Marketing and presence
Getting found locally
How do you show up when people nearby search for what you do?
Six short steps. No email or account.
- Who needs it
- Any business serving a geographic area: trades, home services, local professionals.
- When it matters
- Immediately. The free listing is the highest-return marketing action most local businesses can take.
- Compare first
- What you can do free
- Matters most when
- just started, established, growing, mature
Is this the right tool for you?
Many local customers start with a search or a map, and pick from the businesses they see first. If your business listings are incomplete or inconsistent and your website says little about your services and area, you are invisible to people ready to hire.
Signs you need it now
- Searching your service and town does not show your business.
- Your name, address, phone or hours differ between online listings.
- You have never claimed or completed your business profiles.
- Competitors with less experience appear ahead of you.
When another area fits better
- You need enquiries this week and cannot wait for organic results to build. Read the paid advertising guide
- The weak point is the number and freshness of your reviews. Read the reviews and reputation guide
Recognise two or more of these? Sort out getting found locally next.
Tell us how your business runs and get a plan that puts getting found locally in order with everything else: what to set up first, your must-haves and what to compare.
What matters at your size
Working alone
Claim and complete your main business profiles, keep details identical everywhere, add photos and ask customers for reviews. Much of this is free and takes a few hours.
A small team
A page per service and area you cover, regular updates to your profiles and a steady flow of reviews. Consider a listing tool or local specialist if time is short.
Several teams or locations
Multiple locations each need their own accurate listings and pages. Central management of listings and reporting by location becomes worth paying for.
How the way you work changes the choice
- Trades that travel to customers
- Service-area businesses can list the areas they cover without showing a home address. Check the rules for service-area listings when you set up.
- Shops and offices with a storefront
- Accurate address, hours, holiday hours and photos of the premises matter most; people check before they visit.
- Professional firms
- Specialty and credentials drive searches. Pages that answer common client questions and a complete profile carry weight.
What to compare
What you can do free
Claiming and maintaining your own profile costs nothing. Understand that before paying.
Listing consistency
Inconsistent name, address and phone data across directories suppresses ranking.
Reporting honesty
Be wary of services reporting rankings without showing enquiries.
Cost and setup effort
- The core work of claiming and completing profiles costs nothing but time. Paid tools mainly save time managing many listings or locations.
- Agencies and consultants are usually on monthly retainers; ask exactly what they will do each month and how you will see it.
- Results build over months, not days. Judge progress on enquiries, not promises of rankings.
Trade-offs to weigh
- Do it yourself or hire a specialist
- The basics are learnable and cheap to do yourself; a specialist helps in competitive markets but you should still own every account.
- Organic or paid
- Organic visibility is slow to build but keeps working; paid visibility is immediate but stops the day you stop paying.
When to sort it out
Immediately. The free listing is the highest-return marketing action most local businesses can take.
Your next step
Answer six short questions about how your business runs. You get an operating plan: where getting found locally fits among your priorities, the must-haves to hold every option to, and what to compare when you choose.
Where this comes first
Trades and businesses that usually sort this out early.
Often decided alongside
Other parts of marketing and presence.