Search and marketing
Show up on Google and Google Maps when people nearby search for what you do
When someone nearby searches for what you do, Google picks a few businesses for the map and lists web pages under it. We work on what it looks at: your Google Business Profile (the listing with your hours, photos and reviews), a clear page for each service you sell, problems that keep your pages out of Google, your reviews and your listings on other sites. Each month you get a report in plain words on what changed.
- Covers
- Google Maps, search, reviews
- Reports
- Monthly, in plain words
- Your Google listing
- Stays in your name
- Based in
- Cedar Grove, NJ
The work
Six parts of local SEO
Search “roof repair Montclair” on a phone and Google usually shows a map with a few businesses, then a list of web pages. The map comes from Google Business Profiles and the list from websites, so a business can appear in one and be missing from the other.
Google's local ranking tips order map results by how well a listing matches the search, how close the business is to the searcher and how well known it is. The same page says no one can pay for a better local ranking.
Google Business Profile
We check categories, services, service area, hours, photos and description against how customers search, and correct what is off. If you don't have a profile yet, we create it and take you through Google's verification.
Service and area pages
One page per service people search for, and area pages only where there is real local content. Each gets its own title, description and structured data: code that tells Google your name, phone number and service area.
Fixes that keep pages out of Google
Pages Google can't read or has left out of its results, old addresses that bounce through several redirects, copies of the same page, pages that load slowly on a phone, and a sitemap (the list of pages Google reads) that still names deleted pages.
Reviews
A short review link, a message your team sends after each job, and reply templates. Google's review policy bans paying for reviews, discounts in exchange for them and asking only happy customers, so we use none of them. Tri-State Roofing and Chimneys has its own short link that opens Google's review form in one tap.
Listings on other sites
Your name, address and phone number on Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, trade directories and your chamber of commerce. SEO people call these citations. We correct old numbers and addresses so every source agrees.
Tracking in your name
If they aren't set up yet, we connect Google Search Console, Google's free report on which searches bring up your site, and Google Analytics (GA4), which counts visits, calls and form requests. Both sit in your own Google account.
Order of work
Where the work starts
- 01
Audit with read-only access
We ask for read access to Search Console, the level Google's advice on hiring an SEO recommends for an audit. You get a written list of problems in the order we would fix them.
- 02
Fix the foundations, then build
Pages missing from Google, broken redirects, a wrong profile category and mismatched phone numbers come first, because new pages do less while those are wrong. Then come the pages, profile, review requests and listings.
- 03
Report and pick the next pages
Search Console shows searches where you appear but rarely get the click. Those point to the next pages to write or improve.
Progress
How you see progress each month
SEO moves on Google’s schedule, not ours, so the monthly report sticks to what can be checked: where you showed up, what people did next, and what we changed. It is written in plain words, and you can open the same Google screens the figures come from.
A fixed profile category or a page Google had been skipping can show up as soon as Google rechecks it. New pages take longer to earn visits. Google's guide on whether you need an SEO says the work usually needs four months to a year to put in place and show a possible benefit. Nobody can promise a ranking, and we don't.
Searches you show up for
Which searches brought up your site, which of them led to a click, and the searches you started appearing for that month. This part comes from Search Console.
Google Maps views and calls
How often your Google listing was seen, and the calls, direction requests and website visits it sent you, taken from the performance screen inside your Business Profile.
Pages Google has picked up
Which of your pages Google has added to its results and which it skipped, with the reason it gives. A page Google leaves out cannot bring anyone in.
Calls and requests from the site
Taps on your phone number and submitted forms, counted by Google Analytics, so a visit can be traced through to a call or an estimate request.
What changed and what comes next
The pages written or fixed, listings corrected and review requests sent that month, and the plan for the month after.
