Local SEO

Some edits, such as a corrected primary category or newly listed services, can show an effect within days to a few weeks once Google processes them. Gains that depend on prominence, like reviews, citations, links and new location pages, build over months. Seasonal demand also shifts results, so I compare like-for-like months before judging a change.

Yes. If you serve customers at their location and don’t receive them at your premises, Google’s guidelines say to hide the address and set a service area instead. The hidden, verified address is still used as your location, so visibility is usually strongest near your base. Pages on the website then explain the areas you cover in useful detail.

No. Google allows a profile only where you have a real, staffed location that meets its eligibility rules, or one service-area profile run from your base. Cities without a location are reached through your service area settings and through website pages that show genuine local knowledge. Opening a branch is the only legitimate way to add a profile in a new city.

There is little consistent evidence that posts move rankings directly. They are still worth using for offers, events, seasonal notices and new services, because they help people who are comparing businesses and they keep the profile visibly active. I treat them as a conversion tool and spend ranking effort on categories, pages, reviews and links instead.

Reply promptly, calmly and factually, acknowledge the problem and offer a direct way to resolve it offline. Never share private details about the customer. Law firms must be especially careful: bar ethics opinions warn that responding to criticism doesn’t permit revealing client information. A measured reply often reassures future customers more than the original complaint worries them.

I can report reviews that break Google’s policies, such as fake, conflict-of-interest or off-topic reviews, and follow up through the review management tools Google provides. Removal is Google’s decision, so it can’t be promised. I document every case with evidence, and I reply publicly to the review in a neutral way while the report is assessed.

Update the address in your profile first, on its own, and be ready to verify the business again if Google asks. Then update the website, the location page markup and the main directories and data aggregators. Keep the same phone number if you can, add photos of the new premises, and check the map pin sits on the correct building.

Google’s guidelines allow public-facing practitioners, including lawyers, to have individual listings at a firm’s location. That can add visibility, but it can also split reviews and compete with the firm’s own profile. Where an attorney is the only practitioner at an office, Google asks that the listing be shared with the firm. I decide this per office, based on how clients actually search.

Almost never. One domain with a page per location keeps links, reviews and history working for the whole brand. Separate microsites split that strength, multiply maintenance and often end up with thin, duplicated content. The exception is a branch that operates under a genuinely different brand name with its own customers.

They are separate result types that draw on overlapping signals. The map pack relies heavily on the profile, distance, reviews and prominence. The organic results below rank web pages, so content, internal links and the site’s authority carry more weight. A strong local presence needs both, because many searchers scroll past the map to compare websites.