Local SEO for Small Businesses

A short checklist to improve your visibility in local search and on Google Maps without spending a fortune.

By Cain • GridGhost.dev • • 10 min read

Quick local SEO checklist

  • Google Business Profile (GBP): Complete every field, add photos, pick accurate categories, set your hours, and request reviews after a job is done.
  • NAP consistency: Ensure the business name, address, and phone are identical everywhere — site, GBP, Facebook, and directories.
  • Local landing pages: Create thin, unique pages for neighborhoods you serve. Keep them short, helpful, and avoid copying the same boilerplate across many pages.
  • FAQ, schema, and structured data: Add short FAQs with JSON-LD. Use LocalBusiness schema and Article schema on blog posts to help search engines surface your content.
  • Photos & freshness: Add regular photos and a recent post or update on GBP — freshness helps click-through for local queries.

Specific setup steps

  1. Verify your GBP and confirm the physical address (if you have one). If you work remotely, use "service area" settings in GBP.
  2. On your site, place the phone in a clickable format and add a small contact banner to every page.
  3. Add an FAQ block with 4–6 questions that mirror the words customers use.

Measuring impact

Track these metrics in the first 30 days: clicks from Search Console, phone clicks (use a simple event in Analytics), and number of GBP calls. Small changes like a more prominent phone link or one extra FAQ can move clicks noticeably.

Next steps and priorities

Priority order: 1) Claim and verify GBP, 2) Make phone and address obvious on the site, 3) Add one local landing page and an FAQ, 4) Ask 5 customers for reviews. I can help implement these if you want — say which one to start with.

Examples & quick JSON-LD

Use this pattern for a short FAQ JSON-LD or LocalBusiness snippet — adapt the fields to your details.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "LocalBusiness",
  "name": "Your Business Name",
  "telephone": "+1-202-555-0143",
  "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "123 Example St", "addressLocality": "Washington", "addressRegion": "DC", "postalCode": "20001" }
}

Measurement checklist

  • Add a GA4 tag or simple pixel and confirm page views in real time.
  • Create a Search Console property and watch the Coverage and Performance tabs for new pages.
  • Add an event for phone clicks (tel:) and test that it records in Analytics.

Measuring impact

Track calls and clicks from the site and monitor position changes in Search Console. Small wins like a phone number on the hero or a FAQ can increase clicks quickly.

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