Local SEO Basics for Service Businesses

When someone in your town searches "body shop near me" or "plumber in [city]," you either show up or you don't. Local SEO is what determines which side of that line you're on.

The good news: for small service businesses, local SEO is simpler than the big-picture SEO that e-commerce sites worry about. You don't need a massive content strategy or thousands of backlinks. You need the basics done right.

Start with your Google Business Profile

This is the single most important thing you can do for local visibility. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is what shows up in the map pack — that cluster of three businesses at the top of local search results.

Here's your checklist:

Claim and verify your profile at business.google.com if you haven't already.
Fill out every field: business name, address, phone, website, hours, services, and service area.
Choose the right primary category. Be specific. "Auto Body Shop" beats "Automotive" every time.
Add photos. Real photos of your shop, your work, your team. Google rewards profiles with photos.
Post updates at least twice a month. New project? Seasonal offer? Post it.

Keywords: think like your customer

You don't need fancy keyword tools to get started (though Semrush makes it faster). Just think about what someone would type into Google when they need what you offer.

For a collision repair shop, that might be:

"collision repair [city]"
"auto body shop near me"
"dent repair [city]"
"paint shop [city]"

Put these phrases naturally into your GBP description, your website's page titles, and your homepage copy. Don't stuff them — write for humans first, search engines second.

Citations: get your name out there

A "citation" is just your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) listed on another website. The more consistent citations you have, the more Google trusts your business info.

Start with these free listings:

Yelp — create or claim your page.
Facebook Business — set up a page with your correct info.
Apple Maps — submit through Apple Business Connect.
Bing Places — Microsoft's version of Google Business Profile.
Industry directories — for auto shops, that's places like CarWise, AutoBody-Review, or your local chamber of commerce.

The key: make sure your name, address, and phone number are exactly the same on every listing. "123 Main St" on one and "123 Main Street" on another can confuse search engines.

Reviews: the local ranking signal you control

Google considers review quantity, quality, and recency in local rankings. The simplest way to get more reviews:

After completing a job, send a follow-up text or email.
Include a direct link to your Google review page.
Make it easy: "Thanks for choosing us! If you have 30 seconds, a Google review helps us a lot: [link]"

Don't buy reviews. Don't incentivize them with discounts. Just ask consistently and make it frictionless.

What to do this week

If you only do three things:

Claim and complete your Google Business Profile.
Make sure your name/address/phone are consistent on your website, Google, and Facebook.
Send a review request to your last five happy customers.

That's enough to move the needle. You can add tools like Semrush later to track rankings and find keyword opportunities — but the foundation comes first.

For more on SEO tools, check out our recommended stack.