Local SEO for Businesses: how to get found on Google in your city

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the set of activities aimed at improving a website’s visibility in Google’s organic search results. When we talk about local SEO, the focus becomes more specific: it’s not about ranking for millions of users worldwide, but about reaching the right people in a specific geographic area.

A clothing store in Conegliano has no interest in appearing in searches made by someone in Milan. Instead, it has every interest in showing up among the top results when a customer in Conegliano, Susegana, or nearby towns searches for “women’s clothing Conegliano” or simply “clothing store near me.”

When you perform a search with local intent, Google often displays a special box called the Local Pack (or Map Pack) even before the standard organic results: three business listings with ratings, address, hours, and a link to the website. That position is pure gold.

Unlike traditional advertising, local SEO reaches people at the exact moment they are looking for what you offer.

If there’s one thing you can do today to improve your local visibility, it’s optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business. It’s free, managed directly by Google, and feeds directly into the Local Pack and Google Maps.

How to create or claim your profile:
Go to business.google.com, search for your business name, and check if a profile already exists (Google often creates one automatically from public data). If it exists, claim it as the owner. If it doesn’t, create it from scratch. Verification is usually done via postcard, phone call, or video.

Google reviews, along with optimizing your GBP profile, are the factors that most influence both your ranking in the Local Pack and potential customers’ purchasing decisions. Not managing them strategically is one of the costliest mistakes a local business can make.

Google uses reviews as a signal of authority and local relevance. In particular, it considers:

• Total number of reviews: the more (quality) reviews you have, the stronger the signal Google receives.
• Average rating (stars): directly impacts users’ click-through rate.
• Frequency and recency: recent and consistently posted reviews signal an active business.
• Keywords in the text: customers who mention specific services or the city help improve ranking for those keywords.

So it’s not about buying reviews (a practice prohibited by Google and counterproductive), but about making it simple and natural for your satisfied customers to leave a testimonial.

Google Business Profile is essential, but it’s not enough on its own. Your website remains the central hub of your digital presence and must be optimized to capture local searches in a consistent and structured way.

Here are some useful tips:

• Consistent NAP: Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) must be identical on your website, GBP profile, and all directories. Even small variations (“Via” vs. “V.le”) can confuse Google. Include the NAP in text format in the footer of every page and on the Contact page.
• Mobile-first: Over 60% of local searches are done on mobile devices. A slow or non-optimized site negatively affects both ranking (Google penalizes slow sites) and conversions (users abandon pages if they wait more than 3 seconds).
• Localized service pages: If your business serves multiple towns or areas, consider creating dedicated pages for each geographic location.

No marketing activity, digital or traditional, should be carried out without measuring its results—and local SEO is no exception. Monitoring the data allows you to understand what works, what needs improvement, and where to focus your resources.

Some essential and free tools:

• Google Search Console: shows which keywords your site appears for on Google, how many impressions and clicks it receives, and its average position.
• Google Analytics 4: analyzes organic traffic to your site, user behavior, and the geographic origin of visitors.
• Google Business Profile Insights: the GBP dashboard provides key data on your profile’s performance.
• Google Maps Rank Tracker: checks the position of your GBP listing in local searches from different points in the city.

Being on Google isn’t a matter of luck. It’s the result of strategic, ongoing, data-driven work. Local businesses that invest in local SEO today are building a competitive advantage that becomes increasingly difficult for those who stay idle to catch up with.