You have a shop, a practice, or you offer services in your city — but you can't find yourself on Google? When potential customers search for "hairdresser Frankfurt" or "electrician near me," your competitors show up, but you don't?
Then it's time for local SEO. In this article, I'll show you step by step how to make sure your business appears at the top of Google Maps and local search results. No vague tips, but concrete actions you can implement right away.
What Is Local SEO, Exactly?
Before we get into the practical stuff, here's a quick rundown of the basics. When someone searches Google for a service or business combined with a location — for example "Italian restaurant Düsseldorf" or "roofer near me" — Google shows two different types of results:
The Local Pack (also called "Map Pack"): These are the 3 results with a map that appear at the very top of the search results. With business name, review stars, address, opening hours, and a direct link to Google Maps. That's the spot you want.
The organic results: The regular blue links below. You can rank better here too with local optimization.
Local SEO encompasses all the measures that help you rank as high as possible in both areas. It's a combination of Google Business Profile, your website, reviews, and external signals.
Why Local SEO Is Essential for Your Business
"Do I really need this?" — Yes. And here are the numbers to back it up:
46% of all Google searches have local intent. Almost every other search is looking for something nearby. "Restaurant near me," "locksmith Manchester," "best pizza in Chicago" — these are all local search queries.
76% of users who search locally visit a business within 24 hours. That's the power of local search: The search intent is extremely strong. Someone searching "emergency dentist Frankfurt" doesn't need convincing — they need a solution right now.
28% of local searches result in a purchase. Not a website visit — an actual purchase or booking. That's an incredibly high conversion rate.
And the crucial point: Mobile searches dominate. Over 60% of all local searches come from smartphones. Someone is standing on the street, searches "café near me," and walks into whatever Google shows them first. If you don't show up there, you don't exist for that person.
For local businesses — whether tradespeople, doctors, hairdressers, restaurants, lawyers, or retailers — local SEO is one of the most effective marketing channels there is. And compared to paid advertising, it's significantly cheaper in the long run.
Optimizing Google Business Profile: Your Most Important Lever
Your Google Business Profile (officially renamed from "Google My Business" in 2022) is the foundation for local SEO. Without an optimized profile, you won't appear in the Local Pack — it's that simple.
Fill Out Your Profile Completely
Google favors complete profiles. Fill in truly every field:
- Business name: Exactly as it appears on your signage and invoices. No keyword-stuffing tricks like "Smith Electric — Best Cheapest Electrician Frankfurt."
- Category: Choose the most specific primary category that fits your business. "Italian restaurant" is better than just "restaurant." You can also add secondary categories.
- Address and service area: If you have a physical location, enter the address. If you travel to customers (e.g., as a tradesperson), define your service area.
- Opening hours: Keep them up to date at all times. Include holidays and special hours too. Nothing is more frustrating than standing in front of a closed door.
- Phone number and website: Your local phone number (not a toll-free number) and the link to your website.
- Description: 750 characters to describe your business. Use relevant keywords naturally — "We are a family-run Italian restaurant in the heart of Düsseldorf" rather than "Restaurant Düsseldorf Italian cheap food eat."
Upload Photos and Videos
Profiles with photos receive 42% more direction requests and 35% more clicks to the website than profiles without photos. That's not a marketing trick — that's Google's own data.
Upload regularly:
- Exterior view of your business (helps customers find you)
- Interior and workspace
- Your team at work
- Products or results of your service
- Logo and cover photo
Quality matters: Use real photos, not stock images. The photos don't need to be from a professional photographer — but they should be bright, sharp, and authentic.
Use Google Posts
Google Business Profile has a posting feature that hardly anyone uses — and that's exactly your opportunity. You can post news, offers, events, and updates that appear directly in your Google profile.
Post at least once a week. This signals to Google: "This business is active." And active profiles get shown preferentially.
NAP Consistency: A Detail Many Overlook
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone — and consistency means: These three details must be identical everywhere. On your website, in your Google profile, in business directories, on social media, and everywhere else your business is mentioned.
Why is this so important? Google verifies your information across multiple sources. If your website says "123 Main Street," Google says "123 Main St," and the business directory says "123 Main Street, Suite A" — then Google gets confused. And a confused Google ranks you lower.
What this means specifically:
- Business name spelling: always the same (including legal entity type)
- Address: always the same format (spell out "Street" or abbreviate — but be consistent)
- Phone number: always the same format (e.g., always with area code)
Tip: Create a document with your exact NAP data. Every time you set up a profile somewhere, copy the data from it. No typos, no variations.
Using Local Keywords on Your Website
Your website is the second most important pillar for local SEO — right after Google Business Profile. And this is where many people make a crucial mistake: They optimize their website for generic keywords instead of local ones.
The Problem with Generic Keywords
If you work as a web designer in Frankfurt and only optimize your website for "web design," you're competing with thousands of web designers across the entire country. But if you optimize for "web design Frankfurt," the competition is significantly smaller — and the search intent is much more relevant.
Where Local Keywords Belong
Title Tags: The most important on-page factor. Instead of "Web Design — Professional Websites" go with: "Web Design Frankfurt — Professional Websites | YB Digital"
H1 Heading: Your page's main heading should contain your local keyword. "Web Design in Frankfurt — Professional Websites for Your Business"
Meta Description: The description in search results. Your location belongs here so searchers immediately see that you're local.
Content: Naturally incorporated into your text. Not forced, but where it makes sense. "As a web designer in Frankfurt, I work with local businesses" sounds natural. "Web design Frankfurt web designer Frankfurt best web design agency Frankfurt" is spam.