Client sites
What the search work looks like on client sites
Each client's traffic, rankings and call counts stay between us and that client. This is the work itself, and what is in place on each site now.
| Client site | Search work | In place now |
|---|---|---|
| Client siteZubar Roofing & Exterior Systems | Search workTown and county pages for the five counties it serves, plus pages for one service in one town, picked from searches the site already appeared for | In place nowListings matched to its Google and Yelp details; an alert to the office for every tap to call, text or email |
| Client siteTri-State Roofing and Chimneys | Search workDated SEO audits; town pages without enough local detail folded into county pages; titles and descriptions rewritten after an audit | In place nowThe same business name and address across its local listings; a short link to Google’s review form |
| Client siteAt Home Flooring Solutions | Search workA move off WordPress with every old address redirected, then months of fixes for pages Google flagged in Search Console | In place nowDirectory listings checked for a matching name, address and phone; Search Console verified |
| Client siteDelta Medical Transportation | Search workTown pages added where Search Console showed people searching, and blog posts that competed for the same search merged into stronger pages | In place nowA page for every New Jersey county; the Google listing linked from the site |
| Client siteAlaeddin's Pizza | Search workPages added for searches Search Console showed people making, such as brick oven pizza and halal calzones, and titles rewritten to lead with pizza and Italian food | In place nowThe menu marked up so Google can read each dish; every page in the sitemap, with each Spanish page linked to its English one |
| Client siteRobo Facility Services | Search workA page for each service, worded to match its Google Business Profile, and town pages that are each built around a real local rule | In place nowBusiness details marked up so Google can read them; a check on every update that stops thin or copied pages going live |
Traffic, ranking and call figures belong to each client, so they stay off this site.
Page list
Deciding which pages to write
Service pages come first, because someone searching for a roof leak repair wants different answers from someone pricing a new roof. Precision Windows & Roofing has 43 service pages, from roof repair to shower doors, because each of those jobs is its own search.
Area pages come second. A roofer with four services and six towns could publish 24 pages that differ only by town name. Google's spam policies list pages aimed at specific cities that funnel visitors to one page as doorway abuse, so we don't build them. A town with no finished jobs or local detail goes into your profile's service area and the matching service pages instead. The Bergen County page weighs one county page against a page per town.
Jersey All Construction, a contractor working across New Jersey, has 10 county service-area pages and eight blog posts, each written for a specific search.
Methods
Methods we use and methods we refuse
| What we do | What we stay away from | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | What we doAsk every customer, with a direct link | What we stay away fromBuying reviews or trading discounts for them |
| Links and mentions | What we doDirectories, your chamber, suppliers, local sponsorships | What we stay away fromPaid link packages and link swaps |
| Business Profile | What we doYour real business name, address and categories | What we stay away fromKeywords added to the business name, or a fake address |
| Rankings | What we doReports on what moved and what did not | What we stay away fromPromising a top ranking, which Google's hiring guide says no one can do |
Other first steps
When something else should come first
If the schedule has gaps this month, SEO is the wrong tool, because Google decides when your pages move. Google Ads with call tracking can bring in searchers once the ads are approved, while the SEO work continues.
If calls already go unanswered while your crew is on a job, more search traffic means more missed calls. Fix the phones first, with call forwarding or an AI receptionist that takes the caller's details.
Under the hood
The technical checks, for whoever runs your website
Most owners can skip this part. It covers the code-level work behind the pages, with each term explained once.
The structured data mentioned above is also called schema markup. On a local business site it usually means one LocalBusiness entry with the name, address, phone, hours and service area, a Service entry on each service page, breadcrumb markup that matches the trail of links at the top of the page, and FAQ markup only where the questions are printed on the page. Google's Rich Results Test shows whether Google can read it.
A canonical tag names the one address Google should use for a page, so copies and links with tracking codes added don't split its standing. The XML sitemap lists only pages meant for Google, with last-changed dates taken from real edits rather than the day the site was rebuilt. Where the host allows it, IndexNow, a free way to tell Bing and several other search engines about changes, reports each changed page as soon as it goes live.
Speed is judged with Core Web Vitals, Google's three measures of how fast the main content appears, how quickly the page responds to a tap and how much the layout jumps while it loads. Search Console reports them from real visitors once a site has enough of them. Pages in a second language, such as Spanish, are tied to their English versions with hreflang tags, so each searcher is shown the right one.
Try it
Try the website speed test
Type in any website and see how fast it loads on a phone, with the biggest fixes explained in everyday words.
