- Your Google Business Profile is where most local searches start, so keep it complete and active.
- Ask every customer for a review and reply to every one.
- Give each town you want work from its own page with real local details.
- Keep your name, address and phone number exactly the same everywhere online.
- Local SEO is ongoing. A little work every week beats a big push once a year.
Local SEO is how your business shows up when people nearby search for what you do, in the Google Maps results and the regular results below them. For a Lehigh Valley business, that means showing up when someone in Bethlehem, Allentown or Easton searches for your service. Here are five ways to improve it, starting with the one that matters most.
1. Keep your Google Business Profile complete and active
For many people, your Google Business Profile is the first thing they see. Wrong hours, old photos or a profile that hasn't been touched in months make them pick someone else.
- Choose the right primary category and add every relevant secondary category.
- List every service you offer, with a short description of each.
- Add new photos of real jobs regularly.
- Post updates, offers and recent projects.
- Double check your hours, phone number and address.
Small details matter. When one of our clients moved their profile to a listed address, it went from not ranking to #1 in its area. See the S3 Detailing case study.
2. Ask for reviews and reply to every one
Reviews help you rank, and they help people choose you once they find you. Recent reviews that mention your services and towns are the most useful.
- Ask every customer right after the job, while they're happy.
- Send a text with a direct link so it takes them seconds.
- Reply to every review, good or bad, in a friendly and professional way.
Automating this makes a big difference. Automated requests took one of our clients from 28 to 220 Google reviews. See the K&K Detailing case study.
3. Create a page for each town you serve
Google tends to show businesses that are close to the person searching. If your shop is in Bethlehem, you may rank well there and barely show up in Nazareth or Emmaus. A page on your website for each town you want work from helps you show up in more places.
- Write each page for that town, with real local details, projects and photos.
- Don't copy the same page and just swap the town name.
- Link your town pages to your service pages and back.
We do this on our own site, with pages for Bethlehem, Allentown, Easton and more.
4. Make sure your business info matches everywhere
Your name, address and phone number should be exactly the same on Google, Facebook, Yelp, Angi, the BBB and every other directory. Small differences, like an old phone number or a different suite number, make it harder for Google to trust your information.
- Pick one exact version of your name, address and phone number.
- Update every listing to match, including old ones you forgot about.
- Check again whenever you move or change your number.
5. Share content about your area
Posts and pages about real local work show Google and customers that you're active in the community.
- Share recent projects and the towns they were in.
- Write about local events, sponsorships and community work.
- Answer the questions your customers ask most, in plain language.
Bonus: make it a habit
Local SEO isn't a one time setup. The businesses that stay at the top keep doing the basics:
- Weekly: add job photos and a post to your Google profile, and reply to new reviews.
- Monthly: update your website with recent projects and check your rankings across your service area.
- Every few months: review your listings and add pages for any new services or towns.
Want a team to handle it? See our local SEO services or our case studies.
