Local SEO
Show up in local search and Google Maps when nearby customers are looking for what you do.
How this works
Most local searches carry intent to buy or visit within a day. If your business isn't showing up in the map results for the searches that matter, you're losing customers to competitors who are more visible — not necessarily better, just easier to find. This service covers the specific technical and content work that determines local visibility: your Google Business Profile, the citations and reviews that support it, and location pages that actually answer what searchers are looking for.
- Google Business Profile setup and ongoing management
- Citation audit and cleanup across major directories
- Location and service-area pages built for real search intent
- Review generation process
- Monthly ranking and visibility tracking for your target searches
Why local search is a different discipline
Local results are ranked on a different set of signals than the organic listings underneath them. Proximity to the searcher, the completeness and activity of your Google Business Profile, the consistency of your business name, address and phone number across the web, and the volume and recency of your reviews all carry weight that has no equivalent in national SEO.
That matters practically, because it changes what to work on first. A business with a strong website and a neglected Google Business Profile will lose the map pack to a weaker competitor who keeps theirs current. A business with a well-maintained profile and inconsistent citations will rank unpredictably, because search engines are getting conflicting answers about where the business actually is. Neither problem is fixed by writing more blog posts.
What the work looks like month to month
The first four to six weeks are corrective: auditing the Google Business Profile and filling in every field that affects ranking and conversion, finding and fixing citation mismatches across the directories that actually get read, and building or rewriting the service-area pages that give the map listing something to rank against.
After that it becomes maintenance and expansion — keeping the profile active with posts and photos, running the review process, adding service-area coverage where there is real demand rather than publishing thin pages for every town within fifty miles, and tracking where you actually rank for your target searches rather than reporting on traffic in aggregate.
What we will tell you honestly
Most businesses see initial local ranking movement within 60–90 days. Durable, competitive gains typically take six to twelve months, and how long depends heavily on how contested your specific market is — a Waco HVAC company and a Waco law firm are not the same problem.
Local SEO also cannot compensate for a site search engines struggle to crawl or visitors abandon. If the audit finds that the site itself is the limiting factor, we will say so before taking on a local SEO retainer, and point you at the technical or build work that has to happen first.
Local SEO, frequently asked
What's actually included in local SEO?
Google Business Profile management, citation cleanup, location-specific pages, a review generation process, and monthly tracking of where you rank for the searches that matter to your business.
How is this different from general SEO?
Local SEO weighs different signals — Google Business Profile activity, proximity, citations, and reviews — more heavily than traditional organic ranking factors. It’s a distinct discipline with its own checklist.
How long before I see movement?
Most businesses see initial ranking movement within 60–90 days. Durable, competitive gains typically take longer and depend heavily on how contested your local market is — we’ll give you a realistic estimate after an initial audit, not a generic number.
What does local SEO cost?
It depends on how contested your market is and how much corrective work the Google Business Profile, citations and site need up front. Every engagement is scoped after a free SEO audit, so you see the plan and the price together rather than a flat rate applied to every business.
Do you only work with businesses in Waco?
No. Drift Strategy Group is headquartered in Waco, TX and works across Central Texas, but local SEO for a business in another market is the same discipline and is handled the same way remotely.
Other services
Get a free SEO audit.
Tell us about your business and we'll send back a specific, written look at where your site stands — including local seo — not a sales pitch.
Prefer to talk it through? Call (254) 300-9710 or email hello@driftstrategygroup.com.