You’ve optimized your website, claimed your Google Business Profile, and maybe even gathered a few online reviews—but your local rankings still aren’t where they should be. Sound familiar?
Local SEO can be a goldmine for small and service-based businesses, but common mistakes can silently kill your visibility in search results. If your traffic and leads are declining or stagnant, there’s a good chance your site or profile has some local SEO issues that need immediate fixing.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the top local SEO issues that affect your ranking—and more importantly, how to fix them.
1. Inconsistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
The Problem:
Your business listings across different directories (like Yelp, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps) show inconsistent details. Maybe your address is abbreviated in one place and spelled out in another, or you’ve changed your phone number but forgot to update every platform.
Why It Hurts:
Google relies on consistent NAP information to trust and validate your business. Mismatched listings confuse both search engines and customers.
The Fix:
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Do a full audit using tools like Moz Local, BrightLocal, or Whitespark.
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Manually update or correct listings with accurate, identical NAP info.
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Ensure your website’s NAP matches what’s listed on your Google Business Profile.
2. Poor Google Business Profile Optimization
The Problem:
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is half-complete, missing descriptions, categories, or recent posts. Or worse—you haven’t claimed it yet.
Why It Hurts:
Google Business Profile is essential for local rankings. A poorly maintained profile lowers your visibility in Google’s Local Pack and Maps results.
The Fix:
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Claim and verify your profile at google.com/business.
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Add a full business description, correct categories, business hours, photos, and services.
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Post weekly updates, promotions, or events.
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Respond to reviews regularly.
3. Not Targeting Local Keywords
The Problem:
Your website content is optimized for generic keywords like “plumbing services” but doesn’t include location-based terms like “plumbing services in Miami.”
Why It Hurts:
Local users search with intent—often including city, neighborhood, or “near me” terms. Ignoring local keywords means missing relevant search traffic.
The Fix:
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Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to find geo-targeted keywords.
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Naturally include city names, ZIP codes, and local landmarks in titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content.
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Create location-specific landing pages for each service area.
4. No Local Schema Markup
The Problem:
Your website lacks structured data (schema), which helps Google understand your business type and location.
Why It Hurts:
Without schema, your site might not qualify for rich results like map snippets, reviews, or event highlights.
The Fix:
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Add LocalBusiness schema markup to your homepage and location pages.
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Include details like name, address, phone number, hours, and geocoordinates.
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Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to generate and test your code.
5. Slow or Unoptimized Mobile Experience
The Problem:
Your website loads slowly, especially on mobile, or isn’t mobile-friendly at all.
Why It Hurts:
Most local searches happen on mobile. A slow or unresponsive site increases bounce rate and lowers rankings.
The Fix:
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Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to test performance.
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Compress images, reduce scripts, and implement caching.
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Use a responsive, mobile-first web design.
6. Lack of Positive, Recent Reviews
The Problem:
Your Google and other local profiles have few reviews, or worse—negative reviews that haven’t been addressed.
Why It Hurts:
Reviews are a strong local ranking factor and impact trust. Businesses with more (and better) reviews tend to outrank those with few.
The Fix:
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Ask happy customers to leave a review after every service.
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Create a review request email or SMS template.
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Always respond to reviews—positive or negative—to show engagement.
7. No Local Content Strategy
The Problem:
Your blog or service pages don’t address local topics, events, or questions.
Why It Hurts:
Local content signals to search engines that your business is active in the community and relevant to local searches.
The Fix:
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Write blog posts on local events, tips, or “best-of” lists (e.g., “Top 5 Neighborhoods in Denver for Young Families”).
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Add FAQ pages that include city-specific answers.
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Collaborate with local influencers or feature customer stories.
8. Ignoring Local Citations
The Problem:
Your business isn’t listed on relevant local directories or niche sites.
Why It Hurts:
Citations help reinforce your location and build trust with search engines.
The Fix:
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Submit your business to directories like Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, YellowPages, TripAdvisor (if relevant), and local Chamber of Commerce websites.
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Use citation-building tools or services like BrightLocal or Yext.
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Check for duplicate or outdated listings and clean them up.
9. Weak Internal Linking Structure
The Problem:
Your site lacks internal links to and from your local service pages.
Why It Hurts:
Poor internal linking makes it harder for Google to crawl your site and assign ranking value to local pages.
The Fix:
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Link from blog posts and service pages to your location landing pages.
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Use local keyword-rich anchor text (e.g., “our HVAC services in Tampa”).
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Keep links natural and helpful for users.
10. Not Tracking Local SEO Performance
The Problem:
You’re not monitoring your local SEO efforts, so you don’t know what’s working—or what’s not.
Why It Hurts:
Without tracking, you can’t improve. You’ll waste time on strategies that don’t move the needle.
The Fix:
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Use Google Search Console to track impressions and clicks for local queries.
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Set up Google Analytics 4 to monitor traffic sources and user behavior.
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Use local rank tracking tools like BrightLocal, GeoRanker, or Whitespark.
Final Thoughts
Fixing local SEO issues is like tightening the screws on a high-performance engine. One small error—like inconsistent NAP or a slow mobile site—can throw everything off.
By identifying and addressing these common problems, you can dramatically boost your local visibility, get more qualified leads, and drive foot traffic or phone calls without spending a dime on ads.
Start with an audit, make the changes above, and watch your local search ranking climb. Also, you can learn more about Google Posts here.