If you think ticking off every box on your Google Business Profile is all you need for local SEO, we need to have a chat.
I see it all the time: business owners spending hours perfecting their GBP, adding photos, updating opening hours, crafting the perfect business description, then wondering why they’re still not showing up in local searches.
Your Google Business Profile is important. But it’s not the whole picture.
This misconception probably comes from the prominent role GBPs play in local search results. Google owns the platform, so surely optimising their “tool” is all that matters? Plus, it’s relatively easy to do – fill in some forms, add some photos, job done. Much simpler than all that other SEO stuff.
Except local SEO is more complex than that, and relying solely on your GBP is like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops. You might make some progress, but you’re making life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.
What local SEO includes (beyond your GBP)
Local SEO encompasses your website, local citations, reviews across multiple platforms, content creation, technical optimisation, and numerous other factors. Your Google Business Profile provides important signals to Google, but it works alongside these other elements rather than replacing them.
Think of your GBP as one instrument in an orchestra. It’s crucial, but it won’t create a symphony on its own.
Google evaluates local businesses through a shitload of signals: website quality, local relevance, citation consistency, customer reviews from various sources, and overall online presence strength. Your GBP contributes to this picture, but it’s not the whole canvas.
Your website matters more than you think
Here’s something that surprises people: your business website often carries more weight than your Google Business Profile for many local search queries.
Google evaluates your website’s local relevance, content quality, mobile-friendliness, loading speed, and overall user experience when determining local search rankings. A poorly optimised website undermines even the most perfect Google Business Profile, while a strong website enhances your GBP’s effectiveness.
If your website is slow, confusing, or doesn’t clearly communicate what you do and where you do it, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Your GBP can’t compensate for that.
Citations are boring but essential
Local citations from directories, industry-specific platforms, and authoritative local websites provide crucial signals about your business legitimacy and local relevance. Consistent business information across multiple platforms helps Google verify your business details and understand your local market presence.
Yes, submitting your business to local directories is tedious. No, you probably shouldn’t skip it.
The quantity, quality, and consistency of citations across the web significantly influence local search rankings independently of your Google Business Profile. Get your business name, address, and phone number wrong on a few key directories, and Google starts questioning whether you’re even a real business.
(Want to know more about local SEO beyond just citations? I’ve debunked some common local SEO myths that might be holding your business back in SEO Myths Debunnked)
Reviews need to happen everywhere
Focusing only on Google reviews whilst ignoring other platforms limits your local search potential and misses opportunities to build broader online credibility.
Customer reviews on Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, industry-specific sites, and local directories all contribute to your overall online reputation and local search authority. Google considers your broader online reputation when looking at local search relevance, making review management across multiple platforms a bit of a no-brainer.
This doesn’t mean begging every customer for reviews on five different platforms (please don’t do that). But it does mean being present and active on the review sites that matter in your industry.
(Whatever you do, don’t try to game the system with AI-generated reviews – I’ve written about how AI SEO ‘hacks’ can completely destroy your traditional SEO, including fake review generation.
Content that shows local connections-
Local-focused content on your website – location pages, coverage of local news, community involvement, area-specific service information – supports local search visibility in ways your GBP simply can’t.
Google rewards businesses that demonstrate genuine local connections through decent content that serves local audiences and addresses local needs. This content works alongside your GBP to establish local authority and relevance that pure business profile optimisation can’t achieve on it’s own.
A recruitment agency owner in Glasgow who writes about the specific challenges of hiring engineers in Scotland’s renewable energy sector shows more local expertise than one who just lists available positions. That matters.
(And no, this doesn’t mean you need to blog every week. I’ve covered why that’s complete nonsense in You must blog every week for good SEO.)
Technical foundations you can’t ignore
Local businesses need proper technical SEO: local schema markup, mobile optimisation, site speed improvements, and local keyword optimisation throughout their websites. These technical factors influence how well Google can crawl, understand, and rank your local business information across both your website and business profile.
