For small businesses, Local SEO is the single most effective way to drive revenue. Unlike broad SEO, local search is driven by three distinct factors: Proximity, Relevance, and Prominence.
1. The Foundation: N.A.P. Consistency
N.A.P. stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. Google compares your data across the web to verify you are a real business.
- Audit your website footer, Google Business Profile, and social channels.
- Ensure they match exactly (e.g., don't use "St." on one and "Street" on another).
2. Technical Signals for Local Search
Your website must speak the language of location. This goes beyond just writing your city name.
- Local Schema: You must wrap your address in
LocalBusiness structured data. This tells Google explicitly where you are located. (Read our guide on Implementing Schema Markup).
- Location Pages: If you serve multiple cities, create unique pages for each. Do not duplicate content; include unique testimonials and staff details for each location.
3. Off-Page Authority
Citations (directory listings) still matter, but quality beats quantity. Focus on major aggregators (Yelp, YellowPages) and niche-specific directories. For broader SEO context, refer to our Beginner's Guide to SEO.
Managing Local Scale
Keeping N.A.P. consistent across dozens of pages can be tedious. Zyro monitors your local page health and alerts you to inconsistencies that could be hurting your "Map Pack" rankings.