When someone searches for “dentist city centre” or “plumber Tartu”, Google often shows a map with three businesses at the top. For many local companies that is where most new clients come from. The good news: you don’t have to be the biggest or the oldest to get there, just the best described and most trustworthy.
What drives local rankings
Google weighs three things in local search:
- relevance: how well your profile and website match the search;
- distance: how close you are to the searcher or searched area;
- prominence: reviews, mentions and overall activity.
You can’t change distance, but you can change relevance and prominence. That is what these steps are about.
1. Complete your Business Profile
With an incomplete profile, Google often prefers a competitor. Make sure you have:
- the right primary category (e.g. “Dental clinic”, not just “Health”) plus a few secondary ones;
- services with short descriptions;
- opening hours, including holidays;
- real photos: premises, team, completed work;
- a website link and phone number that match your website.
Post occasionally: a new service, an offer or recent work. It shows the business is active.
2. Collect reviews systematically
Reviews are one of the strongest local signals and they also decide whether someone calls you. Most happy clients will write one if asked and it’s easy.
- After a job, send a short message with a direct link to the review page.
- Reply to every review, including negative ones, calmly and specifically.
- Don’t buy reviews or trade them for discounts: it breaks Google’s rules.
3. Make your website strong for local search
The map and your website support each other. Your website should have:
- separate service pages for each main service;
- area pages only for towns or districts where you really operate, with real content, not one template;
- your business name, address and phone identical everywhere;
- a fast mobile view, because most local searches happen on phones.
4. Measure what brings calls
Your Business Profile shows how many calls, direction requests and website visits it brought. Check these once a month. If calls grow, you’re on the right track. If not, revisit categories, photos and reviews.
In short
Local SEO isn’t a quick trick but solid groundwork: a complete profile, steady reviews and a website that clearly says what you offer and where. If you’d like us to look at your profile and website, ask us about local SEO or read more on local SEO and Google Maps.