"SEO" gets sold as something mysterious that only specialists can do. It isn't. Search engine optimisation is just the work of making it easy for a search engine to understand what your business does, where it does it, and why it's trustworthy — so it shows your site to people searching for exactly that.
This guide walks through the whole picture in plain English: how ranking works, the five areas that matter, and a 30-day plan to get started. No tools you need to buy, no jargon you need to memorise.
How Ranking Actually Works
When someone searches, Google is trying to answer three questions about every possible result:
- Relevance: Does this business do what the person is looking for?
- Distance / context: Is it near the searcher, or does it serve their area?
- Prominence: Is this a real, well-regarded business other people and websites refer to?
Everything below is just a way of answering one of those three questions more clearly. For a local business, industry estimates put the weight roughly at: Google Business Profile signals ~25–32%, reviews ~16–20%, on-page website signals ~19–20%, links ~15%, and citations ~6%. You don't need to hit exact numbers — you need to not have a gaping hole in any of them.
1. Keywords: The Words Your Customers Actually Use
Find the phrases, then use them naturally
Start by writing down every way a customer might describe what you do. Then check them: type each into Google and look at the autocomplete suggestions and the "People also ask" and "Related searches" boxes — that's free keyword research straight from the source.
Most local businesses want two kinds of phrase:
- Service + place: "roof repair Nottingham", "family dentist Round Rock"
- Question phrases: "why is my boiler making a banging noise", "how often should I service my car" — these are what your blog posts answer
Use the exact phrase in the page's title, its main heading, and once or twice in the body — where it reads naturally. Don't stuff it in 15 times; modern search engines read meaning, not repetition, and stuffing gets you penalised.
2. On-Page SEO: Making Each Page Easy to Read
Title tag and meta description
The title tag is the clickable blue headline in search results. Make it "[Main service] in [Town] | [Business name]" — around 55–60 characters. The meta description is the grey text underneath: ~150 characters that give someone a reason to click. Neither appears on your page; both are set in your site's settings or code.
One H1, then a logical heading structure
Every page should have exactly one main heading (H1) that says what the page is about, then sub-headings (H2, H3) that break the content into scannable sections. This is how both readers and search engines work out the structure of your page.
Write genuinely useful content
A service page that answers real questions — what's included, how it works, what it costs, how long it takes — will out-rank a thin "we do X, call us" page every time, because it matches what people actually search for. Aim for a few hundred words minimum per important page.
Link your own pages together
When you mention a service on your homepage, link to that service's page. Internal links help search engines find and understand all your pages, and help visitors go deeper. Use descriptive link text ("our boiler repair service"), never "click here".
Describe your images
Give every image a short alt text describing what it shows. It helps screen-reader users, and it's how you can rank in Google Images — which matters more than you'd think for trades and visual businesses.
3. Technical Basics: Don't Trip Over Your Own Feet
The five that matter for a small site
- Speed: your pages should load in under ~3 seconds on mobile. Check with Google PageSpeed Insights. See our design principles post for why this is a ranking factor.
- Mobile-friendly: Google ranks the mobile version of your site. If it's awkward on a phone, that's your ranking too.
- HTTPS: the padlock. Free, and non-negotiable — browsers flag sites without it as "Not Secure".
- Indexing: make sure your pages aren't accidentally blocked. Search
site:yourdomain.comin Google — if your pages show up, you're indexed. - Sitemap & schema: an XML sitemap lists your pages for Google; LocalBusiness schema is hidden code that spells out your name, address, phone, and hours. Both should be standard on a professionally built site.
4. Local SEO: The Part That Moves the Needle Fastest
For a business that serves a local area, this is where most of your ranking comes from — and much of it lives off your website.
Google Business Profile
Claim it, fill in every field, pick the most accurate primary category, add 10+ real photos, and post an update weekly. This single free listing controls whether you appear in the map pack. We have a full step-by-step guide to it.
NAP consistency and citations
Your Name, Address and Phone number must be written identically everywhere they appear — your website, Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, industry directories. "St" vs "Street" counts as a mismatch. Consistency builds trust; mismatches erode it.
Reviews
Reviews are roughly a fifth of local ranking weight, and recency now matters as much as volume. Build a simple habit: after every job, text the customer a direct link to your Google review page. Reply to every review, good or bad. Aim for two or three new reviews a month, forever.
Location content
Mention your town and service area naturally in your homepage copy. If you serve several towns, give each its own page with genuinely unique content — not the same paragraph with the place name swapped.
5. Off-Page SEO: Other Sites Vouching for You
The backlinks a local business can realistically get
- Local directories and your trade association's member listing
- Your suppliers' and partners' "who we work with" pages — just ask
- Local news coverage from sponsoring an event or a community initiative
- Being genuinely useful: guides, checklists and answers that other sites choose to link to
Ignore anyone selling "500 backlinks for $50" — cheap link schemes are the fastest way to get your site penalised.
Your First 30 Days
| Week | Focus | Tasks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundations | Claim & fully complete Google Business Profile. Confirm your site has HTTPS, loads fast on mobile, and is indexed (site: search). |
| 2 | On-page | Rewrite your homepage and top service page titles as "[service] in [town]". Add one clear H1 per page. Flesh out thin pages. |
| 3 | Local signals | Fix NAP so it's identical on site, Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps. Add 10 photos to your profile. Set up a review-request text. |
| 4 | Content & links | Publish one useful article answering a real customer question. List your business in 3–5 credible local directories. Ask two partners for a link. |
How Long Until It Works?
- Map pack (Google Business Profile): 8–16 weeks for most markets if you address every factor above.
- Organic results (your website): 3–6 months for a newer site targeting local terms with moderate competition.
- Competitive city-wide terms: 6–12 months of consistent work.
Anyone promising page one in a week is selling something you don't want.
What You Can Safely Ignore
- Keyword density percentages — write for humans.
- Meta keywords tag — Google stopped using it many years ago.
- Paid "SEO audits" that just run a free tool and email you a PDF.
- Chasing every algorithm update — the fundamentals in this post barely change year to year.
Want the Foundations Handled for You?
Every website we build at LocalPageHQ ships with the technical SEO groundwork done — fast mobile-first pages, HTTPS, clean heading structure, optimised titles, an XML sitemap, and LocalBusiness schema — plus Google Business Profile setup guidance.
We'll build a free preview of your site using your real business details, so you can see it before you spend anything.
Request your free mockup here →
