Outrank 99% of Local Businesses with This SEO Checklist

Summary

Wes McDowell presents a 20-point local SEO checklist, based on research from Whitespark, to help local businesses improve their chances of appearing in Google’s Local 3 Pack. His central recommendation is to prioritize practical, relatively easy profile improvements before investing time or money in harder factors such as backlinks or a physical presence in a target city.

Local SEO Priority Checklist

Foundational improvements

1. Choose the most specific primary Google Business Profile category that accurately describes the business’s core service.
2. Add relevant secondary categories for services the business genuinely provides. McDowell suggests using around five or six when applicable, without adding categories that do not fit.
3. Complete the profile with accurate, current business details, including contact information, website, description, and photos.
4. Keep NAP consistent. The business name, address, and phone number should match across the website, Google profile, and directories.
5. Keep regular and special hours current, including holiday closures or vacations.
6. List services and products with clear descriptions and prices where possible. Include relevant service terms naturally.
7. Upload photos and short videos that show the business, team, and work. Visual businesses should make their work especially prominent.
8. Populate Google’s Q&A section with frequently asked questions and respond promptly to customer questions.
9. Optimize the homepage title and meta description with the service, location, and customer benefits. McDowell says stronger search-result messaging can improve click-throughs and may support visibility.
10. Create dedicated pages for major services and target locations rather than putting every service on one page. Each page should include specific service information, local details, and benefits.

Customer trust and engagement

1. Ask customers for Google reviews after completing work. Make the process easy by sending a direct review link.
2. Maintain a strong average rating through consistently good service and ongoing review requests.
3. Encourage customers to describe the service they received in reviews. The speaker recommends suggesting the service rather than dictating exact wording.
4. Add a direct booking or appointment link if the business accepts appointments. Link to the actual scheduling page, not just the homepage.

Authority and harder ranking factors

1. Build listings on major and relevant local or industry directories, also called citations, and keep the business details consistent.
2. Report fake, duplicate, or misleading competitor listings through Google Maps’ “Suggest an edit” feature, with supporting evidence. McDowell suggests checking competitors periodically.
3. Earn quality backlinks through sources such as business associations, chambers of commerce, or relevant guest articles. Because outreach can be time-consuming, he suggests outsourcing if appropriate.
4. Use an accurate, descriptive legal business name. A service keyword in the genuine name may help, but adding keywords to a name that is not real can violate Google’s rules. Rebranding is a major decision, not a quick SEO tactic.
5. Recognize the importance of having a physical address in the target city. Establishing an office or branch may require a substantial commitment.
6. Account for proximity. Google results often favor businesses near the searcher. Since a business cannot be close to every potential customer, McDowell recommends focusing marketing on its actual service area.

Frameworks and Recommendations

• Prioritize by impact and effort: Begin with profile completeness, categories, accurate information, and hours. Tackle labor-intensive activities such as citations and link building later.
• Make reviews an ongoing process: Request feedback after completed jobs, provide a direct link, and respond consistently to questions and reviews.
• Create service-specific web content: Give each major service—and, where relevant, each target location—a dedicated page.
• Keep listings consistent: Use one accurate version of the business’s name, address, and phone number across online properties.
• Compete within realistic geographic limits: Proximity is difficult to change without relocating or opening another location, so focus on the business’s local area.

Metrics, Examples, and Timelines

• The checklist contains 20 priorities.
• The suggested number of secondary categories is around five or six, where genuinely applicable.
• The speaker recommends checking for misleading competitor listings about once a month.
• A hypothetical example contrasts a result expected to receive 10% of clicks with one receiving 20% after improving its title and description. This is illustrative, not a reported performance result.
• Examples include a landscape architect adding relevant categories and services, such as landscape lighting or artificial turf installation, and a plumber creating a dedicated “drain cleaning in Austin” page.
• A YouTube opportunity and a business owner named Bobby are teased at the end, but the subtitles do not provide the case-study details.

Presenter and sources: Wes McDowell; the local SEO ranking research and checklist are attributed to Whitespark.