Local SEO checklist
A practical pass over the profile, the site, and the facts that should match. No ranking promise comes with it.
Local search is the map and the short list that appear when someone looks for a service nearby, plus the website they open if the list is not enough. You do not control the order of that list. You do control whether your name, your services, your hours, and your link agree with each other, and whether the site actually explains the work.
Artol includes Google Business Profile setup with the site. The site itself is $0 down and $249/mo hosting. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due. This checklist is the work around that setup: what to verify, what to skip, and what we will not pretend to guarantee.
What this checklist will not do
It will not put you first on Google. Anyone who sells that outcome is selling a wish. It will also not invent reviews, list towns you do not serve, or publish a home address you wanted kept off the page. Service-area businesses can hide the street address and name the towns or counties instead.
If an old Google-hosted website under business.site or negocio.site is still in your head, read what happened to those sites. The profile itself was not shut down. The free website Google attached to some profiles was. Your real site is the thing the profile should link to now.
The Google Business Profile
The glossary entry defines the profile. These are the checks.
- Claim the profile on a Google account the business controls
Finish verification. A profile that only a former designer can open is not under your control, even if it looks live.
- Make the business name match the website, character for character
Do not stuff the city or a service into the name field unless that is the actual name on the door and the site.
- Pick the category that matches the work you want
A roofer who also cleans gutters still needs a primary category that fits the main job. Extra categories are for real secondary work, not for every search you wish you ranked for.
- List the service area you truly cover
Towns and counties you will drive to. If you work at customers' places, hide the street address. We are in Yardley, PA, and we do not publish a street for the studio either.
- Match hours to the site, including a seasonal close
A landscaper's winter hours and a restaurant's Monday close should not disagree between the profile and the footer.
- Set the website field to the live site
Not a Facebook page, not a dead builder URL, and not a retired Google business.site address. After a launch, recheck this. The launch checklist puts that recheck on launch day.
- Use photos of real jobs, the real room, or the real team
Skip stock that could be any company. Do not present stock or an AI image as a client's property.
The website next to the profile
- Give each important service its own page
A plumber's emergency work and a water-heater replacement are different searches. One scrolling home page makes both harder to explain. Niche pages such as websites for roofers show how that split looks for a trade.
- Name the service area in sentences, not only in a footer list
Say where you go and where you do not. A service area is a decision, not a keyword pile.
- Use the same phone and the same hours everywhere you publish them
The site, the profile, and any directory you still control. This page will not print a sample number. Consistency matters more than how many directories you join.
- Write title tags that say the service and the place in plain language
See title tag. Do not promise you will outrank a neighbor because the title is clever.
- Add schema that describes the business you actually are
Schema markup is a label for search engines. It is not a ranking switch. Wrong schema is worse than none. Our local website study found that many local sites skip it entirely.
- Keep a human path from the profile to a request
A form, a booking link you already use, or a clearly shown way to reach you. Test it on a phone.
Reviews and other listings
- Ask customers for reviews on the profile you actually use
Do not buy them and do not write them yourself under other names. If you want a reminder sequence, that is a separate product: automated review requests. This page does not quote that product's price.
- Reply to reviews in your own voice
Short and specific. Do not argue a medical result, a legal outcome, or a diagnosis in public. A dentist or a lawyer can thank someone without turning the reply into advice.
- Fix the listings you already have before you add new ones
A citation with an old builder URL or a wrong town teaches Google the wrong fact. Match the name and the website, then stop.
- Skip anything that smells like a trick
Fake locations, doorway pages for every town in the state, and paid links described as guaranteed rank. They are not part of this offer, and we will not build them.
Where Artol fits
Profile setup is included. So are the pages, the writing, and hosting with SSL and daily backups. The team is 100% US-based, made in the USA. We reply within one business day. Competitive market research means we read the local sites a customer would compare you with, then write what those sites skip. It does not mean we promise a map position.
Use the website grader for the public checks it can actually run: whether the domain resolves, whether www works, whether HTTPS loads, and whether mail records exist. It cannot see your map listing. Pair it with this list, not instead of it. The content checklist is how the pages get something true to say.
The site under the profile
Three common ways to get a small business website, side by side.
| Compare | Artol Web Studio | Typical agency | DIY website builder |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | $0 down | A build fee, often partly due before work starts | No build fee, but you pay with your own time |
| Monthly cost | $249/mo hosting with 12-month terms | Hosting and maintenance are often billed separately | A plan fee, plus paid add-ons |
| Time to launch | Less than a week | Depends on the agency's schedule and your revisions | Depends on how many evenings you can give it |
| Who does the work | We write, design, build, and launch it | The agency, with you managing the project | You do |
| Design | Fully custom | Custom or template, depending on budget | A template you adapt |
| Business audit and market research | Included | Sometimes, often as a paid discovery phase | Not included |
| Backups and updates | Daily backups and two small content updates a month | Depends on the maintenance plan | Depends on the plan, and updates are on you |
| Google Business Profile | Setup included | Sometimes, as an add-on | Not included |
| Support | Reply within one business day from a 100% US-based team | Depends on the agency | Help center and support tickets |
Ask any provider, including us, for the full terms in writing before you sign.
Questions we get asked
If I finish this list, will I rank above my competitor?
No. The list makes your profile and your site agree, and it gives a visitor a clear next step. Google orders the map with more signals than a checklist can tick. Treat any guarantee of a position as a reason to walk away.
I work from home. Do I have to publish the address?
No. If customers do not visit you, hide the street address and publish the service area. Do not invent a virtual office you do not occupy.
How many town pages should I have?
One honest service-area story is better than a stack of pages that swap the town name. Add a page when the work or the offer is actually different there. We will not build a doorway page for every ZIP.
Does the $0 down site include the profile?
Yes. Google Business Profile setup is included. Ongoing ads are not. Review reminders are the separate product linked above, priced on that page, not here.
