How to Optimise Your Business Website for Local Search Results

Most small businesses don’t realise how much money they lose simply because Google has no idea where they actually are.

You could have the best products, the loveliest service, and a website that looks like it was handcrafted by angels — but if Google thinks you’re in “United Kingdom (unspecified)” instead of Croydon, Manchester, or Brighton… you’re basically invisible.

Local SEO isn’t glamorous.
You won’t find anyone bragging about adding alt text to their location photos.
But it quietly brings in the customers who live near you — you know, the ones most likely to buy from you.

Let’s make Google fall in love with your business and finally rank you where you deserve to be.

What “Local SEO” Actually Means

Local SEO is just:
making sure your business shows up when someone nearby searches for what you offer.

“Hair salon near me.”
“Cake delivery Birmingham.”
“Dog groomer Islington.”

Google checks three things:

Relevance — does your business actually match what they typed?
Distance — are you close to them?
Prominence — are you known locally (reviews, links, mentions, activity)?

You don’t need to be a marketer to nail this — you just need to do a handful of practical things consistently.

Step 1: Sort Out Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

This one alone can skyrocket your visibility.

If you haven’t claimed your Google Business Profile, go do that immediately.
It’s free. It’s powerful. It’s basically the key to the entire kingdom.

How to optimise it properly

Add your real business name, exact address, phone number, and website URL
Upload at least 10 high-quality photos (space, products, staff, exterior)
Add opening hours (including special hours for holidays)
Choose every relevant category (you can have one main category + extras)
Add products/services, even if you list them on your website
Post updates weekly (offers, new products, events — treat it like a mini social feed)

Why it matters

Your GBP often appears before your website in search results.
Neglecting it is like locking your shop door at lunchtime.

Step 2: Make Your Website Shout Your Location

Google isn’t psychic.
If your website never mentions where you operate, it can’t rank you locally.

Add your location clearly on:

Your homepage (“Serving clients across Kent & Sussex”)
Your footer (full address + clickable phone number)
Your contact page (map + directions)
Your service pages (“Bespoke landscaping services in Hertfordshire”)

Bonus points

Create dedicated location pages if you serve multiple areas.
Example:
/plumber-south-london
/plumber-east-london

One page per location — no stuffing them into one chaotic paragraph.

Step 3: Nail Your On-Page SEO for Local Terms

This is the part everyone skips because it “sounds technical.”
It isn’t. Promise.

Focus on these:

Title tags — “Mobile Dog Groomer in Hackney | HappyPaws”
Meta descriptions — short, punchy, and location-based
H1 headings — include what you do and where
Alt text — describe images and include the location where natural
URL structure — clean, simple, descriptive

Example:
/manicure-salon-liverpool

Write for humans first, sprinkle in keywords naturally.

Step 4: Add Local Schema (If You Want to Be Fancy)

Schema markup is a small bit of code that helps Google understand your business details more clearly.

It’s optional, but brilliant.

Add Local Business Schema with fields like:

Business name
Address
Phone number
Opening hours
Services
Map coordinates

Your developer can add it in minutes — or you can use generators like Merkle’s.

It helps you appear in rich results and reinforces your local trust signals.

Step 5: Collect Reviews Like They’re Gold (Because They Are)

Reviews are one of Google’s biggest ranking factors for local searches.

Aim for consistent, genuine, recent reviews.

Tips:

Ask every happy customer
Send them straight to your Google link
Reply to every review — even the weird ones
Add testimonials to your website for extra trust

And no, you don’t need 500 reviews.
Ten real reviews beat fifty suspiciously identical ones.

Step 6: Build Local Backlinks (Without Getting Spammy)

A backlink is simply another site pointing to yours.
Local backlinks tell Google you’re a real business in a real community.

Ideas:

Partner with local bloggers
Join business directories (not the dodgy ones — legit ones only)
Sponsor a local event
Collaborate with neighbouring businesses
Submit your business to local newspapers or “Top 10” lists

Think: humans first, Google second.

Step 7: Keep Your Business Details the Same Everywhere

Your:

Name
Address
Phone number

…must match exactly across:

Your website
Google profile
Instagram
Facebook
Directories
Email signatures
Anywhere your business exists online

If Google sees three different phone numbers and two versions of your address, it panics and ranks you lower.

Quick Local SEO Checklist

Task	Status
Google Business Profile complete	✔︎
Address + phone added site-wide	✔︎
Location-based headings + titles	✔︎
Local keywords added naturally	✔︎
Images optimised with alt text	✔︎
Location pages created (optional)	✔︎
Reviews requested + replied to	✔︎
Local backlinks secured	✔︎

If you tick most of these, you’re already outperforming half your competitors.

My Take (a.k.a. What I Do for Clients)

When I optimise websites for local search, I focus on:

Making the brand feel hyper-local
Ensuring Google instantly understands where they operate
Tightening up the technical SEO
Making sure their content is clear, helpful, and location-specific
Optimising their Google Business Profile for maximum visibility

It’s not about gaming Google — it’s about giving it the cleanest, clearest information possible so it trusts you.

The result?
More traffic, more enquiries, more bookings — minus the headache.

Final Thought

Local SEO isn’t a one-off task.
It’s a quiet, ongoing, extremely profitable habit.

Do a bit each month, keep your details consistent, and treat your local customers well — Google sees everything.

When you get it right, your website becomes a digital signpost pointing straight to your business, 24/7.

→ Want me to optimise your site for local search?

I help small UK businesses get found locally with clean website structure, sharp SEO, and a proper Google setup.
Get in touch →