Local SEO
Local SEO: be the first business people find in your area
When someone types “plumber near me” or “dentist Dublin”, Google first shows a map with three businesses. With local SEO we work to get you into that group, and to make sure it turns into a phone call, not just a profile view.
What's included
Real work, not promises
Every item comes with its own deadline and its own measure of success.
Google Business Profile
A fully completed profile: the right categories, services, opening hours, description, photos, questions and answers, and regular posts.
NAP data
The same name, address and phone number everywhere: on your site, in directories, on social media and maps. We clean up the inconsistencies.
Reviews
A simple system that gets happy customers to leave reviews, and a reply to every review, good or bad.
Local pages
A separate page for each main service, with content that shows where you work, without copied text for every town.
Local directories
Listings in the directories and portals people in your market really use and that Google recognises.
Call tracking
We measure calls, direction requests and website clicks from your Google profile, and compare them month by month.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is optimising your business for searches that include a location: “car repair Novi Sad”, “hairdresser near me”, “accountant Cork”. For searches like these Google shows a map with three businesses (the local pack), and the classic results only below it. The businesses in that pack get most of the calls.
Google chooses the businesses for the map on three main criteria: relevance (whether the profile and site match the search), distance (how close you are to the person searching) and prominence (reviews, mentions, links, the company’s reputation). We can’t change distance, but we can influence relevance and prominence, and by quite a lot.
Google Business Profile: the most important part
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is your company’s free profile on Google Search and Maps. For local SEO it matters more than anything else. With most businesses we take on, the profile is only partly filled in, with the wrong primary category and no services listed.
What we sort out on the profile
- the primary and additional categories, because the primary category has the biggest influence on which searches you appear for;
- a list of services or products with short descriptions;
- opening hours, holidays, service area and attributes;
- a company description without keyword stuffing, which Google penalises;
- real photos of your premises, team and work instead of stock images;
- questions and answers, and regular posts with offers and news.
We describe the full process in our guide to local SEO and Google Business Profile.
Reviews: how to get them honestly
The number, freshness and rating of your reviews directly affect your position on the map and whether a customer will call you. We set up a simple system: a short link or QR code to the review form, a message you send after the job is done and a reminder for your team. We reply to every review, including the bad ones, calmly and specifically, because future customers read the replies too.
We don’t buy reviews and we don’t write fake ones. Google removes them in bulk, and the profile can be restricted in a way that is hard to undo.
A website built for local SEO
The profile leads to your site, and the site confirms to Google that you are relevant. On the site we build:
- a separate page for each main service, because a single “Services” page with a list ranks for nothing;
- a clear service area in the text, without copied pages for every town with only the name changed, because Google treats that kind of content as thin;
- NAP data (name, address, phone) in the footer and on the contact page, exactly as on the profile;
- LocalBusiness schema with your address, opening hours, service area and links to your profiles;
- a fast mobile version with a call button, because most local searches come from phones.
NAP data and local directories
NAP (name, address, phone) is your company’s core information. Google compares it across your site, your profile, social media and directories. When it differs (an old address, another phone number, the name with and without “Ltd”), Google trusts all the sources less. We find and fix the inconsistencies and list your business in the directories that are actually used in your market.
What affects your position on Google Maps
| Factor | What we do |
|---|---|
| Primary profile category | We choose the most precise category for your main service, not the most general one |
| Reviews | Number, freshness, rating and keywords in reviews; replies to all of them |
| Proximity | Can’t be changed, but a correctly set service area helps |
| Website | Service pages, matching NAP data, LocalBusiness schema |
| Mentions | Listings in relevant directories and local portals with the same details |
| Profile activity | Photos, posts, questions and answers, up-to-date opening hours |
Categories: the most underrated decision
The primary category has the biggest influence on which searches your profile shows up for. A dental practice set up as “Medical clinic” instead of “Dentist”, or an air-conditioning service listed as “Electrician”, loses searches before it has even started. We look at which categories the businesses currently in the top three use, choose your primary and secondary categories, and fill in the services on your profile with short descriptions.
Businesses with several locations
If you have several shops, branches or service centres, every location with real premises and staff can have its own Google profile. For each one we also build a separate page on the site with the address, opening hours, map, team and what is specific to that location. These aren’t copied “town pages” with the name swapped, but real branches with real content.
Fake competitors and fake reviews
Google Maps has profiles that break the rules: invented addresses, names stuffed with keywords (“Plumber 24h London Emergency”), fake reviews. Profiles like these push honest businesses down. We report them through Google’s official channels, with evidence. A report doesn’t always work straight away, but it often frees up a spot in the top three.
If your business gets a fake negative review, we report it as a policy violation and write a calm, factual reply, because future customers read it.
How we track your position on the map
Your map position depends on where the person searching is. A business can be first in its own street and tenth two kilometres away. So we track positions across a grid of points over your area (a geo-grid) for your main searches, and the report shows where you are strong and where more work is needed. We also track calls, direction requests and website clicks from the profile itself.
Local SEO in Serbia and abroad
We do local SEO for businesses across Serbia, and we have experience with local markets abroad too (for example Dream Cleaning, BioClean Dublin and Urban Werk). The rules of Google Maps are the same everywhere, but directories, customer habits and competition differ. That is why we always build the plan for a specific market.
For the technical side and more examples, see local SEO on Optimizacija-Sajta.rs (in Serbian).
How we work
Three steps to measurable growth
01 Analysis
A review of your website, your competitors and your keywords. You get a clear list of what is holding back growth.
02 Plan and delivery
Priorities ranked by their impact on sales. We handle the technical side, the content and the campaigns, with no wasted effort.
03 Measurement and growth
A monthly report with enquiries, rankings and spend. We double down on whatever brings in business.
Work
Where we have already done this
Foto-Maja
A wedding photographer’s website with online booking of photo services
FAQ
Local SEO: questions and answers
Local SEO is optimising a business for location-based searches, such as “hairdresser Cork” or “air-conditioning repair near me”. The most important parts are your Google Business Profile, reviews, accurate company details and good service pages on your website.
A properly set-up Google Business Profile often brings the first changes within a few weeks. A stable position on the map, especially in larger cities, usually takes a few months of work on reviews and the website.
Yes, if you have an office, warehouse or service centre that customers visit. Local results also appear for general searches, and a profile with good reviews builds trust with customers from other towns too.
Yes, as a service-area business that goes to the customer. The address is hidden on the Google profile and the service area is listed instead. Google’s rules are strict here, so we set the profile up carefully.
What works best is asking the customer personally, straight after a job well done, with a direct link to the review form. Buying reviews breaks Google’s rules and can bring down the whole profile.
The most common reasons are an address that doesn’t match real premises, a name with keywords added, a service-area business listed with a visible address, or a sudden change to key details. A suspension is resolved by correcting the details and requesting reinstatement.
Only if it has several real locations with staff and opening hours. Several profiles for the same address, or for towns where you have no premises, break the rules and can lead to suspension.
Their direct effect on ranking is small, but posts show that the profile is active, highlight your offers and can increase calls and visits from the profile.
Report it in Google Business Profile as a policy violation and reply to it calmly and factually. Google doesn’t remove every negative review, but it does remove those that break its rules, such as fake or abusive reviews or ones left by competitors.
It measures your Google Maps position from many points across a map of your area. It shows where you are visible and where you aren’t, which a single ranking number can’t show.
Further reading
More detail on Optimizacija-Sajta.rs (in Serbian)
Enquiry
Send us an enquiry.
We reply within one working day.
+381 69 740 754
office@plusnet.rs
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