URLs: /web-design-frankfurt is better than /service-1
Image Alt Text: "Web design project for café in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen" instead of "image1.jpg"
If you want to know which SEO mistakes your website might have, check out my article 5 Website Mistakes That Drive Visitors Away — point 5 covers missing SEO fundamentals specifically.
Collecting Reviews: Your Strongest Trust Signal
Google reviews are one of the most important ranking factors for local SEO. But they're more than just that — they're the first thing potential customers see when they find your profile.
87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. And the star rating often determines whether someone clicks on your profile or your competitor's.
How to Actively Get Reviews
Just ask. Sounds obvious, but most satisfied customers don't leave a review simply because they don't think about it. A friendly "If you were happy with the service, I'd really appreciate a Google review" after completing a job works wonders.
Make it easy: Create a direct link to your Google review profile and send it via email or message. The fewer clicks needed, the more likely you'll get a review.
The right timing: Ask right after a positive experience. At the hairdresser: right after the cut. For a tradesperson: when the customer sees the result and is happy. At a restaurant: when the guest is paying.
Respond to every review. Yes, even positive ones. A quick "Thank you so much, I'm glad to hear that! See you next time" shows that you value customer feedback.
Dealing with Negative Reviews
Negative reviews happen. Even to the best businesses. What matters is how you respond:
- Stay calm. Never respond in the heat of the moment.
- Reply professionally and kindly. Thank them for the feedback, show understanding, and offer a solution.
- Resolve it offline. "I'm sorry you had this experience. Please contact me at [phone number] so we can sort this out personally."
- Don't try to get it deleted (unless it's obviously fake or abusive). A profile with nothing but 5-star reviews looks suspicious.
A business with 4.5 stars and 80 reviews looks more trustworthy than one with 5.0 stars and 3 reviews.
Building Local Backlinks
Backlinks — links from other websites to yours — are also an important ranking factor for local SEO. But with local SEO, it's not about just any backlinks — it's about local backlinks.
Register in Business Directories
List your business in relevant directories. The most important ones for your region:
- Yelp (yelp.com)
- Better Business Bureau (bbb.org)
- Yellow Pages (yellowpages.com)
- Industry-specific directories (e.g., Healthgrades for doctors, Angi for home services)
- Your local Chamber of Commerce directory
Important: Pay attention to NAP consistency (see above). Same data everywhere.
Leverage Local Partnerships
Are there local businesses you work with? Ask them for a mention or link on their website. "Our website was built by [your business]" is a perfect, natural backlink.
Local Press and Events
Local newspapers and blogs are gold for local SEO. Do you have something newsworthy? A grand opening, an anniversary, a special project, community involvement? Write a press release and send it to local editors.
Sponsor local events or organizations — you'll often get a link on the event website or the organization's page.
Schema Markup: Explaining Your Business to Google
Schema markup (also called "structured data") is code you add to your website to tell Google exactly what your business is. It's like a fact sheet in a language Google understands.
For local businesses, the LocalBusiness schema is relevant. With it, you can tell Google in a structured way:
- Business name and description
- Address and geo-coordinates
- Opening hours
- Phone number and email
- Price range
- Reviews
A simplified example:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Example LLC",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main Street",
"addressLocality": "Frankfurt am Main",
"postalCode": "60311",
"addressCountry": "DE"
},
"telephone": "+49 69 12345678",
"openingHoursSpecification": [
{
"@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
"dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
"opens": "09:00",
"closes": "18:00"
}
]
}
Why this matters: Websites with structured data have better chances of getting rich snippets in search results — the enhanced displays with stars, opening hours, and more. This massively increases click-through rates.
If this sounds too technical: With my website projects, schema markup is always included. It's part of the SEO fundamentals that every professional website should have.
Your Local SEO Checklist
So you can get started right away, here's a checklist with all the important actions. Work through it point by point:
Google Business Profile
- Profile created and verified
- Business name entered correctly (no keyword tricks)
- Most specific category chosen + secondary categories
- Complete address and/or service area
- Opening hours up to date (including holidays)
- Local phone number entered
- Website linked
- Description filled out with relevant keywords
- At least 10 high-quality photos uploaded
- Regularly publishing Google Posts (at least 1x/week)
Website
- Local keywords in title tags, H1, meta descriptions
- NAP data in the footer (visible on every page)
- LocalBusiness schema markup implemented
- Location page created (if multiple locations)
- Mobile-optimized and fast (under 3 seconds load time)
- Google Maps embedded on the contact page
- Internal linking between relevant pages
Reviews
- Process for active review management set up
- Direct link to Google review created
- Responded to all existing reviews
- System for regularly asking satisfied customers for reviews
External Signals
- Listed in at least 5 relevant business directories
- NAP consistency checked across all platforms
- At least 2-3 local backlinks built
- Social media profiles set up with correct data
Conclusion: Local SEO Isn't Rocket Science
Local SEO sounds like a lot of work — and yes, there's quite a bit to do. But the good news: You don't need to be an SEO expert to get the basics right. A complete Google Business Profile, an optimized website, and a handful of reviews will often put you ahead of 80% of your local competition.
The most important tip: Just start. Set up your Google Business Profile (or optimize it), ask your next 5 satisfied customers for a review, and check whether your website contains local keywords. That takes a few hours — and the impact can be enormous.
And remember: Local SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Results don't come overnight, but they're sustainable. While paid Google ads stop working the moment you stop paying, good local SEO delivers free visibility for the long haul.
If you want your website to be optimized for local searches from day one — from technical fundamentals to schema markup to content strategy — let's talk about it. I'll help you get visible on Google in your city.
More articles you might find interesting:
- How Much Does a Website Cost? — Realistic prices for your website project
- 5 Website Mistakes That Drive Visitors Away — Avoid these common mistakes
- Hiring a Web Designer: What to Consider — How to find the right web designer