Neglecting technical SEO whilst focusing only on GBP optimisation creates performance bottlenecks that limit overall local search effectiveness. Your perfectly optimised GBP won’t help if Google struggles to understand what your website does or where you operate.
Social media and local presence
Active social media presence that demonstrates local community engagement and customer interaction can also help. Social platforms provide opportunities to showcase local involvement, share customer testimonials, and demonstrate business activity that reinforces local relevance signals.
This broader online presence works together with your GBP to create comprehensive local market authority that single-platform optimisation can’t match. When potential customers research your business, they look at more than just your Google listing.
Outperform your competitors
Local search success often depends on outperforming competitors across multiple ranking factors rather than simply having a well-optimised Google Business Profile. Competitors who have decent comprehensive local SEO strategies typically outrank businesses that focus exclusively on GBP while neglecting other crucial ranking factors.
If your competitors have optimised websites, consistent citations, multiple platform reviews, and regular local content whilst you’re just perfecting your GBP, guess who’s going to rank better?
Customers don’t just use Google
Local customers research businesses across multiple platforms and touchpoints before making purchasing decisions. Single-platform optimisation is never going to be enough for complete customer capture. Good local SEO means potential customers find consistent, professional business information wherever they encounter your brand during their research process.
This multi-platform consistency builds trust and credibility that supports conversion rates beyond just initial search visibility. Someone who finds you on Google, sees positive reviews on Facebook or LinkedIn, reads helpful content on your website, and discovers your business mentioned on local community sites is far more likely to become a customer.
Don’t put all your eggs in the GBP basket
Local SEO strategies that rely solely on Google Business Profile optimisation remain vulnerable to platform changes, algorithm updates, or policy modifications. SEO approaches that build authority across multiple platforms and ranking factors will give you more stable, sustainable local search performance over time.
This protects your local search presence against changes to any single platform whilst building broader online business authority. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, even if that basket is owned by Google.
Measuring what matters
Effective local SEO requires monitoring performance across multiple metrics: website traffic, conversion rates, citation accuracy, review generation, and overall online visibility. Focusing only on Google Business Profile metrics provides an incomplete picture of local search performance and misses opportunities to optimise other crucial ranking factors.
Comprehensive tracking helps identify which local SEO elements provide the greatest impact for your specific business and market situation. You might discover that local blog content drives more enquiries than anything else, or that sorting out your citations was the missing piece. You won’t know unless you’re tracking properly.
Resource allocation that works
Successful local businesses allocate SEO resources across multiple optimisation areas rather than concentrating efforts exclusively on Google Business Profile management. This balanced approach typically produces better overall results than intensive focus on single platforms whilst neglecting other important ranking factors.
Strategic resource distribution ensures all local SEO elements receive appropriate attention whilst building comprehensive local search authority. Yes, this means more work than just tinkering with your GBP. But it also means better results.
Everything works together
The most effective local SEO strategies integrate Google Business Profile optimisation with website improvements, citation building, review management, and content marketing for compound benefits. These elements work together synergistically, with each component supporting and amplifying the effectiveness of other local SEO efforts.
Integrated approaches typically produce better results than isolated optimisation efforts that treat different local SEO elements as separate, unrelated activities. Your GBP, website, citations, and content should all tell the same story about your business and reinforce each other.
Stop limiting yourself
Effective local SEO requires understanding the interconnected nature of multiple ranking factors and platforms that influence local search visibility and customer acquisition. The most successful local businesses implement comprehensive strategies that leverage all available local SEO opportunities rather than focusing exclusively on Google Business Profile optimisation.
Your Google Business Profile is important. Keep it updated, add photos, respond to reviews, use all the features available. But don’t stop there.
Build a proper website that clearly explains what you do and where you do it. Get your business listed consistently across relevant directories. Gather reviews on multiple platforms. Create content that demonstrates your local expertise and connections. Sort out your technical SEO. Show up on social media in ways that serve your community.
That’s what comprehensive local SEO looks like. And that’s what beats the competition who think their GBP is enough.
