Mastering local SEO in 2026

Sorting your search engine optimisation (SEO) is a boon for business growth. However, SEO for a multi-national isn’t the same as it is for an independent boutique. That’s where local SEO comes in.

What is local SEO?

Unlike broader SEO, local SEO has a real focus on nearby geography. Search engines use location and relevance to decide rankings.

NAP (name, address and phone number) are seen as ‘trust signals’ by Google. Google itself says it’s dictated by relevance (how closely your business matches someone’s search query), distance (how close your business is to the person searching) and prominence (how well-known and trusted your business is in the online realm).

People will likely be searching for something like ‘afternoon tea near me’ or ‘barber in [city or town name]’.

That’s not always be the case, though: “Most small business owners think local SEO only matters if you’ve got a shop or an office that people walk into,” said Gareth Hoyle, founder and managing director at Marketing Signals. “We’re a remote-first agency, so we don’t have either, but we still treat it as core to how we get found by clients.”

Google Business Profile set-up

You’ll know what Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is. If you search for a specific business, it comes up in a separate box with photos, an overview, a link to the company website and some reviews.

In case you haven’t already, claim and verify your profile so that potential customers are confident that it’s you.

Enter your exact business name as it appears on your website, Companies House and other branding materials. This ensures that search engines can link up your name across different parts of the web to strengthen your visibility and credibility as a business.

“Search engines use that consistency to confirm a business is legitimate, and small discrepancies (a missing suite number, an old phone number on one listing) can actually hold back your local rankings,” said Hoyle.

Choose accurate primary and secondary categories so that Google can categorise your business more easily.

The primary category tells Google what the core of your business is, such as ‘Pub’. The secondary category is additional things, like showing live football matches and event hosting.

Add in some good quality photos of what you offer and your team. In the pub example, images of the interior and exterior of the pub, plus pictures of the owners and dogs (assuming you allow them) would work. It’ll give potential customers a better idea of what the atmosphere of the pub is like – and if they allow dogs!

Plus, the exterior picture will give your visitors a visual so that they can find you.

Most small businesses set up a Google Business Profile once and never touch it again, said Hoyle. Don’t just think of it as a one and done – your profile needs consistent care. Update contact and opening hours when necessary. Google will often say how long ago opening hours were updated and whether it was by the business themselves or a member of the public.

Avoid creating a single profile for multiple locations.

Have one dedicated page for each area you operate in. This means sidestepping duplicate content, too. Say you have different specials in different branches of your café, for instance, be sure to mention it so that diners aren’t disappointed.

“It reads better to a potential customer, checking whether you actually cover their local area,” Hoyle told Small Business.

For those who have any coding experience, LocalBusiness Schema Markup adds a snippet of code to your website to help search engines understand where your business is located, plus its’ offering and contact details. Google can pull these details out and highlight them in search if the searcher’s query demands them.

Review generation

It’s always best to encourage reviews from customers – Google reviews are the most widely known.

Businesses that offer a service may find that Trustpilot is a better option and, similarly, go with TripAdvisor if you’re in hospitality or tourism. In the event that they don’t answer your first request, you could send a follow-up email to remind customers to leave a review.

Reviews do more work than most owners give them credit for, said Hoyle. “Ask happy customers directly rather than hoping they’ll leave one unprompted. It’s one of the few ranking signals a small business can influence just by asking.”

It’s imperative that you respond to all reviews. If it is negative, try and offer solutions to the customer’s problem rather than dwell or get defensive.

This leaves the customer feeling happier and provides lessons for the future.

On the positive, having consistently good reviews tells search engines that you’re a valuable asset and you’ll rank higher.

As we’re thinking local here, splitting up your Google Business Profile to separate locations means you’ll have different sets of reviews. Having specific reviews for your branch will be more useful for potential customers as it will tell them more about that branch, for example, staff, ambience and proximity to public transport. If one outlet is weaker than another, it could give you an interesting insight as to why.

Geo-targeted content

If it’s relevant, write and post articles that apply to the local area. Say you’re a dog walker in the south side of Glasgow, it could be ‘X reasons why Queen’s Park is amazing for dogs’.

Avoid writing generic articles and merely swapping the location out, à la:

‘The best ice cream in Hackney’
‘The best ice cream in Muswell Hill’
‘The best ice cream in Farringdon’

While you’re writing, ensure that you’re using the keywords that your audience are looking for and answering questions that they’ll have. You don’t have to limit yourself here. It’s a competitive advantage to be imaginative. “Try to think of original subjects or different angles – subjects you’re knowledgeable about that others may not have written about,” said Sam Andrew, owner of Seven Limes Pottery.

He added that you should be driving traffic to your website in any way that can help your rankings. “That may be traffic from your social media content. You can also share your social media or blog content in social media groups and forums.

Treat your social media like a search engine using keywords, too. People are using them to search for things more these days,” he told Small Business.

Track what you’re doing by using Google Analytics. It’ll tell you how many people have visited your website, how long they’ve stayed on a page for and some demographic information.

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Local promo strategies

Get a sense of what people in your area are searching for. Tools such as Ahrefs and Semrush will tell you what searches they’re making.

This is called ‘search intent’. Search the key terms you want to rank for and see what comes up – it might even be your competitors. In this instance, find out how you can differentiate yourself.

Sometimes the situation will be more pressing, and their intent is on finding a ‘locksmith in Doncaster’ or ‘plumber in Swansea’. For businesses that offer urgent services, make sure these keywords are in your Google Business Profile, on your homepage and wherever your customers will find contact details and quote requests.

Linking strong intent keywords on relevant website pages will boost your search strength.

Now, onto connecting with other locals. Earn backlinks (links between one website and another) from other businesses and local news media, plus blogs or influencers. by getting in touch with them. With other businesses, you could do some mutual back scratching and backlink to each other’s websites.

If you’re a new business, you can shout out about partnerships in your local community and memberships you have with business groups you’re involved in, such as nearby Chambers of Commerce, to boost your authority and credibility. “Collaborate with local businesses and write about it on your blog,” said Andrew. “This can provide valuable backlinks from their site.”

Lastly, Hoyle reminded us not to ignore local coverage. “A mention in a regional paper or a local business feature is still a genuine trust signal to search engines, on top of whatever traffic it brings on its own.”