# DIY local SEO checklist for service businesses

Use this before paying for SEO.

## Week 1: Fix your Google Business Profile

- Confirm your business name matches your real-world name.
- Pick the closest primary category.
- Add every real service you offer.
- Add service areas only where you actually serve customers.
- Add your public phone number.
- Add your website URL.
- Add regular hours and holiday hours.
- Upload real photos.
- Reply to every review.

## Week 2: Fix your website basics

- Make sure the homepage says what you do and where in the first screen.
- Create one page for each major service.
- Create a city page for your main city.
- Put your phone number in the header and footer.
- Add your public city, province, and email in the footer.
- Add a contact page with phone, email, form, and service area.
- Add real photos where possible.
- Make every page load quickly on mobile.

## Week 3: Build trust signals

- Ask recent happy customers for reviews.
- Do not ask everyone to use the same wording.
- Add short project examples to service pages.
- Add before-and-after images when you have permission.
- Add a visible owner or team section.
- Add links to real profiles such as LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.
- Add FAQs based on questions customers actually ask.

## Week 4: Track what is working

- Set up Google Search Console.
- Check which queries bring impressions.
- Check which pages get clicks.
- Watch average position for your main service and city terms.
- Track calls from your website.
- Track contact form submissions.
- Keep a simple monthly note: what changed, what improved, what stayed stuck.

## When DIY is no longer enough

DIY local SEO is enough when your business has basic visibility problems: incomplete profile, thin website, missing service pages, no reviews, or no tracking.

It stops being enough when you compete against strong local businesses with active websites, steady reviews, citations, content clusters, and better links. At that point, you need a system, not a Saturday checklist.