurant Malle" and just chooses what pops up at the top.