Would someone nearby actually find you?

For anyone searching nearby, this is the search result — the map listing, not your website. It carries more weight than everything on your site put together.

• Your Google Business Profile is claimed and verifiedSearch your business name on Google. If there is no panel on the right, or it says "Own this business?", this is the single most valuable hour you can spend.12
• The primary category is the exact right one"Plumber" and "Plumbing supply store" are different businesses to Google. Being one category off keeps you out of results you should win.8
• At least 10 real photos, and you added one in the last three monthsYour own work, your van, your team. Stock photos do nothing. A profile nobody has touched in two years looks closed.6
• Your services are listed on the profile itselfNot just on your website. The services list on the profile is a field most businesses leave empty.4
• Opening hours are right, including holidaysWrong hours cost you the call and, over time, Google trusts the listing less.3

The one thing you can genuinely move this month. Volume matters, but recency matters more — and it is the part most businesses only remember once a year.

• You have 25 or more Google reviewsBelow about 10 you look untested next to a competitor with 60. It is a comparison, not a threshold.10
• You got at least one review in the last monthForty reviews that all stopped in 2023 reads worse than twelve that are still arriving.7
• You reply to reviews — including the bad onesA calm reply to a one-star review sells better than the five-star ones do. Silence next to a complaint is the worst option.6

Seven things, none of them individually decisive. Together they are what tells Google what you do and where — and what convinces the person who clicked through.

• Each main service has its own pageOne "Services" page listing eight things cannot rank for eight things. Separate pages can.9
• Each town or area you serve has its own pageReal pages with real content about working there — not the same paragraph with the town name swapped, which Google has recognised for years.7
• Your town or city appears in your page titlesThe blue link text in search results. "Emergency Plumber — Pittsburgh PA" beats "Home | Our Company".5
• Address and phone number appear as text in the footerText, on every page. Inside an image or only on the contact page does not count.4
• The phone number is tappable on a phoneMost local searches happen on a phone. If tapping it does nothing, you are asking someone to memorise it.3
• The site has LocalBusiness structured dataHidden code that states your name, address, hours and area plainly. Our free checker will tell you whether yours has it.4
• The site loads in under 2.5 seconds on mobileTest it on a phone with wifi off, or use the speed tools linked from our speed calculator.5

Worth doing once, then leaving alone. Citation services oversell this because it is easy to bill for monthly — it is not where your ranking is won.

• Your name, address and phone are identical everywhere they appearSame suite number, same abbreviation, same phone. "St" in one place and "Street" in another is the usual culprit.5
• You're on Apple Maps, Bing Places and FacebookThree free listings, one afternoon, done forever. Skip the paid directory bundles.2