01 / Understand the difference

Local SEO is part of a wider search strategy

Local SEO helps people discover businesses that serve a particular place. It includes work on an eligible Google Business Profile, local business information and website pages that explain where a service is available. It can support visibility in Maps, local business results and location-related website searches.

“Traditional SEO” is an informal label for broader website SEO. Here, it means helping search engines discover and understand useful pages for an audience that may extend beyond one local area. That can include product searches, service research and questions from customers across Canada.

The two share foundations: accessible pages, clear information, sensible internal links and a usable website. Local SEO adds a stronger focus on the relationship between the business, the service and the searcher’s location.

Both people may use Google, but they need different information before contacting a business. Your plan should reflect those needs.

02 / Start with the customer

Decide how much location matters to the purchase

Ask where the customer must be for you to complete the sale or provide the service. If you travel to the customer or they visit your premises, local visibility will often be important. If the purchase can happen entirely online and delivery is available nationally, broader website visibility may deserve more attention.

Then consider what customers search for. Someone looking for an emergency plumber is usually making a different decision from someone researching accounting software. The first needs availability and a service area. The second may need features, compatibility, pricing information and a demonstration.

Review enquiries as well as search terms

Look at which services customers request, where they are located and how far along they are in their decision. These details help you assess whether a local or broader approach is reaching people you can serve.

Also inspect relevant search results as a planning aid. Note whether they show Maps, business listings, product pages or informational guides. Results vary by location and other factors, so a single search should not be treated as a complete picture of demand.

03 / When local work matters

Use local SEO when your service depends on place

Local SEO is often relevant to shops, restaurants, trades, professional practices and other businesses serving a defined area. Customers need accurate information about what you do, where you operate and how to visit or book.

The work may involve reviewing Business Profile details, choosing appropriate categories, keeping hours current and correcting important business listings. On the website, service and location pages should explain real availability and the steps involved in becoming a customer.

Google describes its local ranking factors in terms of relevance, distance and prominence. A useful profile and website can help communicate what the business offers. Distance still matters, and there is no way to pay Google for a better local ranking.

Keep expectations realistic

A local search plan should not promise the same Maps position to every person in a city. Searchers in different places can see different results. Reporting should consider the relevant area and the enquiries received, rather than presenting one favourable screenshot as proof of citywide visibility.

Our local SEO services page provides a starting point for discussing this work.

04 / Business Profile eligibility

Check whether a Business Profile fits your business

A Google Business Profile is not available to every type of business. Google’s eligibility guidance generally requires in-person customer contact during stated hours, subject to its specific rules and exceptions. Online-only businesses are generally ineligible.

Customers may visit an eligible storefront, or an eligible service-area business may travel to them. These are different operating arrangements, and the profile needs to represent the actual business.

For example, a plumber working from home may visit customers without receiving them at the home address. Google’s service-area guidance explains when an address should be hidden. Eligibility and setup should be checked before creating or changing a profile.

A postal address rented only to receive mail is not a shortcut to local eligibility. Google’s business representation guidelines address virtual offices and other location requirements. Use accurate information rather than creating an apparent presence in a place where the business does not operate.

05 / When website SEO leads

Use broader SEO when buyers can come from many places

Broader website SEO may be the main focus for an online retailer, software provider, specialist manufacturer or service delivered remotely. In these cases, the customer may choose the business for its offer rather than its proximity.

The priorities often include product and service page structure, clear specifications, useful buying guides, technical access and links between related pages. A national supplier may also need clear information about shipping, delivery coverage and support.

Explain availability without making repetitive city pages

Selling across Canada does not automatically mean you need a page for every city. Start with what changes for the customer. A genuine difference in service availability, delivery arrangements or local operations may justify a separate page. A city name inserted into otherwise identical text does little to answer a new question.

For example, a software provider offering the same remote service nationwide could explain its Canadian availability on the relevant service page. A separate page for each city would need a useful purpose beyond attracting another location query.

An SEO audit can help identify whether the main constraint is website access, unclear content or a mismatch between the pages and the customers being targeted.

06 / When you need both

Connect local and broader work around distinct customer needs

Some businesses have more than one way of serving customers. A retailer may welcome local shoppers and ship products across Canada. A consultancy may hold meetings in Edmonton while delivering projects remotely for clients elsewhere.

In these cases, the website needs to make both options clear. Local information should help someone visit, book or confirm the service area. Product and service pages should help other buyers understand whether they can purchase and how fulfilment works.

These are illustrative business situations, not client case studies. The right mix depends on the actual services and sales process. A local profile cannot replace a useful website, and a national content plan cannot correct inaccurate local opening hours.

07 / Choose your first project

Spend the first budget on a problem you can explain

If resources are limited, choose the part of the customer journey that is failing. A service business with incorrect opening hours may need local information corrected first. An online shop with inaccessible product pages may need technical work before new content.

Use these questions to choose an initial project:

• Where can the business realistically serve customers?
• Which service or product matters most right now?
• What do those customers need to know before buying?
• Can they find that information and complete the next step?
• What evidence will show whether the change helped?

Ask for a proposal that explains the work

A proposal should name the pages, profiles or technical issues involved and explain why they matter. It should also identify who will make changes, what access is needed and how progress will be reviewed.

Be cautious about packages justified only by a number of keywords, directory submissions or monthly blogs. Those quantities do not show whether the work addresses your customers’ needs. Google’s people-first content guidance supports evaluating the usefulness and quality of what is published.

08 / Review the right outcomes

Measure each part of the plan against its purpose

For local work, review relevant Business Profile activity, visits to local service pages and enquiries from the area you serve. For broader website work, review relevant search queries, landing pages, product or service enquiries and sales information where available.

Search Console can help explain website visibility and clicks from Google Search. Business Profile reporting and website analytics provide other views of activity. These reports use different measures, so avoid adding them together as though they describe unique customers.

Test the actions you record. A phone-link click does not prove a completed call, and a form submission may be spam or outside your service area. Ask the team handling enquiries whether the contacts fit the business.

Compare relevant time periods and account for seasonality, advertising and changes in service availability. Neither local nor broader SEO guarantees a particular ranking or a fixed number of leads. The useful question is whether the work is helping the intended customers find the information and take the next step.

09 / Common questions

Frequently asked questions