Local business SEO: how to show up when people nearby search
· 4 min read · MAALI team
When someone searches "physio near me", "emergency plumber in Larkfield" or "yoga classes this evening", Google shows a map with three businesses before any normal results. Being in that map, and having a website that convinces people once they click, is most of local SEO.
Here's what matters, in order. You don't need an agency for any of it.
1. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile (the listing that appears in Maps and the map results) is the single most important thing for local search.
- Choose the most accurate primary category ("Physiotherapist", not just "Health"). Add secondary categories only if they're true.
- Fill in everything: address or service area, phone, website, opening hours (including holidays), services with short descriptions, and attributes like accessibility.
- Add real photos: your premises, your team, your work. Update them a few times a year.
- Use the business name you actually trade under. Adding keywords to your name ("Larkfield Physio – Best Back Pain Clinic") breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
2. Keep your name, address and phone identical everywhere
Your business name, address and phone number should match exactly on your website, your Google profile, and directories (Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, industry directories). Inconsistent details make it harder for search engines to trust which information is right.
Put them in your website footer as text (not just in an image), and add LocalBusiness schema markup to your homepage.
3. A page for each service (and each location)
A single "Services" page with a bullet list can't rank for every service. Give each main service its own page:
- what it treats or solves, and who it's for,
- what happens during a visit or job,
- prices or how pricing works, if you can share them,
- the questions people ask before booking,
- a clear way to book or call.
If you have more than one location, give each its own page with its address, opening hours, directions, and something genuinely specific to that location (team, parking, nearby landmarks). Don't create near-identical pages for towns you don't really serve; Google treats those as doorway pages.
4. Ask for reviews, every time
Reviews influence both your ranking in the map and whether people choose you.
- Ask at the right moment: after a good result, a finished job, or a last appointment.
- Make it easy: send the direct review link from your Google profile.
- Reply to every review, good and bad, briefly and politely. Never share private details in a reply.
- Never buy reviews or offer rewards for positive ones. It breaks Google's policies and consumer protection law in many countries. Don't "gate" reviews by only asking happy customers either.
5. Answer local questions with content
Articles that answer the questions your customers ask bring in people before they're ready to book, and give your site something to rank for beyond your business name:
- "Lower back pain: when should you see a physio?"
- "How much does a boiler service cost in [your area]?"
- "What to expect at your first pilates class"
Write from experience. Specific advice from someone who does the work every day beats generic content every time.
6. Get mentioned locally
Links and mentions from local websites help search engines see you as part of the community: local news, clubs and teams you sponsor, business associations, suppliers and partners, event pages. One genuine local mention is worth more than dozens of directory listings.
7. Make your website work on a phone
Most local searches happen on phones, often in a hurry. Make sure your phone number is a tap-to-call link, your address opens in maps, your booking button is easy to find, and pages load quickly.
8. Measure what matters
- In your Google Business Profile, check calls, direction requests and website clicks each month.
- In Google Search Console, see which searches bring people to your site.
- Use UTM links on your Google profile's website button (for example
utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp) so profile visits show separately in Google Analytics.
Where MAALI helps
MAALI's MAALI Brain, included in your free credits, reads your website and nearby competitors and tells you what's missing, from meta descriptions to advice content. Its Writer drafts the local advice articles above in your voice, and Social turns them into posts for Instagram and Facebook. AI Visibility checks whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude recommend you for local questions, and which directories they rely on. You check everything before it goes out.
(Larkfield is a made-up example.)
Keep reading
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