When someone needs a plumber, courier, electrician, cleaner, landscaper or any other local service, there’s a good chance their search starts online.
And when they’re ready to buy, you want your business to be one of the first names they find.
The good news is that improving your local visibility doesn’t necessarily mean spending more on advertising or becoming a marketing expert. A few simple changes make it easier for potential customers to understand what you do, where you work and why they should choose you.
So, if marketing has been sitting near the bottom of your to-do list, try these three quick wins to see the difference getting it right could make.
1. Give your Google Business Profile a 10-minute MOT
Think about the last time you searched online for a local business.
You probably wanted the basics fast. To know if they’re nearby and open, whether they do their job well and how to contact them if the reviews are good?
That’s exactly the information your customers are looking for too. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in relevant local search results, so start by checking your Business Profile and making sure nothing is out of date.
Look at your:
- Business name
- Phone number and website
- Address or service area
- Opening hours
- Business category
- Services
- Photos
Pay particular attention to opening hours. Bank holidays, seasonal changes or simply forgetting to update an old timetable can leave customers wondering whether you’re actually available.
Your business category matters too. Google recommends choosing the most specific primary category that accurately describes what you do, rather than trying to cover everything with something vague.
Quick win: Search for your own business as if you were a customer. If anything looks wrong, unclear or out of date, fix that first.
2. Make it obvious what you do and where you do it
You know your business inside out but potential customers don’t. If someone lands on your website or Business Profile, they shouldn’t have to dig around to work out whether you can help them.
Be specific. So “Quality services at competitive prices” might sound professional, but it tells a customer very little” while “Commercial electrician covering Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield” is immediately more useful.
Whether you work from a shop, office or workshop or travel to customers, the same same principle applies. Clearly stating your main services and the locations you cover makes it easier for people to decide whether your business is relevant to what they need.
It can also help search engines make that connection. Google says local results are mainly determined by relevance, distance and prominence, with complete business information helping it understand how closely a business matches a search.
If you travel to customers rather than serving them from a public shopfront, check that the service area on your Business Profile accurately reflects where you operate.
Quick win: Read the first few lines of your website homepage and Business Profile. Can somebody tell what you do and where you do it within seconds? If not, rewrite them.
3. Put your happy customers to work
Recommendations have always mattered to small businesses. Online reviews are simply word of mouth in a place everyone can see.
A steady flow of genuine reviews gives potential customers reassurance before they pick up the phone, while responding to reviews shows that there’s a real business and real people behind the profile.
Google also says that more reviews and positive ratings can contribute to a business’s prominence in local search results.
The easiest way to get more reviews
You don’t need a complicated campaign. Once you’ve completed a job or helped a happy customer, send a quick message thanking them for their business and asking whether they’d be willing to leave a review.
And don’t disappear once the review arrives.
Respond to the good ones as well as the occasional not-so-good one. A simple thank you shows customers you’re paying attention, while a calm, useful response to criticism can tell future customers almost as much about your business as a five-star rating.
Quick win: Pick three satisfied customers you’ve worked with recently and ask them for a review today.
Small changes, easier to find
Getting noticed locally doesn’t have to mean throwing money at advertising.
Start with the basics: keep your business details accurate, make what you offer unmistakably clear and encourage happy customers to share their experience.
None of those jobs needs to take long, but together, they can make it much easier for the next person searching locally to find the business they were looking for. Yours.
