Ranking locally comes down to four things: a complete Google Business Profile, pages that clearly say what you do and where, genuine reviews, and a site Google can crawl quickly. Get those right and you are ahead of most local competitors. Here is the checklist I work through with Sunshine Coast businesses.
1. Start with your Google Business Profile
Your profile is often the first thing people see. Choose the most accurate primary category, add every service you offer, write a clear description and keep your opening hours current. Add real photos of your work, team and premises. Make sure your name, address and phone number match your website exactly.
2. Say what you do and where, on your own site
Google needs a page for each thing you want to be found for. A single "Services" page rarely ranks for everything. Create one page per service, and where it makes sense, a page for each area you serve. I use this approach on this site, for example with the Sunshine Coast SEO service page and Marcoola and Maroochydore location pages.
Each page should be genuinely useful: explain the service, who it suits, how it works and answer common questions. Copying the same text and swapping the suburb name will not help and can hurt.
3. Get the on-page basics right
- One clear H1 that includes the service and the place
- A title tag under about 60 characters and a meta description that earns the click
- Descriptive image file names and alt text
- Internal links between related services and locations
- A phone number and booking link that are easy to find on mobile
4. Earn reviews and mentions
Ask happy customers for a Google review shortly after the job is done and reply to every review. Local mentions, such as your chamber of commerce, suppliers, sponsorships and local news, also build trust.
5. Make sure the site is fast and crawlable
Check that your site loads quickly on a phone, has an XML sitemap, and that important pages are not blocked from indexing. Fix broken links and avoid duplicate pages competing with each other.
6. Think about AI search too
People now ask assistants like ChatGPT and Google's AI answers for recommendations. These tools favour clear, factual, well-structured pages. Start pages with a direct answer, use FAQ sections and keep your business details consistent everywhere. That is the core of AI search optimisation (AEO), and it works alongside traditional SEO.
What to do next
SEO gets much stronger when your website is built to support it. If your site is slow or hard to edit, a web design refresh is often the first step. If you want to be cited by AI assistants, look at my AI optimisation plans. For an example of the results SEO can deliver, see how we took Amanda Nina Photography to the top of Google.
Frequently asked questions
How long does local SEO take?
It varies by competition and your starting point. Quick fixes like Google Business Profile updates can help within weeks, while competitive searches usually take several months of steady work.
Do I need a separate page for each suburb?
Only if you genuinely serve that area and can write something useful for it. A few strong pages beat dozens of thin ones.
Is AI search different from SEO?
They overlap. Good SEO gives you the foundation, and AI search optimisation adds clear answers, structured data and consistent business information.