What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the work of getting a business found by people searching nearby — in the Google map pack, in "near me" queries and on maps apps — and depends mostly on a complete Google Business Profile, consistent business details across the web, and location-specific pages.
Also called: local search optimisation, near me SEO, map pack SEO.
For anyone who serves customers in person, local search is not a subset of SEO; it is the main event. A cleaner ranking first for "end of tenancy cleaning Bristol" wins the job. Ranking nationally for "cleaning tips" wins a reader.
Three things do most of the lifting. A Google Business Profile that is genuinely complete, with categories, service areas, hours, photos and a steady trickle of recent reviews. Consistent name, address and phone number everywhere your business is listed, because contradictions make the algorithm less confident about you. And real pages for the places and services you cover, rather than one "Areas we serve" page listing forty towns.
Proximity matters more than anyone would like: you will rarely outrank a competitor sitting in the middle of the town you're targeting. That is exactly why service-area pages, reviews mentioning specific places, and locally relevant content earn their keep.
What to actually do about it
- Complete every field on your Google Business Profile, then keep posting to it.
- Ask for reviews systematically and reply to all of them.
- Use identical name, address and phone formatting on every listing.
- Give each significant town or service its own page with unique content.
- Add LocalBusiness schema including areaServed and opening hours.
Koo builds service-by-location pages with unique copy and LocalBusiness schema, pulls your Google reviews onto the site, and keeps your business details consistent between the site and your Google Business Profile.
Related terms
Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts a business on Google Maps and in local search results, showing its name, hours, photos, reviews, services and website link.
Schema markup
Schema markup is a block of machine-readable data added to a web page — usually as JSON-LD — that tells search engines and AI assistants exactly what the page is about: a business, a product, an article, a review, a set of questions.
Long-tail keyword
A long-tail keyword is a longer, more specific search phrase with lower search volume but clearer intent and far less competition — for example "repair a leaking radiator valve in Leeds" rather than "plumber".