Local SEO and Google Business Profile: how to get found in your own region

Anyone who types “plumber near me” or “hairdresser Terneuzen” gets a map with three businesses and ordinary search results below it. For local businesses that map is often worth more than the rest of the page. Local SEO is the set of measures that gets you into those results. It comes down to two things: a well-configured Google Business Profile and a website that makes clear what you do and where. Below we explain how it works, based on Google's own guidelines.

How does Google rank local results?

In its help page on local rankings Google names three factors: relevance (does your profile match what someone is searching for?), distance (how close are you to the searcher's location or the place named in the search?) and prominence (how well known is your business, partly from information across the web and from reviews?). You cannot influence distance, but you can influence relevance and prominence. Google explicitly adds that you cannot pay for a better position: local results are not determined by ads.

Step 1: create and verify a Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is free. Verification tells Google you are authorised to represent the business, and according to Google a verified profile is more likely to appear in results. How you verify (for example by video, phone or email) differs per business; Google only shows the options available to you.

Step 2: follow the guidelines

Profiles that violate the guidelines can be edited or suspended. The key rules from Google's guidelines:

• Name: use the name your business is known by in the real world, on your signage, stationery and other branding. Do not add keywords or slogans to rank higher.
• Address or service area: be accurate. If you do not serve customers at your address, for example as a plumber, cleaner or contractor, you set a service area and hide the address.
• Categories: choose the primary category that best describes your business and only add secondary categories if they are true. Google advises choosing as few categories as possible.
• One profile per location: do not create duplicate profiles for the same business. A service-area business may have one profile for the entire area.

Service area or storefront?

Google distinguishes between a service-area business (you go to the customer, like a painter), a business with a storefront and a hybrid business (customers come to you and you go to customers, like a hairdresser who also makes house calls). If customers do not come to your address, you remove the address from your profile. You set a service area using towns or postcode areas, not a long list of every village in the province: choose where you really work.

Step 3: complete your profile, honestly

According to Google, businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in local results. At minimum, check:

1. Opening hours, including different hours around public holidays.
2. Phone number and website, linking to a page that really belongs to the profile.
3. Services or products, with short descriptions in plain language.
4. Photos of the real business: premises, team, work. No stock photos.
5. A business description that says what you do and for whom, without exaggeration.

Step 4: reviews, without tricks

Reviews contribute to how well known and credible your business appears. Ask satisfied customers for a review, for example with a direct link after finishing a job. Respond to all reviews, including critical ones: politely, briefly and factually. Do not buy reviews, do not offer discounts in exchange for positive reviews and do not write them yourself; that goes against Google's policies and damages trust if it comes out.

Step 5: make your website clearly local

Your profile and website reinforce each other. At minimum put on your site:

• Your business name, address (or service area) and phone number, exactly as in your profile. Different spellings cause confusion.
• One page per service, with a clear title and a short explanation, so Google and visitors know what that page is about.
• A contact page with directions or a map and opening hours.
• Examples of real work from the region, with the customer's permission.
• Structured data (schema.org LocalBusiness) that makes the same information machine-readable. Google notes that this markup is only valid if it matches what visitors see on the page.

In its SEO starter guide Google stresses that search engines are mainly helped by clear, useful content for people. A page full of place names with no substance is not local SEO, it is noise.

Common mistakes

• Keywords in the business name. A clear risk of suspension.
• A PO box or virtual office as the address. A profile belongs to a location where you actually work or operate from.
• Outdated opening hours. Customers standing at a closed door leave a bad review.
• Forgetting to update after a move or name change. Change your profile, website and other listings at the same time.
• Ignoring questions and messages. A quick reply is often the difference between an enquiry and a lost customer.

What to realistically expect

Local SEO is not a switch. A new profile needs time to build up and competitors in your region are working on it too. What you do control: a correct, complete profile, honest reviews and a website that offers the same details and clear service pages. That is not a promise of a top position, but it is the foundation Google itself points to.

In conclusion

Want your website and Google profile to work together? At CUBO Agency we build websites with clear service pages and the right local details. If you also need help with ads, see our Google Ads service or read Google Ads for local businesses. For honest advice, book a free intro call.

Sources

Reviewed on 28 October 2026 against the sources below. Rules and guidelines change; this article is general information, not legal or tax advice.

• Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (Google Business Profile Help)
• Guidelines for representing your business on Google (Google Business Profile Help)
• Manage your service areas for service-area and hybrid businesses (Google Business Profile Help)
• Local business structured data (Google Search Central)
• SEO Starter Guide (Google Search Central)

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