What is SEO, and how does it work for a local business?
SEO (search engine optimization) is improving your website and online listings so search engines understand them and show them to people searching for what you offer. Google finds pages by crawling, stores them in its index, then ranks the most relevant, helpful results for each search.
How Google Search works, in three steps
- Crawling: Google's crawler discovers pages by following links and reading sitemaps.
- Indexing: Google analyzes each page's text, images and structured data and stores it in its index.
- Serving: when someone searches, Google picks and orders the results it judges most relevant and useful, taking things like location and language into account.
What SEO involves
- Technical: pages Google can crawl and index, load fast and work well on phones.
- Content: pages that answer what customers actually search for, written for people.
- Local: a complete Google Business Profile and consistent business details across the web.
- Reputation: genuine reviews, and other sites mentioning and linking to you.
SEO for a local business
Most local customers search with a place in mind ("plumber North Vancouver", "dentist near me"). Local SEO focuses on those searches: the map pack, your Google Business Profile, and service or area pages on your site. It's also the foundation AI assistants build on when they recommend businesses.
How long it takes
Ranking movement usually takes 3 to 6 months, depending on competition and where you start. Nobody can promise a position on Google, and Google itself warns against anyone who does.