Local SEO checklist for a trade business

A local SEO checklist is a list of checks that shows whether Google has what it needs to show your trade business to people nearby. Google says local results are “mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity“. Its definitions call that last part prominence.

This checklist covers seven areas and uses free tools. You need your Business Profile login, your website address and your phone. You can’t move your yard closer to the customer. So every check works on relevance and prominence. Where we have a guide that covers the fix, the section links to it.

The checklist at a glance

Work down the table in order. Each row is one check, where to run it and what a pass looks like.

Check your Google Business Profile

Your Business Profile is the listing that shows on Google Maps and in the local results. Google says businesses with “complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results“.

Run each line against Google’s guidelines:

• Name. “Your name should reflect your business’ real-world name”. Google means the name used on your shopfront, website and stationery. Pass if your profile matches it.
• Address. “If you’re a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers.” Pass if it shows a service area.
• Categories. “Use as few categories as possible”. Pass if the main one is the most specific for your trade.
• Phone. “Use a local phone number instead of a central call centre helpline number”. Pass if it rings you or your office.
• Services and hours. Pass if every job you want is listed and the hours are right this week.

Any fail here is fixed step by step in how to set up a Google Business Profile for your trade. If you can’t find your profile on Maps at all, start with business not showing on Google Maps before anything else on this list.

Check your reviews

Reviews feed the prominence side of Google’s ranking. Google names “how many reviews you have” as one input.

1. Count the reviews you got in the last three months. Pass if new ones arrive every month, not in one burst years ago.
2. Scroll the list for any review without a reply. Pass if every one has a reply, good or bad.
3. Read the last ten. Pass if some mention the job or the town in the customer’s own words. Don’t tell customers what to write.

A fail on the first two is fixed in how to get Google reviews as a tradesman, which covers the link, the wording and the replies.

Check you have a page for each job and town

A job page is a page on your website about one service, such as boiler installation or flat roofing. A town page is a page about your work in one town you cover.

• Open your menu. Pass if each main job has its own page with its own heading.
• Look at each page’s title in the browser tab. Google’s Starter Guide says “a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise“. Pass if every title names the job and no two match.
• Find where you list the towns you cover. Pass if every town you want work from is named in text on the site, not only in an image or a map.
• Pick a town you want to be found in. Pass if it has a page that shows jobs you’ve done there.

Three real trade sites and how each handles jobs and towns are in trade website examples: what the good ones do.

Check your website on a phone

Google ranks your site using “the mobile version of a site’s content“. So the phone version is the one that counts.

• Open your site on your phone. Google says “Make sure that your mobile site contains the same content as your desktop site.” Pass if no sections, prices or service lists disappear on the small screen.
• Tap your phone number in the header. Pass if it starts a call straight away.
• Check speed. Google says “Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console“. Its targets are the main content loading “within the first 2.5 seconds”. Taps should get a response in “less than 200 milliseconds”. Layout shift should be “less than 0.1”. Pass if your pages meet those targets.

Check Search Console

Google Search Console is “a free service offered by Google” that shows how your site appears in search.

1. Quick test without it. Search site:yourdomain.co.uk. The Starter Guide says “If you see results pointing to your site, you’re in the index.“
2. Page indexing report. Look for your job pages under “Crawled – currently not indexed”. Google defines it as “The page was crawled by Google but not indexed.” Pass if your main job pages aren’t in that list. Google says a page here may or may not be indexed in the future, so there’s no need to resubmit it.
3. URL Inspection. Paste in a page you’ve just changed. Google says “You can request that an inspected URL be indexed by Google.” Google is clear that a request “does not guarantee that inclusion in search results will happen“.
4. Performance report. Filter queries by your trade word. An impression is “How many times your site appeared in Search results.” Pass if your job pages get impressions for the jobs they’re about.

Check your name, address and phone match everywhere

Citations are listings of your business name, address and phone number on other websites, such as directories.

1. Copy your name and phone number exactly as they appear on your Business Profile.
2. Search Google for your phone number in quotation marks.
3. Open every listing that comes up and compare it letter by letter. Old numbers, old addresses and “Ltd” on some but not others all count as mismatches.
4. Pass if every listing you control matches. Log in and correct any that don’t.

The free UK listings worth claiming first are covered in how to rank higher on Google Maps for trades. The full list is in free business directories for UK trades, with the paid extras marked.

Check where your calls come from

Tracking calls means knowing which source sent each enquiry. Without it you can’t tell whether any fix on this list made a difference.

• Open the Performance report on your Business Profile. Its Calls figure counts people who “clicked on the call button on your Business Profile“. Google says “Performance data is available only for verified Business Profiles.”
• Remember that figure misses people who read your profile, then rang from your website or wrote the number down.
• Ask every new caller how they found you and note it with the job. Pass if you can say roughly where last month’s work came from.

If someone already does this work for you, their monthly report should show the same things. Here’s what an SEO report should show a trade business.

What to fix first

In our view the order is: anything that stops you showing at all, then your Business Profile, then reviews, then your website pages. Website pages and listings take longer to build. So they come after the quick wins.

Google’s Starter Guide is honest about timing: “Some changes might take effect in a few hours, others could take several months.” Run the audit, fix what fails and leave it to settle before you judge it.

Questions about a local SEO audit

What is a local SEO audit?

A local SEO audit is a check of the main things Google looks at when it shows businesses to people nearby. For a trade that means your Business Profile, reviews, website pages and listings. It also covers how you track calls.

How often should I run a local SEO checklist?

Run a local SEO checklist every three months, in our view, and again after any big change such as a new website, a move or a new phone number.

Is a local SEO audit free?

A local SEO audit is free if you run it yourself. Search Console and your Business Profile cost nothing. Every other check on this page needs only your website or your phone. To check your position in each town, see how to check where you rank on Google.

Will passing every check get me to the top of Google?

No. Passing every check means Google has what it needs from you, but distance and the businesses competing in your area still decide where you show. Nobody can promise a position.

Would you run this audit for me?

Yes. Local SEO for trades starts with a free forecast, and we go through what comes in with you every month.