You have a website and a Google Business Profile, yet your business doesn't show up when someone nearby looks for what you do. Often your pages don't make clear what your business offers and where. This article covers how to rank a local business website, with local SEO best practices for small businesses in Spain and examples from Valencia, Alicante, Elche and Elda. For local SEO in general, see our guide to local SEO for freelancers.
How does Google choose local search results?
Google ranks local search results based mainly on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. You can't change distance, but your Google Business Profile and your pages influence the other two; improving them is what local SEO is about:
- Relevance: how relevant a business is to what someone is looking for. Complete, accurate information about your products or services makes that clear.
- Distance: how far your business is from the searcher, or from the location named in the query, such as “electrician Elche”.
- Prominence: how well known your business is, based on reviews, links, articles, directories and how your pages rank in organic search. SEO best practices help your local rankings and online visibility.
The Local Pack and the organic results
For many local searches, Google displays a Local Pack near the top: a few businesses with a map, with the organic results below.
Your Business Profile can appear in the Local Pack and on Google Maps, and your pages in the organic listings below it.
Align your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile helps customers find you on Google Maps and in local search results; your website gives them complete information about what you do and a way to get in touch.
Together they shape your online presence and visibility, and for local SEO both should tell the same story.
Link them to each other
- Add your website address to your Business Profile.
- On your contact page, link to your profile to help visitors read your reviews.
- With multiple locations, point each listing to the matching location page.
Consistency matters too: your brand name, categories, opening hours and products or services should match. A plumber whose profile says “Plumber” but whose homepage says “integral home solutions” sends mixed signals.
Google's own advice for profiles says the same. Businesses with a full, up-to-date profile are more likely to appear when customers nearby look for what you do, and verification makes that more likely too. Provide information like your category, phone and the times people can visit, including special dates such as holidays, plus attributes, for example parking or Wi-Fi. Replying to what people write tells them you value their feedback.
Many local businesses update one and forget the other; see our tips to optimise your Google Business Profile.
Choose the right local keywords
Local keywords are what customers type in a local search: usually what you do plus a place, such as “plumber Elche” or “bathroom renovation Valencia”. They help new customers and search engines understand what your business does and where, and they're the foundation of your local SEO strategy.
How people look for businesses locally
- What you do plus a town: “electrician Alicante”, “locksmith Elda”.
- “Near me” searches, where Google uses the searcher's location.
- Questions: “how much does a new bathroom cost in Valencia?”
- Other languages: your target audience may search in Spanish (“fontanero Elche”) or Valencian.
- Related searches at the bottom of the search results.
One keyword to target per key page
Create a list of local keywords, then give each important page a relevant main keyword: the homepage for your main trade and town, then one per type of job or town.
Use specific terms that best describe the job, such as “boiler repair” rather than “heating solutions”. For a complete method, read how to choose local keywords.
On-page local SEO
On-page SEO covers the elements you control on your pages; for local SEO, each element should include what you offer and where. Here is an example for a plumbing business in Elche:
| Element | What to include | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Title tag | What you do, the town and your brand name | Emergency plumber in Elche | [Business name] |
| Meta description | What you offer, where and a reason to click | Leak and drain repairs in Elche. Call or WhatsApp us. |
| H1 heading | The main keyword | Emergency plumber in Elche |
| URL | Simple and readable | /plumber-elche |
| Image alt text | What is in the photo | Plumber fixing a kitchen leak |
Title tags and meta descriptions
Your title tag is a key SEO element for ranking and clicks: Google often uses it as the clickable title in search results, so put the keyword first.
The meta description isn't a direct ranking factor, but a specific, relevant one helps people choose your business over other businesses.
Headings and content
Use a single H1 and subheadings that follow the questions customers ask, then give them the information they need:
- what's included;
- the areas you cover;
- how to ask for a price;
- photos of real jobs.
Mention the town where it's relevant; keyword stuffing doesn't help.
Images and internal linking
Compress your photos and add descriptive alt text, which is important for users of screen readers and can help Google better understand the image.
Connect related content, such as an article and the job it mentions, so visitors and Google can follow your structure.
Keep your NAP consistent
In local SEO, NAP stands for name, address and phone number. It's important to show these details on your website exactly as on your Google Business Profile, with the same brand name and no extra keywords, so customers and search engines see the same information everywhere.
Where to show your NAP
- In the footer, so it appears everywhere.
- On a contact page, with a map, opening hours and a form.
- On each location page, if you have several locations.
- As a number customers can tap to call, next to a WhatsApp button.
Local citations and consistency
A local citation is any online mention of your business with its name, address and phone number, for example in online directories.
Keep your citations accurate: if one listing says “C/ Mayor” and another “Calle Mayor”, choose one version. Our article on local citations and NAP has tips on Spanish directories.
LocalBusiness structured data
Structured data is code, invisible to visitors, that lets you provide search engines with key information about your business: name, address, opening hours and the area you serve. LocalBusiness from Schema.org is the usual type for local businesses; our article on LocalBusiness schema describes how to create it. Before publishing, try your code in the Rich Results Test.
Pages for each type of work and town
Small businesses that offer several services or cover several towns can't make one page relevant to every local search. From a local SEO point of view, a dedicated page can provide a specific answer to each query and attract its own traffic.
What to include
- What the service involves and what the customer gets.
- The towns and areas you cover.
- Photos of jobs you've done.
- Key information: prices, a price range or how to ask for a price.
