Local SEO for Trades: Rank in 90 Days
A plain-English local SEO playbook for service businesses — Google Business Profile, reviews, citations, and on-page basics.
Local SEO is how your service business shows up when someone in your town searches "plumber near me" or "hvac repair [city]". It's the single highest-ROI marketing channel for the trades — and most shops do it badly or not at all.
Here's the 90-day playbook that actually moves rankings in 2026.
The three things that matter
Local SEO sounds complicated. It isn't. 90% of your results come from three things, in this order.
- Google Business Profile (GBP) — fully filled out, with services, photos, hours, and weekly posts
- Reviews — a steady stream of real Google reviews, ideally with your service + city in the text
- On-page basics — title tags, service-area pages, fast load, mobile-friendly, schema markup
Days 1–30: Foundation
Don't skip ahead. The first month is about building a real base.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
- Add 20+ photos of your work, your truck, your team
- List every service you offer with descriptions
- Set up review request automation (text customers after each job)
- Make sure your website has one page per service and one per city you serve
- Add LocalBusiness schema to every page (RunSite does this automatically)
Days 31–60: Content and citations
Now you build authority signals.
- Publish one helpful article per week ("How to know if your AC needs Freon" type content)
- Get listed in the top 20 local directories (Yelp, BBB, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Nextdoor business)
- Make sure your name, address, phone number (NAP) match exactly everywhere
- Reply to every Google review — good and bad
Days 61–90: Expansion
At this point you should see early ranking movement. Now you scale.
- Add more city-specific pages for nearby service areas
- Get a few high-quality local backlinks (chamber of commerce, local sponsorships, partner shops)
- Run a Google Business Profile post every week (offers, jobs, photos)
- Keep the review flywheel spinning — aim for 5+ new reviews per month
Frequently asked questions
How long does local SEO take to work?
You'll see early movement in 30–60 days and meaningful results in 90 days. Top-3 map-pack rankings in competitive markets take 6–12 months of consistent work.
Do I need to pay for local SEO services?
Not necessarily. A motivated owner can do everything above in 2–3 hours a week. Agencies charge $500–$2,500/month — worth it when your time is more valuable than that.
What's the single biggest lever?
Reviews. A profile with 200 recent 5-star reviews beats one with 20, every time.