Common Local SEO Mistakes SMBs Make that Cost Them Customers 

Authored By: Invedus
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Fact-checked By: Anil
Specializing in technical SEO, keyword analysis, and link-building. He uses tools like Semrush and Moz...

As a local business, one of the toughest challenges to deal with is losing customers, especially when you’ve just started to find your footing. After putting in all the time and money into setting up your website, if it fails to bring you new customers, you start to question everything. Was it because of something you did wrong? Could it be due to something that was overlooked?

The SEO landscape is always changing, making this dilemma pretty common among local businesses. They don’t even know what they’re doing wrong until they start to see their sales become stagnant. This is also why businesses tend to invest in local SEO services, and you should consider doing the same if you want to avoid the common SEO mistakes we’ve mentioned below. 

1. Overlooking Business Directories

Even before Google ranks your business in its search results, it’ll first check if your company is real. For this, it often relies on business directories, where your business’s NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is stored, along with other relevant information. 

Many local businesses make the mistake of overlooking business directories. It might be a small step, but it’s crucial for search visibility, especially when potential customers are using geo-specific or service-specific keywords, such as “gardening services near me” or “top digital marketing agencies in Manhattan.” When used correctly, online directories make a significant contribution to local SEO, showcasing your brand legitimacy to nearby customers who are already seeking the services you offer. 

2. Not Focusing on Backlinks

As a local business, you may not always have the large-scale budget to deploy full-fledged SEO efforts. However, you will still need to focus on foundational strategies, and one of them is having authoritative backlinks. 

Many believe that a solid backlink profile is just for large enterprises, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Backlinks from blogs, community forums, listicles, and other credible sources within your local community are invaluable to building your audience, trust and authority. And getting them isn’t too difficult either; you can hire a digital marketer or use a free backlink checker to analyze where your competitors are getting backlinks from to acquire authoritative mentions.

3. Lack of Competitor Research

This is almost an extension of the previous point, but if you aren’t looking at what your local rivals are doing, you’ll never be able to dominate search results. Competitor research at a local level may seem nice to have, but it’s very necessary. More often than not, your competitors are outranking you due to better execution at the local level. So, the more you know about them, the better.

Local SEO is never a cookie-cutter strategy. Different localities have different audiences, so what works in one region may not work in another. When you see brands rank higher on local search results, understanding the why and how behind it is integral to building an innovative strategy. That’s how you place yourself right beside them, at the very top of local search rankings. 

4. Lack of Visual Content 

Visuals like photos and videos matter for local websites too. They’re key ranking signals for two key reasons: 

• You present visual proof that shows authenticity and establishes credibility.
• You can leverage the opportunity to improve search visibility, as Google extracts keywords, context, and relevance from visual assets, which helps you rank higher for queries.

The more you post visual content, the better. This is particularly crucial for service-based businesses because your website serves as your portfolio. Customer testimonial clips, before-and-after videos of projects, and pictures of your services in action are some of the best ways to build trust and bolster your presence on SERPs. 

Also Read: Virtual Assistant for Content Marketing

5. Errors in Google Business Profiles

For any local business, having a Google Business Profile (GBP) is just as essential as setting it up right. Your GBP doesn’t just add to your brand’s visibility but also instills confidence in potential customers about what you do. If you don’t set it up correctly, you’ll constantly struggle with lead generation. 

One of the most common errors here is not choosing the categories correctly. As you set up your GBP, you’re asked to select a primary category and several secondary ones. While it sounds simple, businesses often end up choosing vague categories or, worse, forget to select the ones relevant to their business. If you’re running a flower shop, choosing irrelevant categories instead of “flower shop” or “flower boutique” will result in your brand struggling to rank for user queries relevant to your services. 

Another mistake is setting your categories and never revisiting them. Google updates GBP categories frequently, whether adding new ones or modifying existing category names. As your business evolves, you must make it a habit to revisit your GBP categories and make adjustments to continue ranking for relevant terms. 

Worth Reading: Local SEO vs National SEO

6. Duplicate Business Listings

This is another common mistake that harms your local SEO efforts. Businesses often end up having duplicate listings for various reasons, from changing business names to losing access to the account behind a listing. Whatever the reason, if you have multiple listings, it’s ultimately harmful to your local SEO. They not only confuse potential customers but also Google’s crawlers, and your site basically comes off as untrustworthy. In turn, Google either starts ranking your site lower or removes it from the search results altogether.

7. Lack of Localized Keywords

Incorporating high-volume keywords is typically common in general SEO. However, things are a little different when you want to target local customers, and that’s where localized keywords come into play.

When you’re operating within local circles, simply targeting generic keywords isn’t enough. You must target keywords that people in your location are actually searching for. So, if you sell pastries, your local customers are likely searching for things like “best pastry shops in Pasadena” or “best chocolate pastries in Pasadena,” instead of just “pastry shops” or “chocolate pastries,” and those are the keywords you need to rank for.

Parting Thoughts

As a business that’s starting to get its grasp over the local consumer base, every mistake is costly. This is particularly true when it comes to your SEO strategy, as mistakes can lead to reduced visibility and impede business growth. Hopefully, these common mistakes are something you can keep in mind as you amplify your local marketing efforts. More importantly, these will help you avoid mistakes, take the right steps, and maximize search visibility. That’s foundational to capturing the local market before your competitors can, or doing better than they already are.

Local SEO works best when execution matches intent. At Invedus, we support growing businesses with dedicated SEO talent that aligns strategy, consistency, and local signals to help customers find and choose you.