When someone searches for a café, clinic, salon, hotel or tour operator nearby, the first few businesses on Google Maps win most of the calls. This checklist covers the twenty steps that make the biggest difference for local visibility — on Google Search, Maps and the AI tools that increasingly answer local questions.

Google Business Profile (Steps 1–8)

  1. Claim and verify your Google Business Profile.
  2. Use your real business name — no extra keywords, which breaks Google's guidelines.
  3. Choose the most accurate primary category, then add relevant secondary categories.
  4. Add every service or product with clear descriptions and prices where possible.
  5. Set accurate hours, including holiday hours.
  6. Upload real photos of your premises, team and work — and keep adding new ones.
  7. Complete attributes such as women-owned, wheelchair accessible or online appointments, where true.
  8. Post updates about offers, events and news regularly.

Reviews and Reputation (Steps 9–12)

  1. Ask every happy customer for a review with a short link or QR code.
  2. Reply to every review, positive or negative, within a day or two.
  3. Never buy reviews or offer rewards for positive ones.
  4. Answer common questions on your profile and website.

Consistency and Citations (Steps 13–15)

  1. Keep name, address and phone identical everywhere online.
  2. List your business on trusted directories relevant to your industry and city.
  3. Fix outdated listings with old addresses or numbers.

Your Website (Steps 16–19)

  1. Create a strong page for each core service, mentioning the areas you genuinely serve.
  2. Add location pages only for real locations with unique, useful content — never copy-paste city pages.
  3. Add LocalBusiness structured data for your physical location.
  4. Make mobile contact effortless: click-to-call, WhatsApp, directions and fast pages.

Measure (Step 20)

  1. Track calls, direction requests, website clicks and enquiries from your profile and website every month.

Want this done for you? Our local SEO service and reputation management cover every step on this list.

Quick Answers

How long does local SEO take?

Fixing an incomplete profile can help within weeks; competitive areas need several months of steady effort.

Do I need a physical address?

You need a real location customers visit or a genuine service area. Virtual offices aren't allowed.