FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is a set of optimisation actions aimed at appearing in Google results for queries with a geographic component: "plumber London", "dentist city centre Edinburgh", "pizza near me". For service businesses serving a specific area (city, district, region) local SEO is often more important than general positioning — because it brings customers who are ready to buy, not just people searching for information.

The Local Pack — what it is and why it is the most important position in local SEO

The Local Pack (also known as the Map Pack or Google 3-Pack) is the block of three businesses displayed directly below the Google map for local queries. It appears before organic search results and takes up to 50% of the visible screen on mobile. CTR from the Local Pack is typically higher than from organic results — users immediately see ratings, opening hours, phone numbers and directions.

Your position in the Local Pack is independent of your website's organic ranking — they can coexist or not. A business without a website can appear in the Local Pack purely through Google Business Profile (GBP). Conversely, a strong site with good SEO will not appear in the Local Pack without an optimised GBP profile.

Local SEO ranking factors

Factor	Impact on Local Pack	How to optimise
Google Business Profile	Very high	Complete profile, photos, hours, categories
Google reviews (quantity and rating)	High	Actively ask customers, respond to all reviews
NAP citations (Name, Address, Phone)	High	Consistent business data in directories and listings
Proximity to user location	High	Cannot be optimised — depends on GPS
Relevance (match to query)	High	GBP categories, business description, GBP posts
Website with local keywords	Medium	Local landing pages, Schema LocalBusiness markup

Google Business Profile — how to optimise your listing

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the foundation of local SEO. The minimum configuration: full business name (no keyword stuffing — Google penalises artificially adding phrases to the name), exact address or service area (for mobile businesses without a fixed address), correct opening hours (updated for public holidays), all relevant categories (primary + secondary), a business description with natural keywords, and at least 10 photos (interior, exterior, team, completed projects).

An underappreciated feature is GBP Posts — short updates, promotions or tips appearing directly in the profile. Regular posts (at least once a week) signal activity to Google and can improve Local Pack visibility. My experience shows that businesses active with GBP posts get 15–25% more profile impressions.

Google reviews — how to acquire them and why you must never buy them

Google reviews are one of the strongest ranking factors in the Local Pack and the most important element of social proof when customers make decisions. 4.5+ stars with 20+ reviews is the minimum to compete with the top businesses in most industries.

Legitimate ways to acquire reviews: a direct ask immediately after completing a service (email with a link to the GBP profile), a thank-you card with a QR code, an SMS message after delivery. Buying reviews or using "review farms" risks having all your reviews removed and a Google penalty — I have seen cases where a business lost 50 reviews overnight after manipulation was detected. Respond to all reviews (positive and negative) — it is a signal of engagement.

Local landing pages — when and how to create them

If you serve more than one city or district, it is worth having dedicated subpages for each location. "Plumber north London" and "Plumber Islington" are different queries, reaching different users at different stages of the decision process. A local subpage with unique content (not copied from a template with the city name swapped) gives you an advantage over competitors who have only one homepage.