HARBOR TREE · Field Guide No. 01

The Local SEO
Checklist that actually moves the needle.

Twenty-two specific actions any local service business can take in an afternoon. No fluff, no theory — just the things we configure on every site we build.

Want help? Book a call →

01Google Business Profile

Your single highest-ROI local SEO asset. Get this perfect first.

Claim and verify your profile.Search "google business profile" while signed in to your business email.
Use a complete, accurate business name.No keyword stuffing — "Joe's Auto Repair" not "Joe's Best Cheap Auto Repair Essex MD."
Pick the most specific primary category."Auto Repair Shop" beats "Auto Body Shop" if 80% of revenue is mechanical.
Add every service you offer as a service item.Each one becomes a discoverable surface in Maps results.
Set hours including holidays.Wrong hours = the #1 review complaint and a Google ranking penalty.
Upload 10+ real photos of work, team, and storefront.Stock photos hurt rankings. Real photos lift CTR by 35–40%.

02NAP Consistency

Name, Address, Phone — identical everywhere Google can crawl.

Decide your canonical NAP format."123 Main St, Suite B" vs "123 Main Street #B" — pick one and use it everywhere.
Audit existing citations.Check Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yellow Pages — fix mismatches.
Embed NAP in your site footer + contact page.Plain text only — never inside an image.
Add LocalBusiness schema.org markup.JSON-LD in your <head>. Tell Google explicitly what you are.

03Reviews

Quantity, recency, and response rate all rank.

Build a one-tap review link.Use Google's "share review form" link — paste it on receipts, in SMS, in email signatures.
Ask every happy customer at the moment of delight.The day-of, not a week later. Conversion drops by half within 72 hours.
Respond to every review within 48 hours.Yes, even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones.
Automate the ask.SMS or email triggered when work is marked complete. We build this.

04On-Site Local Signals

Your website should feel obviously, specifically local.

One landing page per service area."Auto Repair in Dundalk", "Auto Repair in Essex" — distinct, useful, not duplicate content.
Use city + service in <title> and H1."Trusted Auto Repair in Essex, MD — Joe's Auto" beats "Welcome to Joe's."
Embed a real Google Map of your location.Iframe to Google Maps with your exact business pinned.
Photos of jobs in identifiable local locations.Houses, streets, landmarks customers will recognize.

05Technical Foundations

Boring but mandatory.