How do I do local SEO on my own website?

What does local SEO on your own website contribute to local visibility?

Google Business Profile Help says local results are mainly based on 3 factors: relevance, distance, and popularity. In a separate section, it defines prominence as how well-known a business is and gives websites linking to the business and reviews as examples. A website can make its service information clear and accurate, but it cannot change the searcher’s distance. Keep those concepts separate.

Is FAQ schema still worth adding to a local business website in 2026?

Usually no as a new task if the only reason is the FAQ rich result. Google’s May 8, 2026 update says the FAQ rich result would no longer appear in Search starting May 7, 2026. Google’s June 2026 update removed the FAQ rich-result documentation because the feature was no longer shown in Search results. Keep visible questions and answers when they help customers, but do not add markup solely to pursue the retired appearance.

What does FAQPage schema mean now?

Schema.org defines FAQPage as a WebPage presenting one or more frequently asked questions. Google’s general structured-data policy says markup must represent the page’s visible, current, and relevant content. Put FAQPage markup on the page that contains the questions and answers, and keep every marked-up answer visible and accurate.

When should I use QAPage instead of FAQPage?

Use QAPage only for a page with one question followed by answers where users can submit answers. Google lists a site-written FAQ with no way for users to submit alternative answers and a page with multiple questions as invalid QAPage uses. Use FAQPage for a business-written page with multiple FAQs, and use QAPage only when the page meets Google’s single-question and user-answer conditions.

What does LocalBusiness schema still do for a local website?

Google’s current LocalBusiness documentation says the markup can describe business hours, departments, and reviews when a site captures reviews about other businesses. The same documentation sets eligibility rules for Local Business rich results and says actual Search appearance may differ. Use the type on a page with business information, declare each location separately, and choose the most specific applicable subtype.

Google lists name and address as required properties for LocalBusiness rich-result eligibility. Add only facts that are current, relevant, and visible on the page. LocalBusiness markup describes the business; valid markup still does not guarantee a Search feature.

What technical requirements must a local website meet before it can be indexed?

Google Search Central lists 3 minimum technical requirements for indexing eligibility: Googlebot is not blocked, the page returns HTTP 200, and the page contains indexable content. Those 3 points define technical eligibility. They are a foundation for a local service page, not a statement that the page will receive an indexing outcome.

How should a WordPress site handle duplicate local service pages?

For duplicate or very similar local URLs, Google Search Central selects 1 representative canonical URL from the cluster and may choose a different URL than the site prefers. A WordPress site can expose canonical settings through its CMS. Use substantive local differences to decide whether a separate service or location page is warranted.

What should a local website do with its sitemap and robots.txt?

Google Search Central treats a sitemap as a hint for discovery and canonical preference, while robots.txt defines crawler access. One sitemap can contain 50,000 URLs or 50 MB uncompressed, and Google’s robots.txt specification applies a 500 KiB limit. Keep the files’ jobs separate and treat indexing as a later outcome rather than a submission guarantee.

How should a WordPress site write titles and descriptions for local service pages?

Google Search Central recommends a title link that is unique, clear, concise, and accurate, plus a meta description that is short, unique to 1 page, and relevant. For a local service page, a business name or physical location can appear when it is useful and accurate. Write each page for its actual service and place, not a repeated keyword formula.

Which Core Web Vitals should a local website monitor?

Google Search Central defines 3 Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, and CLS. Good-experience targets are LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 ms, and CLS under 0.1 points. A local website should monitor these as user-experience measurements and improve slow or unstable pages; a passing set does not promise a local ranking outcome.

How should a business measure local SEO results from its own website?

Search Console Help defines 4 core metrics in the Performance report: clicks, impressions, click-through rate, and average position. At the top of the report, use the Search type filter to separate 5 categories for the selected date range: Web: text-based, Web: multimodal, Image, Video, and News.⁹

The documented branded and non-branded query filter provides 16 months of data, while anonymized queries can be omitted.¹⁰ Compare clicks, impressions, click-through rate, average position, and pages within the relevant Search type categories; use the queries dimension for text-based data because Search Console does not provide query data when Web: multimodal is selected.¹⁰ Keep the selected date range beside the comparison. In the 24-hour view, graph points represent hours and include preliminary data that may change in the next few hours.⁹ Read average position and category changes as descriptions of the report, not proof that one website change caused a ranking result.

How should a local website qualify outbound links?

Google Search Central documents 3 outbound-link qualification values: sponsored for paid placements, ugc for user-generated links, and nofollow when the other values do not apply and the site should not be associated with or have Google crawl the linked page. Choose the label that matches the link’s origin; the attribute itself is not a local-prominence promise.

How should a local business decide whether structured data is worth the work?

Use a small before-and-after test instead of assuming that markup will pay off. Google’s introduction to structured data markup recommends choosing stable pages with several months of Search Console data. Add valid structured data, confirm that Google found it, then compare URL-filtered performance for a few months.

1. Choose a few pages that do not use structured data, have enough Search Console data, and are not seasonal or likely to change soon.
2. Add the markup, validate it, and use URL Inspection to confirm that Google found it.
3. Record the same pages in the Search Console Performance report for a few months, then compare each URL with its earlier performance.

For LocalBusiness or another supported rich-result type, fix critical Rich Results Test errors before the comparison. Do not treat a valid test result as evidence that FAQPage can produce a Google FAQ rich result. Google also says the page must be accessible to Google and not blocked by robots.txt, noindex, or login requirements. The comparison gives a local business an evidence-based rollout decision for the structured data it maintains.

The local SEO hub covers the wider work around a business website. Use the Google Business Profile hub for the profile itself, and see the LocalBusiness schema answer for the separate question of what business markup tells Google.