Get found
Local SEO services: show up on Google Maps when people nearby search.
Local SEO is the work that aims to get a business into the map pack, the three businesses Google shows on a map above the regular results for searches like “plumber near me”. Google ranks them on relevance, distance and prominence (how well known and trusted you are), and there is no way to pay for a better spot. Kojo Growth rebuilds and maintains your Google Business Profile to be a strong match on all three.
- Your Google Business Profile rebuilt: categories, services, areas, photos, Q&A
- Posts and photos from your finished jobs, on the schedule in your plan
- Citations cleaned up, so your name, address and phone match everywhere
- A monthly map-grid scan of your area, with the top three competitors on it
By the Kojo Growth teamPublished Last updated
Free audit: see what's working and what isn't.
- Your Google Maps ranking across town
- Your reviews against the top three
- Your website on a phone
- Who you're up against
- How many people search for what you do
- The three fixes that matter first
Why it matters
The map pack gets the call. Most profiles aren't built to be in it.
When someone searches for your trade on a phone, the three businesses on the map get the taps. Most owners set up their Google Business Profile once, picked one category, added a few photos and never touched it again. Meanwhile a competitor two towns over has the right categories, fresh reviews and fresh posts, so Google shows them instead. Local SEO is the work of giving Google every reason to trust that you are relevant, nearby and well regarded.
- 1
You rank at the shop, not across town
Google weighs distance heavily. A profile that ranks well on your own street can be invisible five miles away, which is where many of your jobs are. You only see this on a map-grid scan, never by searching from your office.
- 2
The wrong category, or only one
Your primary category decides which searches you can appear for at all. A plumber listed only as “Contractor” never shows for “water heater repair”, no matter how good the reviews are.
- 3
Your details don't match
An old address on Yelp, a different phone number on Facebook, a missing suite number on the BBB. Every mismatch makes Google less sure which business is which, and prominence suffers for it.
An example
What a map-grid scan looks like
An 11 by 11 grid of points across a service area, each one scanned for “plumber near me”. Blue means you are in the top three at that spot; gray means you are not. Run against last month's scan, it shows where you gained ground and where a competitor still holds the map.
Your service area, scanned monthly
- Top 3: the map pack
- Rank 4 to 10
- Rank 11 to 20
- Not in the top 20
- Your shop, your service area
What's included
What you get with Google Maps & local SEO.
Everything below is written into the plan before any work starts, and reported on every month.
Google Business Profile audit and rebuild
We check your profile against the top three on the map, then rebuild it: primary and secondary categories, every service listed with a description, your service areas, business description, hours, attributes, photos and Q&A.
Profile posts
Posts built from your work: a finished job, a seasonal reminder, an offer you actually run. They keep the profile active and give people a reason to pick you when they are comparing three listings. When Social posts is in your plan, the same posts also go to your Facebook and Instagram.
Photos that show the work
Fresh job photos added to the profile on a schedule, named and organized, so the listing shows a working business.
Citation cleanup
Citations are the listings of your business name, address and phone number across directories and map apps. We find every one, fix the wrong ones and fill the missing ones, so your details match everywhere Google looks.
A map-grid scan of your area
An 11 by 11 grid across your service area, scanned for your main keywords. You see your average rank, your share of top-three points and the three competitors who hold the rest. The first scan is in your free audit.
A page for every area you serve
A landing page on your website for each town you work in, linked from the profile, so Google has a page to match when someone in that town searches. If you need a new site first, that's the website service.
Reviews that feed the profile
The review ask from the Reviews service runs through this profile, and each new review counts toward prominence. We check your count and rating against the top three on the map; the full process is on the reviews and reputation page.
A local action plan you approve
Each month you get a short list of what we'll change on the profile, with a queue you approve first. Nothing public goes out without your say-so, and you stay Owner of the profile while we work as Manager.
How we do it
How we do it.
Three steps to get going, then the work and a report every month.
- Step 1
Scan and audit
Before we touch anything we run the first map-grid scan, pull your profile's calls, direction requests and website clicks for the last three months, and list every citation we can find. That's your day-one baseline.
- A ranking scan across your area on your main keyword
- Profile and citation audit
- The top three competitors on the map
- Step 2
Rebuild first
Categories, services, areas, description, photos and Q&A are rebuilt by hand in your profile. Citations get fixed. Area pages go up on your site. You approve the public parts first.
- Profile rebuilt with you as Owner
- Citations corrected and completed
- Area pages live and linked
- Step 3
Post, scan, adjust
After the rebuild the work follows a set rhythm: posts and new photos on the schedule in your plan, and a fresh scan each month. When the grid shows a town where a competitor still wins, we work on that town next.
- Posts from your finished jobs
- Monthly scan compared with the last
- Next month's actions in the report
What you get each month
Fresh posts and photos
New posts and photos on your profile, from your jobs, approved by you before they go live.
