Local SEO Basics
Local SEO guides that apply to every local business, whatever the trade: Google Maps, reviews, websites, service pages and AI search.
Articles in Local SEO Basics
Service area pages: what Google allows and what it calls spam
City pages are allowed. Copies with the town name swapped are doorway pages. Google's policy in its own words, a test for each page, and what belongs on one.
How to ask for Google reviews without breaking the rules
Scripts for asking in person, by email and by text, checked against Google's review policy, the FTC's 2024 reviews rule and the consent law on text messages.
Why you rank first at your shop and twelfth across town
Your Google Maps position is a map, not a number. What Google says about distance, how to read a ranking grid, and which of the fixes are documented.
Does blogging help you rank on Google Maps?
Blogging doesn't move your Google Maps pin. Here is what Google's own pages say a blog can change, what it can't, and which posts are worth writing.
How to show up when someone asks ChatGPT for a local business
What OpenAI and Google actually document about AI answers, what the rest of the internet is guessing, and the ten things a local owner can control.
Do you need a website if you have a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is free and it wins the near-me search. What it cannot do, when it is genuinely enough on its own, and the smallest site worth building.
How many service pages should your website have?
There is no magic number. Sort everything you sell into emergencies, planned jobs and required work, then build one page per job you would quote separately.
Why your business isn't showing up on Google Maps
A diagnostic for owners. The reasons a business does not appear on Google Maps, in the order worth checking, and how to confirm each one.