Most small businesses do not need to rank number one across the whole of the UK. You need to be the obvious choice when somebody two towns over types “web designer near me” or “plumber in Basingstoke” into their phone. That is local SEO, and the good news is that most of it is free and takes an afternoon rather than a budget.
Autumn is a sensible time to sort this. People come back from the summer holidays, businesses start planning for the last quarter, and search volume for local services tends to pick up from September onwards. Anything you fix now has a few weeks to settle in before that happens.
Here is what actually moves the needle, in the order I would tackle it.
Start with your Google Business Profile
If you only do one thing, do this one. Your Google Business Profile is the panel that shows up on the right of the search results and the pin that appears on Google Maps. It is free, and for a lot of local businesses it brings in more enquiries than the website itself.
If you have not claimed yours yet, you can add or claim your Business Profile directly through Google. Once you are in, the boring bits matter more than you would think:
- Fill in every field. Opening hours, service areas, phone number, website link, description.
- Choose the most specific category available, not the vaguest one.
- Add real photos of your work, your premises or your team. Stock images do nothing here.
- Post updates occasionally. A short post about a recent job or a seasonal offer keeps the profile looking active.
- Keep your name, address and phone number written exactly the same way everywhere else online.
That last point trips people up constantly. If your address says “Unit 4” on one directory and “Unit Four” on another, Google has to work out whether those are the same business. Make it easy.
Use the words your customers actually use
Small business owners often write about their services the way they would describe them to a colleague. Customers search the way they would ask a friend. Nobody types “bespoke integrated digital solutions”. They type “website designer Hampshire” or “how much does a small business website cost”. Your job is to write pages that answer those questions in that language.
A few things worth checking on your own site:
- Does your homepage say where you are based and who you serve? Plenty of sites do not.
- Do your service pages mention the towns and counties you work in, naturally, in the actual copy?
- Are your page titles specific? “Web Design in Basingstoke” beats “Services”.
- Have you got a page for each main service, rather than one page listing everything?
If you serve several towns, you can build a page for each one, but only if the content is genuinely different and useful. Ten near identical pages with the town name swapped out is the kind of thing Google has got very good at spotting. If you want to go further with this, I wrote about SEO landing pages and how to use them properly a while back.
Ask for reviews, and reply to them
Reviews influence both where you rank locally and whether somebody picks you once they have found you. They are also the thing most business owners feel awkward about chasing. You do not need a clever system. Finish a job, send a short message thanking the client, and include a direct link to leave a review. Most people are happy to help if you ask while the work is fresh in their mind.
Reply to every review, including the ones that sting. A calm, useful reply to a two star review says more about how you run your business than ten five star ratings do.
Get listed where it counts
Directory listings are less powerful than they were, but consistent listings on the right sites still help Google confirm you exist and are where you say you are. Focus on quality over quantity. Your local chamber of commerce, relevant trade bodies, and a handful of well known general directories will do far more than signing up to fifty spammy ones. There is a list of free directories worth using on the blog if you want a starting point.
Check whether any of it is working
None of this is worth doing blind. Google Search Console is free and shows you exactly which searches are bringing people to your site. Set it up, then look at the performance report once a month.
You are looking for two things. Which local searches you already show up for, and which ones you appear for but nobody clicks. The second group is usually the quickest win, because it often just means your page title or description needs rewriting. Give it six to eight weeks before you judge anything. Local SEO is slow, and a bad month is not a trend.
Where to start if you only have an hour
Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Check your name, address and phone number match everywhere. Add your location to your homepage copy and page titles. Ask your three most recent clients for a review.
If you have worked through this lot and want a second pair of eyes, or you would rather someone just sorted it for you, I offer a free 30 minute brainstorming session. No pitch, no pressure, just a proper conversation about where your site is at and what would help most. You can book a slot here, and if you decide afterwards that you would like help, my SEO services are there as a backup rather than a starting point.
You can also email me on hello@chellwebdesign.com.
