Does your business have a physical address — a store, office, showroom? Then a significant part of your profit comes from customers who are currently located in your city or district.
Local SEO is a set of actions that makes Google show your business when someone searches for a nearby coffee shop, a clothing store in Chernivtsi, or smartphone repair in Pechersk.
It’s like appearing on the first page of your city’s “Yellow Pages,” except those pages are now in the smartphone of every potential customer.
Proper regional promotion turns online searches into real offline visits and calls. In this step-by-step guide, we’ll cover 5 key elements that will help your business dominate local search results.
Step 1: Google Business Profile — your digital storefront
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the most important tool for local SEO. It’s your free interactive business card in the Google ecosystem, appearing on Maps and the right-hand side of search results.
Why is this critically important?
An unoptimized profile is like a closed door to your store for Google users.
Step-by-step optimization guide:
- Registration and verification. Go to google.com/business, create your profile, and be sure to complete verification (usually via a mail with a code sent to your physical address). Without verification, your business will not appear on Maps.
- Fill in ALL fields. Name, exact address, phone, hours, website, description — complete your profile 100%. Pay special attention to selecting the correct primary and additional categories — this is the main signal to Google about what your business does.
- Add many high-quality photos. Show your storefront, interior, products, and team at work. Live photos inspire much more trust than studio shots.
- Pro-tip: Don’t ignore Posts. Regularly (1-2 times per week) create short posts about promotions, new products, or events. This shows Google that your business is active and makes your profile more noticeable to customers.
Step 2: Optimize your website for local queries
Your website must also clearly communicate to Google the city you operate in. This is done by incorporating local keywords into key areas of your site.
What are local keywords?
These are queries that include a city, district, or nearby landmark. For example: buy flowers Khmelnytskyi, pizza delivery Luzanivka, car service near Lavina Mall.
Where to use them?
- Page Title and Description — children’s clothing store in Chernihiv | BrandName.
- H1 heading — sushi delivery in Lviv
- In website text. Especially on Contact, About Us, Delivery, and Payment pages.
- In the URL (if appropriate) — brandname.com/delivery-kyiv.
Important! Do not turn the text into spam. Mention the city naturally and logically. The main goal is to clearly indicate your geographic location to both people and search engines.
Step 3: Local citations — digital signposts to your business
Local citations are mentions of your company’s name, address, and phone number (NAP — Name, Address, Phone) on other websites. Imagine each entry as a digital signpost confirming to Google that your business exists at the listed address and is part of the local business community.
Why is this important?
The more authoritative local websites link to you, the more significant and trustworthy your business appears to Google.
Where to register?
- Major Ukrainian directories: Google Maps, 2Gis, a.ua, list.in.ua, top20.ua.
- Local city portals and directories: Each city has popular news sites or directories (e.g., 032.ua for Lviv, 044.ua for Kyiv).
- Niche directories: If you are a restaurant — register on Restaurant Guru. If a hotel — on Booking.com (even having a profile counts as a citation).
Critical rule: Your data (name, address, phone) must be EXACTLY IDENTICAL across all resources. Any discrepancy (e.g., “st.” instead of “street”) reduces Google’s trust in your business.
Step 4: Collect reviews on Maps — your reputation in numbers
Reviews on Maps (in your Google Business Profile) are the most powerful factor affecting both your local ranking and the customer’s decision to choose you.
Why does it work?
When a user sees three coffee shops on the map, and two have a 3.8 rating while yours has 4.9 with 200+ reviews, the choice becomes obvious. Reviews are the main social proof and trust factor in local SEO.
How to collect them?
- Ask! The simplest and most effective method. Make it part of your service, offering discounts or other bonuses for detailed reviews.
- Make it easy. Create a direct link to the review form in your GBP profile and send it to customers via messenger, or print it as a QR code on receipts or business cards.
- Respond to ALL reviews. Thank for positive feedback and, more importantly, respond professionally and constructively to negative ones. This shows that you value customer opinions.
Step 5: Create local content — become the center of your community
If your business is closely tied to your city, show it. Creating content that is interesting and useful specifically for residents of your region is a strong signal to Google of your geographic relevance.
H3: Why will this definitely work?
You start attracting traffic through geo-targeted queries, which are indirect but highly targeted.
Local content ideas:
- Clothing store: Blog article: TOP-5 photo spots in Chernivtsi with our new dresses.
- Coffee shop: Story about the street we are on or collaboration with a local dessert maker.
- Fishing supplies store: Best fishing spots on the Psel river within Poltava region.
Such content not only improves your regional promotion, but also builds an emotional connection with the local audience, positioning you as an integral part of city life.
Our approach to local SEO: building your regional dominance
At Kliox, we understand that for a business with a physical location, local SEO is not an optional extra, but a fundamental part of the marketing strategy. It’s a direct path to attracting the hottest customers — those searching for your product or service right now and located just a few blocks away.
Our approach is more than just listing in directories. We develop a comprehensive strategy that turns your business into the undisputed leader in your city.
We conduct a deep audit of your website and Google My Business profile, analyze local competitors, collect local keywords, and build a step-by-step action plan that is guaranteed to lift you to the top of local search results and Google Maps.
Conclusion: be where your customers are looking — nearby
Local SEO is one of the most profitable investments for a business with a regional presence. It brings not just visitors to your website, but real customers to your doors.
Systematic work on business promotion on Maps, website optimization for geo-queries, and collecting reviews on Maps creates a powerful, long-term stream of clients who are looking specifically for you.
Want to become #1 in your city?
Order a free audit of your local SEO. Our SEO specialist will analyze your website and Google profile, identify key issues preventing you from ranking at the top, and provide a concrete action plan to attract customers from your city or region.
