Local SEO is the work that helps your business show up when people nearby search for what you do. Think "electrician Mount Gravatt", "mortgage broker near me" or "car detailing Logan". It covers three things: your Google Business Profile, your website and your reviews.
What local search looks like
When someone searches for a local service, Google usually shows:
- Ads at the top (paid, and separate from SEO)
- The map results, often called the map pack: a map and three businesses, drawn from Google Business Profiles
- The ordinary results: websites, ranked by how well they answer the search
Local SEO is about the second and third parts. They're free to appear in, and people searching this way are often ready to call.
How is local SEO different from ordinary SEO?
Ordinary SEO aims to rank a website for a search anywhere, like "how to repaint a kitchen". Local SEO is for searches with a place in mind, stated or not. "Plumber" on a phone in Sunnybank is a local search even without the suburb.
The big difference is the map results. Those depend heavily on your Google Business Profile, your reviews and how close you are to the person searching, not just your website.
What Google looks at for local results
Google says local results are based mainly on three things:
- Relevance: how well your profile and website match what was searched
- Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or the area they named
- Prominence: how well known you are, including reviews, links and mentions around the web
You can't move your premises, but relevance and prominence are where local SEO does its work.
The three parts of local SEO
Your Google Business Profile
This is what puts you in the map results. Its categories tell Google which searches you can appear for, so the choice of primary category matters a great deal. A complete profile with real photos gives Google more to match, and a steady flow of genuine reviews builds prominence. Our article on getting your business on Google explains what a profile involves.
Your website
Google uses your website to understand what you do and where. A single "Services" page that lists everything rarely ranks for any one service, so each main service needs its own page. Pages for the areas you serve help when they have genuinely local content, not copies with the suburb name swapped. Matching contact details, clear page titles, fast loading on phones and structured data (schema) all help Google trust what it reads.
What Google looks for in a local business website goes into more detail.
Your reputation around the web
Consistent business details on directories and industry sites, links from local organisations, suppliers and associations you actually work with, and reviews on Google first, then anywhere else your customers look, all add to how well known Google thinks you are.
What doesn't work
- Stuffing suburb names into every sentence or into your business name
- Dozens of near-identical suburb pages. Google treats them as thin content.
- Fake or paid reviews. They breach Google's policies and Australian Consumer Law.
- Guaranteed number-one rankings. Nobody can promise that honestly.
Is local SEO worth it?
For a business that serves a local area, usually yes. The basics, a complete profile, a page per service and a stream of reviews, often make the biggest difference. More competitive industries, like law or finance in a big city, need more ongoing work to stand out.
How we do local SEO
When we look after your local SEO, we:
- Set up and optimise your Google Business Profile, starting with the best-fit primary category for how your customers search.
- Write service and location pages with genuinely local content, and match your details exactly to your profile.
- Handle the technical side: speed, indexing, sitemaps and structured data.
- Give you a review request link and a short message to send customers.
- Write monthly articles on topics your customers search for, with a plain-English monthly summary.
See our local SEO service and Google Business Profile service, or book a free website health check.
Want to know where you stand locally?
Call us or get a free website health check. We'll look at your website and Google Business Profile and tell you the few changes most likely to help.
This article is general information only and isn't legal, financial or technical advice for your situation. Questions? Talk to us.