Work
Sites with our local SEO work
Contractors, roofers, a cleaning company, a pizzeria and medical transport companies in New Jersey, plus a flooring showroom in Texas.
FlooringWylie, TX · 2026
At Home Flooring Solutions
Rebuilt website for a Wylie, Texas flooring showroom, with a page for every floor type and nearby city and a free estimate form.
Medical transportTotowa, NJ · 2025
Delta Medical Transportation
Website where New Jersey patients and families price a wheelchair or stretcher ride and send a request, with a page for every county.
General contractorNew Jersey · 2026
Jersey All Construction
Website for a New Jersey remodeler, with a page for each service and county, a project gallery and estimate requests that land in the inbox.
RoofingGarfield, NJ · 2026
Tri-State Roofing and Chimneys
Rebuilt roofing and chimney website for a Garfield contractor, with a quote form that already knows the job and a hub for every New Jersey county.
Medical transportNew Jersey · 2026
Liferock Ambulance
Website where patients and families see an itemized price for a wheelchair or stretcher ride and send the trip to dispatch in one click.
RoofingGarfield, NJ · 2026
Precision Windows & Roofing
Rebuilt website for a Garfield roofing company that also does windows: about 515 pages, cost calculators, photo quote requests and Google Ads landing pages.
RoofingClifton, NJ · 2026
Zubar Roofing & Exterior Systems
Rebuilt website for a Clifton roofer, built around a written roof assessment, with forms that sort leaks from replacements and an alert when someone taps to call.
PizzeriaClifton, NJ · 2026
Alaeddin's Pizza
Rebuilt website for a Clifton halal pizzeria: the full menu, a page for each specialty pie and nearby neighborhood, and a Spanish version.
CleaningBergen County, NJ · 2026
Robo Facility Services
Website for a new Bergen County cleaning company, with one path for building managers, one for homeowners, and a page for each service and town.
Flooring and remodelingNorthern NJ and lower NY · 2026
AA Flooring and Design
Photo-led website for a flooring and remodeling contractor in northern New Jersey and lower New York, with a work gallery and a free estimate form.
Dog trainingNorth Texas · 2026
Superior Protection Dogs
Rebuilt website for a North Texas protection dog business, with buyer guides, breed pages and an inquiry form that reaches the owners right away.
Want something like this for your business? The proposal lists every page and feature with its price.
Questions
Questions to ask before hiring for local SEO
What is local SEO, in plain terms?
It is the work that gets your business shown when people nearby search Google or Google Maps for what you do. SEO stands for search engine optimization. Most of it is unglamorous: a complete Google listing, a clear page for each service, a steady flow of reviews, and the same name, address and phone wherever your business is listed.
What drives the cost of local SEO?
The number of services and towns you want to show up for, how much of the current site needs fixing, and how many other businesses compete for the same searches. The proposal lists each task and its price. Our guide to SEO pricing shows where the hours go, with a worked example.
How long before we get more calls from Google?
We can't give you a date. A profile fix or an indexing repair can show up once Google rechecks the page, while new pages take longer to earn visits. The monthly report shows whether searches, clicks and calls are moving.
If we stop paying for SEO, do we lose the work?
No. The pages we wrote stay on your site and the corrected directory listings stay corrected. Your profile, Search Console and GA4 sit in your own Google account with us added as a user, so ending the work means removing our access.
Do we need a new website before starting?
Not always. If we can edit titles, headings, text and URLs on your current site, we work on it as it is. A single-page site usually needs rebuilding first, since each service needs a page of its own. Our website redesign process carries the old site's search traffic over to the new pages.
Can you get a bad review taken down?
Not on our own. Google removes a review only when it breaks its rules, such as a fake review or one a competitor posted. We help you flag those, and Google decides. A fair complaint stays up, and a calm reply saying what you did about it is what the next customer reads.
How much of our time does this take?
Most of the work is ours. We need answers about your services and towns, photos from recent jobs, and someone to send the review request after each job. To handle the profile and listings in-house, follow our local SEO checklist.
Next step
Find out what is holding back your local listings
Send your website and the towns you want to show up in. We'll look at your profile, listings and site, then reply with what we would fix first.