When people in Dortmund look for a tradesperson, a medical practice or a service provider, they rarely type in a company name. They search for "electrician Dortmund", "dentist Hörde" or simply "near me". Whether your business shows up at that moment is decided by local SEO. These nine steps make the biggest difference.
1. Complete your Google Business Profile
The free profile on Google is the single most important element for local searches. Fill in everything: category, services, opening hours, service area, photos and a meaningful description. The primary category should match exactly what customers search for.
2. Keep your business details identical everywhere
Name, address and phone number must be written in exactly the same way on your website, your Google Business Profile, in directories and on social media. Variations such as "Str." and "Straße", or old phone numbers, confuse search engines.
3. Give every service its own page
A "Services" page that lists ten things in bullet points ranks well for none of them. Every important service needs its own page with its own title, its own description and real content.
4. Name your location visibly
Mention Dortmund and the districts or neighbouring towns you work in naturally in the text, the page title and the description. For businesses with a large catchment area, separate pages for the most important places are worthwhile, as long as each one has genuinely its own content. Copied pages where only the place name has been swapped tend to do more harm than good.
5. Add structured data
With structured data (Schema.org, for example LocalBusiness) you tell search engines in a machine-readable way who you are, where you are based and which places you serve. It takes little one-off effort and is included in every KSTAQ website.
6. Collect reviews actively
The number, recency and content of your Google reviews influence your local ranking and, above all, the decision of the people searching. Ask satisfied customers for a review right after the job and reply to every review, including the critical ones.
7. Run a fast, mobile-friendly website
Local searches happen mostly on smartphones, often on the move. According to a 2016 analysis by Google, more than half of mobile visits are abandoned if a page does not load within three seconds. Since July 2018, page speed has also been a ranking factor for mobile searches on Google.
8. Answer your customers' questions
How much does a roof renovation in Dortmund cost? How long does a tax return take? Articles that answer real customer questions reach visitors before they have chosen a provider. One article a month is enough to start with.
9. Measure what happens
Without numbers there is no improvement. Track which search terms people find you for, how many enquiries come in through the website and from which pages. The free Google Search Console and privacy-friendly analytics are all you need for this.
How is local search different from general search?
In a local search, Google decides not only on content but also on proximity. The same query returns different results in Hörde than in the Nordstadt. Three things determine the results in the map pack and in the regular list:
| Factor | What Google checks | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | Does the profile match the search query? | Keep category, services and description accurate |
| Distance | How close is the location to the searcher? | Set the service area correctly in the profile, name places on the website |
| Prominence | How trustworthy does the business appear? | Reviews, links from other websites, complete listings |
You cannot influence distance, but you can influence the other two factors. That is why work on your profile, website and reviews pays off even for businesses that are not located right in the city centre.
Which mistakes are especially common in the Ruhr area?
The same patterns keep turning up on local websites:
- One page for everything. A business serves Dortmund, Bochum and Unna but only has a home page. Separate pages, each with real content about the place and the service, work better.
- A profile nobody looks after. Old opening hours, missing public holidays and unanswered reviews cost trust. Check your profile at least once a quarter.
- Duplicate listings. If you have moved or renamed your company, old listings often remain in directories. They should be corrected or removed.
- No measurement. Without Search Console you do not know which search terms you already appear for.
How all this relates to appearing in AI answers is explained in the article on generative engine optimization. Many of the steps above serve both goals at once.
How long does local SEO take?
A complete Google Business Profile and technical fixes often show an effect within a few weeks. For competitive terms such as "web design Dortmund" or "lawyer Dortmund", plan for three to six months of continuous work.
Frequently asked questions about local SEO
Do I need a shop to appear in Google's local results?
No. Service businesses without premises can specify a service area instead of a visible address in their Google Business Profile. What matters is that phone number, website and services are correct and written the same way everywhere.
Is a Google Business Profile enough on its own?
It achieves a lot at the start, but it does not replace a website. Google compares the details in your profile with your website. If services and local references are missing there, the profile stays weaker than it could be.
What am I allowed to do with reviews, and what not?
You may ask real customers for a review and reply to every review. Bought or self-written reviews violate Google's policies. Google removes them and can restrict the profile, for example by not accepting new reviews for a period or by showing a public warning.
Help with local SEO
On request, KSTAQ takes over the ongoing SEO care for businesses in Dortmund and the surrounding area: ranking monitoring, technical checks, new content and a clear report every month. Ask for a free SEO check.
Sources
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Managing the service area of businesses without a fixed location, Google Business Profile Help
- Prohibited and restricted content, Google Maps user contributed content policy
- Restrictions on Business Profiles after policy violations, Google Business Profile Help
- Local business (LocalBusiness) structured data, Google Search Central
- Spam policies for Google web search (Doorway abuse), Google Search Central
- Using page speed in mobile search ranking, Google Search Central Blog, 17 January 2018
- The need for mobile speed, DoubleClick by Google, 2016 (PDF)
- Google Search Console