june 2026

local business SEO checklist for st. louis

u don't need to be an SEO expert to help google find ur business. u just need to do the basics — and do them right. here's a checklist u can work through. most of this is free.

today (free, 20 minutes)

✅ claim ur google business profile. go to google.com/business. search for ur business. if it's not claimed, claim it. if it is, verify ur information is correct. this is the single most important thing u can do for local SEO — period.

✅ fill out every field. hours. phone number. address. services. service area. photos. the more complete ur profile, the more google trusts it. businesses with complete profiles show up more often and rank higher. add at least 5 photos — exterior, interior, products, team, logo.

✅ check ur name, address, and phone number. is the phone number on ur google profile the EXACT same as on ur website? it needs to be. mismatches confuse google and hurt ur ranking. same goes for yelp, facebook, and anywhere else ur business is listed.

this week (free, 1-2 hours)

✅ ask for google reviews. reviews are one of google's strongest local signals. ask happy customers to leave u a review. send them a direct link — u can generate one from ur google business profile. don't offer incentives (google bans for that). just ask.

✅ check ur website's title tags. right-click ur homepage → view page source → look for the `

✅ make sure ur site works on phones. open ur site on ur phone. can u read everything without zooming? can u click the buttons? does it load in under 3 seconds? if not, this is costing u customers. over half of all web traffic is mobile. google tests this and ranks accordingly.

✅ add ur location to ur website. ur city. ur neighborhood. ur address. put it in the footer. put it on the contact page. mention it naturally in ur content. "we're a family-owned bakery in the shaw neighborhood of st. louis" is both useful to customers and helpful to google.

this month (free or cheap, 3-5 hours)

✅ create a few pages of real content. a services page that describes what u do in detail. an about page with ur story. a FAQ page answering common customer questions. the more real, useful content u have, the more google has to work with.

✅ get listed in local directories. yelp. nextdoor. local chamber of commerce. industry-specific directories. every consistent listing strengthens ur local presence. make sure ur name, address, and phone number match everywhere.

✅ set up a google-friendly site structure. ur site should have a sitemap that google can read. ur pages should have meta descriptions — the short text that appears under the blue link in search results. each page should have a clear title that says what it's about.

✅ check ur speed. google.com/pagespeed — type in ur URL. google will tell u exactly what's slowing ur site down and how to fix it. a fast site ranks better and converts more visitors.

what most businesses miss

❌ no google business profile at all. this is like having an unlisted phone number. people are searching for u — they just can't find u.

❌ inconsistent NAP (name, address, phone). if ur phone number is different on google vs yelp vs ur website, google doesn't trust any of them.

❌ all images, no text. google can't read images. it reads text. if ur homepage is mostly photos with a phone number, google has almost nothing to work with.

❌ no reviews. zero reviews is almost as bad as bad reviews. it signals "nobody uses this business."

how i handle SEO for every site i build

all the technical stuff — title tags, meta descriptions, sitemaps, schema markup, mobile optimization, fast loading — is built into every site from day one. u don't need to ask for it. u don't need to pay extra. it's just part of the build.

the non-technical stuff — google business profile, reviews, local directories — i'll walk u through when we launch. it takes 30 minutes and makes a huge difference.

📖 related reads:
how to actually get ur business found on google →
why every st. louis business needs a website →