ARTICLE
Local SEO Basics Every Agency Should Know
The fundamentals of local SEO that every agency needs to master. NAP consistency, Google Business Profile, local schema, and citation building.
Mar 28, 20264 min readSEO FOR AGENCIES
Local SEO is how most small businesses get found
If your agency serves local businesses — dentists, law firms, plumbers, restaurants — then local SEO isn't optional. It's the primary way their customers find them.
When someone searches "dentist near me" or "plumber in Austin," Google serves three types of results: the map pack (3 local listings), organic results, and ads. The map pack gets 42% of clicks. Your clients need to be there.
The four pillars of local SEO
1. Google Business Profile (GBP)
Google Business Profile is the single most important local ranking factor. A fully optimized GBP listing is worth more than any on-page SEO work for local queries.
The essentials:
- Claim and verify the listing (if the client hasn't already)
- Complete every field: hours, services, categories, description, photos
- Add the primary keyword to the business description naturally
- Upload at least 10 high-quality photos (businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests)
- Respond to every review — positive and negative
- Post weekly updates (events, offers, news)
Common mistakes agencies fix:
- Wrong primary category (a "dental clinic" listed as "health service")
- Inconsistent hours between GBP and the website
- No service area defined for mobile businesses
- Missing attributes (wheelchair accessible, free WiFi, etc.)
2. NAP consistency
NAP — Name, Address, Phone number — must be identical everywhere your client appears online. Not similar. Identical.
Google cross-references NAP data across hundreds of sources. Inconsistencies signal unreliability and hurt local rankings.
What to check:
- Website header/footer
- Google Business Profile
- Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing Places
- Industry-specific directories
- Chamber of Commerce listings
- Old Yellowpages or Manta listings with outdated info
The most common NAP problem is a business that moved or changed phone numbers but never updated old directory listings. A single audit of their existing citations usually reveals 5–10 inconsistencies.
3. Local schema markup
Structured data helps Google understand your client's business information and display it in rich results. For local businesses, the key schema types are: