Local SEO for trades, one useful step at a time. Check the foundations.
Work through the technical, website and Google Business Profile checks that help nearby customers understand and find a trade business.
Complete the checks that match the real business.
Local visibility is not a single setting. It is the combined result of accurate business information, a useful website, genuine local evidence and a customer journey that works. Google describes local results mainly in terms of relevance, distance and prominence; no legitimate provider can buy or guarantee a better local ranking.
Tick items as you review them. The checklist does not send or store business information on the Nexus server.
Local SEO foundation score.
Technical
Website
Business Profile
Measurement
Maintenance
Use the official rules as the source of truth.
Prioritise the gap closest to a customer action.
If a page already earns impressions around a valuable service, improve its title, answer, proof and enquiry path before creating ten more pages. If profile information is wrong, correct that before posting weekly updates. If tracking is missing, establish the baseline before claiming the work succeeded.
Local SEO checklist questions
What should a trade business check first for local SEO?+
Confirm the real business information, preferred HTTPS domain, indexability of priority service pages, Google Business Profile eligibility and category, and whether calls and forms can be measured.
Do trades need a page for every town?+
No. A location page should exist only when it offers distinct, factual value about a service and area. Large sets of near-identical town pages can waste crawling and weaken overall site quality.
Can anyone guarantee a Google Maps ranking?+
No. Google describes local results mainly in terms of relevance, distance and prominence and says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
How often should local SEO information be reviewed?+
Important public information should be checked whenever it changes, with a simple monthly review of hours, services, contact details, profile edits, reviews, tracking and priority landing pages.