Local SEO FAQ for Service Businesses

Yes. Plans run month to month and need one month's notice. Each month is billed in advance, at the end of the month before, so September's work is paid at the end of August. The posts and pages already published stay on your site after you cancel.

Yes. Once a month is paid, the posts written that month are yours, on your site, and they stay there if you stop. Nothing gets taken down or locked when a plan ends.

The free ones that matter most for a local service business: Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Facebook, Yelp, the free BBB listing, Nextdoor and Angi, plus a couple of trade or local directories where they fit. I set them up or clean them up by hand, with the same name, address and phone everywhere. Paid listing services aren't included.

No, I focus on the site and organic search. If you want ads too, I can introduce you to a partner who runs them, and I'll make sure the pages your ads point to are ready for it.

The technical setup, $600 to $1,000, fixes what's already there: an audit, Google Business Profile cleanup, citations, a review link, schema, a sitemap, Google Search Console and your service and area pages. The full foundation, $800 to $1,400, adds keyword research and a content plan, with topic clusters and a look at which competitors rank for the jobs you want. If you plan to start a monthly content plan, the foundation gives the posts a map to follow. If you only need the basics fixed, the setup is enough.

Yes. It's part of the local SEO setup, along with your sitemap and schema, so Google can find and understand every page. Search Console is also where my monthly reports come from, so it's the first thing I connect. If you already have it, I just need access.

Because the posts are the work that keeps you climbing, and a post count is something you can check. Content-only plans are 2, 4, 6 or 8 posts a month for $300, $550, $750 or $950. Plans with link outreach start at $550 for 2 posts and go up to $1,600 a month. That way you always know what you're getting for the money.

The questions your customers type into Google before they call someone: what a job costs, warning signs, what to do before a technician arrives, how to choose a pro. Each post is written to answer one real search and point the reader to the service they need. That's how posts turn into calls instead of just traffic.

No, and be careful with anyone who does. Whether a site links to you is the other site owner's decision, so nobody can honestly promise a number. What I do promise is a steady, transparent outreach process every month, aimed at quality sites relevant to your trade and area. Results usually start to show from month 3.

Outreach to real, relevant sites is safe, because that's how links are supposed to be earned. What gets sites in trouble is buying links in bulk or joining link schemes, which break Google's spam policies. My outreach targets quality sites related to your trade or area, and the process is transparent, so you can always ask where I'm reaching out and why.

At 2 posts a month, the content-only plan is $300 and the plan with link outreach is $550. Outreach is worth it when the companies above you have clearly been around longer and get mentioned more around the web. It isn't worth it yet if your profile and pages still need fixing. Links are never guaranteed.

Yes, as a base, not as a ranking trick. Listings on Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, the BBB and your trade's directories help customers who look you up there, and matching details everywhere make you look like one business. A handful of accurate listings beats hundreds of junk ones, and the local SEO setup covers the main ones.

A plain monthly report from Google Search Console: how often you showed up in Google, how many people clicked, and which searches and pages are moving. No jargon dumps and no vanity metrics. If something isn't working, the report says so, and I tell you what I'm changing.

Yes. The setup includes a direct review link you can text or email to customers after a job, which makes leaving a review a lot easier. On a monthly plan I also run a simple review system with you, so reviews keep coming in steadily instead of in bursts, and every review gets a reply. I never write or buy reviews, because that gets profiles suspended.

Not much, but a few things only you can do. Ask happy customers for reviews, since reviews carry most of your credibility as a service area business. Send me photos from recent jobs, and tell me when you add a service or start covering a new town. A quick reply when I ask about your work keeps the posts accurate.

On a monthly plan, keeping your profile active is part of the work, along with running your review system. Fresh activity and recent reviews both help your map ranking. If you only want profile work without the rest of SEO, see my Google Business Profile page.