Local SEO is the work that makes people nearby find you when they search for what you do: “hairdresser Turnhout”, “baker Beerse”, “physiotherapist Geel”. In a small town there are fewer businesses to compete with than in a big city, but the reflex to build a separate page for every town often backfires. Below is what Google itself says, and what it means in practice.
Why does one business show up on the map and another not?
For a local search, Google usually shows a map with a few businesses first. According to Google’s help page, those results are decided by three things:
- Relevance: how well your profile matches what was searched for.
- Distance: how far your business is from the person searching. If that person does not share their location, Google estimates it.
- Prominence: how well known your business is. Links from other websites and the number of reviews count.
Google also writes: “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.” And businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in local results. You cannot change distance, not even in Beerse or Geel. You can change the other two, and the rest of this guide is about that. The Business Profile itself is covered step by step in the Google Business Profile guide.
Why must my name, address and phone number be the same everywhere?
Because your customers come across them everywhere, and because, according to Google, businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in local results. Someone who finds an outdated number in a directory calls a number nobody answers any more.
Start with Google itself. It asks that your name reflects “the real-world name of your business”, as it appears on your shopfront and website. Adding slogans, services or place names to the name (“Hair Salon Anna, best hairdresser Turnhout”) is not allowed and can get the profile suspended. The address must be precise, and the phone number must connect directly to your business and be under your own control.
Then pick one way of writing your details and use it everywhere. The same name, the same address with the same abbreviations, the same number with the same leading zero or country code. Where do you enter them?
- Gouden Gids, a Belgian business directory with free registration for businesses.
- Trustlocal, a Flemish platform where people compare local services and where you can add your business.
- Apple Business, formerly Apple Business Connect: this is where you claim your place on Apple Maps and manage opening hours, photos and other details.
- Bing Places, for Bing and Bing Maps.
- Facebook: your page also shows an address and a phone number.
The differences are usually in the details: an old number, a street written another way, a name with or without “bvba”. It is dull work, but you only do it once.
On your own website, it is also best to give the same details as structured data (the LocalBusiness type), with a phone number that includes the country code and area code.
Do I need a separate page for every town?
Only if you have something real to say about that town. Google calls the other approach “doorway abuse”: pages made to rank for specific, similar searches that lead visitors to intermediate pages less useful than the final destination. As an example, Google gives creating multiple domain names or pages targeted at particular regions or cities that funnel users to one page. Sites that break the rules may rank lower or not appear at all.
A plumber who makes ten pages, “plumber Geel”, “plumber Beerse”, “plumber Vosselaar”, with the same text and only the place name changed, is doing exactly that. A page about Beerse does make sense when it contains something that is only true for Beerse:
- that you work there, on which jobs or for which clients, and what you have already done;
- how far you travel, how quickly you can be there and on which days;
- a real address, a real route or a photo of your own work there;
- questions that people from that town actually ask.
One test comes from Google itself: would the content be useful to someone who came directly to your site? If you write a page mainly to attract visits from search engines, you probably do not need it. If you have nothing special to say about a town, simply list it among the places where you work, on one page.
How important are reviews?
They are the most visible part of your prominence. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can improve your local ranking, and that positive reviews and helpful replies can help you stand out. So answer every review, briefly and politely.
Ask happy customers for a review, but never offer anything in return. Under Google’s policy, offering payment, discounts or free goods or services in exchange for a review is not allowed. Such reviews are removed, and in cases of abuse Google can suspend account privileges or terminate the account.
Does my website need to be fast?
Yes, but do not overrate it. Google says its ranking systems use Core Web Vitals, and that there is no single signal. It also says it always aims to show the most relevant content, even when the page experience is poorer. According to Google, a good experience can help when many pages are similarly relevant.
The thresholds Google calls “good”: the largest content appears within 2.5 seconds (LCP), the page responds to a tap within 200 milliseconds (INP), and the layout shifts by no more than 0.1 (CLS). Google measures this at the 75th percentile of page visits, separately for mobile and desktop. So check your site on a mobile, not only at your desk.
What can I do this month?
- Search for your business on Google, Apple Maps and Bing, and note where the name, address or number differ.
- Correct everything to one way of writing it, starting with your Google Business Profile.
- Ask happy customers for a review and answer the existing ones.
- Check your site on a mobile.
- Make a page for a town only if you really have something to say about it.
Nobody can promise you a position on the basis of this. What you can do is make sure that what Google and your customers see is correct. The guide to SEO explains how this fits with the rest of your site.
How does Ovrick handle this?
I start with the free SEO check: for businesses in Belgium, checked by me, with an answer within three working days. It is a one-page PDF covering your Google Business Profile, your reviews compared with those of your three nearest competitors, your site’s speed and technical basics, and your presence in AI answers. The Business Profile Fix then puts your Google Business Profile right and makes your name, address and phone number identical in the five main directories: Gouden Gids, Trustlocal, Apple Business, Bing Places and Facebook. On Orbit and Cargo that is already in the price. The pricing page shows what each plan includes.