Local SEO: 7 steps to get found in your city

“Dentist near me”, “emergency heating repair Graz”, “Italian restaurant Cologne”: many searches have a local intent. For local businesses they're especially valuable, because people searching like this usually want to act quickly. Local SEO makes sure you're at the top when they do.

Why local SEO is different

For local searches, Google often shows a map with a few businesses at the very top. Which ones appear mainly depends on three things: how well does the business match the search? How close is it? And how well-known and trustworthy is it? You can work on all three.

Seven steps that really work

1. 1

   Complete your Google Business Profile

   The right category, opening hours, services, photos and a meaningful description – that's the foundation.

2. 2

   Use the same details everywhere

   Name, address and phone number should be written exactly the same on your website and in all directories.

3. 3

   Maintain important directories

   In Germany e.g. Gelbe Seiten and Das Örtliche, in Austria Herold, in Switzerland local.ch and search.ch.

4. 4

   Pages with local relevance

   Describe your services for your city and service area – with real information instead of interchangeable boilerplate.

5. 5

   Encourage reviews

   Actively ask happy customers for a review and respond to every one – including critical ones. Bought or fake reviews are not allowed.

6. 6

   Add LocalBusiness schema

   Structured data with address, opening hours and services helps Google and AI assistants classify you correctly.

7. 7

   Mobile and fast

   Local searches mostly happen on the go. Your website must load fast and be easy to use on a smartphone.

Common mistakes

• Outdated opening hours or phone numbers in directories
• Several Google profiles for the same location
• Keywords in the Google profile name that aren't part of the real name
• One single page for all services and locations