Where you moved, town by town
Your top-three share and the competitors on the grid, next to last month and day one, so you can see which towns improved and which one gets worked on next.
Profile actions tracked
Calls, direction requests and website clicks from the profile, read from Google each month and compared with your baseline.
In your monthly report
What changed on the map, what we did on the profile, and what we'll do next month, written for a business owner.
Search demand
On these searches, the map shows up first.
When someone searches for a trade near them, Google puts a map with three businesses near the top of the results. These are a few of those searches, counted across the US every month.
Searches a month in the US
Real search data- “locksmith near me”Advertisers pay about $16 a click on Google Ads673,000
- “auto repair near me”Advertisers pay about $5 a click on Google Ads450,000
- “ac repair near me”Advertisers pay about $47 a click on Google Ads201,000
- “garage door repair near me”Advertisers pay about $46 a click on Google Ads165,000
- “landscaper near me”Advertisers pay about $10 a click on Google Ads40,500
Numbers for several trades and towns are on the industries pages.
Works with
Part of one system.
Every service runs on the same plan, by the same team, in the same monthly report.
- Get chosen
Reviews & reputation
A review ask after every job, and a drafted reply to every review
See the service - Get found
Websites
SEO- and AI-ready sites, on their own or with marketing
See the service - Get found
SEO & AI search
Get found on Google and in AI answers
See the service - Build & measure
Monthly reporting
What we did, what changed, what's next
See the service
Industries
Trades where this matters most.
Every trade gets found a little differently. These are the ones where this service tends to do the most.
- PlumbingA burst pipe at 2 a.m. goes to the plumber who looks open, close by and trusted.
- HVACNo heat in January means a quick search and a call to the first business that looks trustworthy.
- Garage doorsA stuck door is urgent. The listing that says “open now” with a call button gets the call.
- LocksmithingLocked out means phone in hand. The first trustworthy listing gets the call.
Three promises
No surprises, in writing.
The same three promises on every plan, for every client.
The audit is free, no strings
You get the findings and the three fixes either way. If we're not the right fit, the audit is still yours.
You own your accounts
Your domain, content, Google Business Profile, analytics and accounts are always yours and stay in your name. If we part ways, any site we built is handed over or bought out on terms set in writing.
Terms in writing first
The plan, the price and the term are written down before any work starts. Term length depends on the work, and it's always on paper.
FAQ
Straight answers, up front.
What owners ask about Google Maps & local SEO before they start.
What is the map pack, and how do I get into it?
The map pack is the group of three businesses Google shows on a map for a local search like “roofer near me”. Which three appear changes with where the searcher is standing, so getting in means being a strong match at many points across your area, including the ones far from your shop. That comes from the right categories, matching details and a steady flow of reviews, and the map-grid scan shows how far you've got.
How much should I pay for local SEO?
It depends on how big your service area is, how many keywords you want to be found for and how strong the competitors on the map are. A one-town locksmith and a multi-county HVAC company are different amounts of work. After the free audit you get a written plan with the price and the term before anything starts, and we don't publish prices because two businesses rarely need the same thing.
How long does local SEO take to work?
Profile fixes and citation cleanup can start to show in a few weeks. Movement across your whole service area usually takes a few months of posts, reviews and photos, and the map-grid scan shows it town by town. We can't promise a position, because Google says there is no way to buy one.
Can I do local SEO myself?
Yes, the basics are free: claim your Google Business Profile, pick the right categories, add your services and photos, ask every customer for a review and reply to each one. What most owners don't have is the time to keep posting, untangle old listings and scan the map every month. That's the part we do.
What is Google Business Profile management?
Keeping your profile complete, accurate and active: the right categories and services, hours and attributes, fresh photos, posts, answers in the Q&A, and replies to reviews. Every change is made by hand in your profile, with you as Owner and us as Manager, so you can see and reverse anything we do.
Is Google Business Profile free?
Yes. The profile itself costs nothing, and Google states there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. What you pay us for is the work of building it out and keeping it active, not the listing.
How does Google rank businesses on Maps?
Google's own help page lists three factors: relevance (does your profile match what was searched), distance (how far you are from the searcher or the place they named) and prominence (how well known you are, including reviews, links and listings across the web). Local SEO works on all three.
Can a service-area business without a storefront rank on Google Maps?
Yes. Google lets a service-area business keep one profile, hide its street address and list the towns it serves. You still rank on distance from where the business is based, which is why the map-grid scan matters: it shows you how far your reach actually extends.
The free audit
See where you stand. Then decide.
Tell us your business name or website and the main city you serve. We'll look at what's working and what isn't, and send you the three fixes that matter first.
- Your Google Maps ranking across town
- Your reviews against the top three
- Your website on a phone
- Who you're up against
- How many people search for what you do
- The three fixes that matter first