- A clear way to get in touch: call, form or WhatsApp.
For example, a plumbing business in Alicante could have one page for leak repairs, one for water heaters and one for blocked drains. A small retail business can do the same for each type of product.
Location pages for the towns you cover
Before creating a page for a nearby town, check that you take jobs there and have something specific to say: an electrician in Elda who also serves Petrer can describe the jobs completed locally.
Copies that only change the town name don't help visitors, and Google's spam policies treat such pages as doorways. If you serve several nearby towns, one page covering your whole area is often enough.
Local content for customers in your town
Local content answers the questions customers in your area ask, using your own experience. It can help your business appear in more local searches and give you something to share in your other marketing.
Topic ideas for your blog
- Specific questions customers ask you by phone or WhatsApp, which tell you what people want to learn before they hire someone.
- Seasonal tips, such as servicing air conditioning before summer in Valencia.
- What changes the price of a job in your area.
- Completed jobs, with photos and the town's name.
- Community events you take part in.
Quality over quantity
Write relevant posts about what you know best, with your audience in mind, and don't copy other sites. A few useful posts kept up to date can do more for your local SEO than many thin ones.
Building a library of articles takes time, so create a content strategy you can keep up. If writing isn't your thing, read how to write content when you're not a writer.
Build trust with reviews and local backlinks
In local SEO, prominence and visibility also depend on what others say about your business online: customer reviews, links from other local businesses and mentions in directories or the press.
Show your Google reviews
Google says review count and score factor into local search ranking. Ask every customer for a Google review, not only the happy ones, and reply to every one. That feedback also reveals what customers value and what you could improve. See our tips on how to get more Google reviews.
Point visitors to your profile so they can read every review. If you display reviews on your own pages, EU consumer rules say you should explain whether and how you check that they come from real customers.
Local link building
Backlinks from relevant local sites show Google that people in your area know your business. Good places to start include:
- your regular suppliers;
- a business or community association;
- local blogs and newspapers;
- a club or event you sponsor.
Building them takes time, so make it part of your strategy; see how to get local backlinks.
Technical local SEO: mobile and speed
Technical local SEO means making sure search engines can find and read your content, and that it loads quickly for each user; issues here can hold back your rankings and visibility in local search.
Design for smartphones first
Many of your customers will look your business up on their phone, and Google mainly uses the mobile version of your content for indexing and ranking. Check that users can:
- read the text on a small screen without zooming;
- tap the call and WhatsApp buttons easily;
- fill in the contact form with one thumb.
Speed, HTTPS and indexing
Compress images, use formats such as WebP and avoid plugins you don't need. Google tools such as PageSpeed Insights show where to improve; see why speed matters for your Google ranking.
You also need an SSL certificate (HTTPS): without one, browsers flag your site as not secure. Submit an XML sitemap in Google Search Console and use URL Inspection to check that your important URLs are indexed.
Measure your local SEO progress
Three free Google tools are enough to track local SEO for small businesses: Search Console for your visibility in local search, the Performance section of your Business Profile, and Google Analytics, which tells you what users read and which marketing channels bring your traffic (see basic metrics for freelancers).
Google Search Console
Its Performance report is where you learn what brings visitors:
- Queries: the search terms that bring up your business.
- Pages: which ones get clicks.
- Clicks and impressions.
- Average position, to follow your local rankings.
For example, a plumber can see that the business already appears for “emergency plumber Valencia” and improve the content that targets that search.
Business Profile Performance
The Performance section of your Google Business Profile shows:
- how many people viewed your profile;
- the searches that led to it;
- calls, direction requests and website clicks.
What do Google's own resources recommend?
Google publishes free resources on the subject: Business Profile Help for your profile and the Search Central documentation for everything else. They agree on the basics: full, up-to-date information, helpful content written for people, clear titles and descriptions, structured data, and a site that can be crawled and indexed.
- “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google”: the help article on relevance, distance and prominence. It also says there is no way to request or pay for a higher local ranking.
- SEO Starter Guide: where you can learn the basics of crawling and indexing, including titles, snippets, descriptive URLs and images. Google mainly discovers new URLs by following links, so internal linking and an XML sitemap help Google find your content.
- “Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content”: questions to check whether content was written for users or mainly to attract traffic from search engines, whether its sources are clear and whether a user would bookmark it or recommend it.
- LocalBusiness structured data: only the name and address are required; recommended properties such as telephone, url and openingHoursSpecification give more detail.
- Testing: Search Console, the Rich Results Test and PageSpeed Insights cover indexing, structured data and loading speed.
The Search Central documentation also includes an article called “Do you need an SEO?”, with questions to ask before you hire anyone; it warns that no one can guarantee a top position. If you run into a problem, Google's help centre lets you post a question or contact support.
Your local SEO checklist
Follow this local SEO strategy step by step:
- Start with your NAP: make it match everywhere.
- Choose a main keyword for each key page.
- Review your title tags, meta descriptions and H1s.
- Create pages for your main services and, where it makes sense, your towns.
- Add LocalBusiness structured data.
- Publish local content and ask customers for reviews.
- Test your site on a smartphone.
- Track progress in Search Console and your Business Profile, then improve what isn't working.
Local SEO needs steady effort and is one part of your online marketing.
If you'd rather not do it all yourself: every website WebAutonomos builds includes basic SEO, with titles and texts that mention your service and area and details that match your Google Business Profile. Local SEO is a separate service at €15/month: four blog articles a month, local keywords and a monthly report.