Local SEO, Melbourne —
found by the customers nearby.
Help nearby customers find you — in Google, on Maps, and in the local pack.
Local SEO is how a Melbourne business gets found by nearby customers on Google and Google Maps — in the map pack, the local results, and on your Google Business Profile. That's what I set up and keep tuned, for small businesses across Melbourne and Victoria.
You work directly with me — one person, start to finish. I'll tell you plainly where you stand in local search today, what's worth doing first, and what you can leave alone. No jargon, and no promises I can't keep.
// 45 min · Google Meet · No obligation
// Recognition
Why people come to me for this.
Usually because customers who are right around the corner still can't find them — or because a Google Business Profile has been sitting untouched while others move above them on Maps. It tends to look like one of these:
Missing from the map
Customers nearby search on Google Maps and your business doesn't show up — or sits well below others who aren't any closer.
A neglected profile
The Google Business Profile hasn't been touched in a year or two — old hours, wrong categories, no recent posts — so nearby searchers see a competitor first.
Found by name, not locally
You rank fine for your own business name, but not for the local searches — '[your service] near me' — that bring in new customers.
It shouldn't take a marketing background to know why nearby customers aren't finding you. Someone who can plainly sort out your Google Business Profile, the local terms worth targeting, and the tracking to see it working is usually enough.
// How it works
How Google decides who shows up locally.
Google's own explanation of local ranking comes down to three things. Knowing them is most of the job:
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Relevance. How well your business matches what someone searches for — which is why complete, accurate Google Business Profile categories and details matter so much.
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Distance. How close you are to the searcher, or to the area they're searching in. You can't move your shopfront, but you can make sure Google knows exactly where you are and who you serve.
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Prominence. How well-known and well-regarded your business is — from genuine reviews and mentions across the web to your broader search presence. It's the part that builds over time.
No one controls these outright, and no one can buy a better organic spot in the local results — anyone who guarantees a #1 on Maps is guessing. What I can do is get every factor you do control into the best shape it can be. Local SEO builds on the same clean foundations as the rest of your search presence — if you want the broader picture, see my SEO consultant service.
// What I do
What I do.
Local SEO is the map-pack and Maps side of getting found. It's steady, practical work — most of it centred on your Google Business Profile and a site that clearly serves the places you work. Here's what that covers:
Your Google Business Profile, set up to work.
Claimed and verified, with the right categories, service areas, hours, description and photos — and kept current with posts. For most local businesses, this is where the enquiries come from.
The local terms worth ranking for.
Research into what nearby customers actually type — '[service] near me', suburb-level searches, the questions people ask — mapped to the right page on your site.
Consistent business details across the web.
Your name, address and phone the same everywhere they appear — directories, listings, your own site — so Google trusts who and where you are. Confusion here quietly holds local ranking back.
Local schema, so Google reads your business cleanly.
LocalBusiness structured data — address, hours, area served, service list — so search engines understand the essentials without having to guess.
A genuine way to earn reviews.
A simple, honest way to ask happy customers for a review — no incentives, no gating, nothing against Google's rules. Real reviews are one of the strongest local signals there is.
Google Maps and the local pack.
Tuning everything that decides whether you show up in the three-listing local pack and on Maps for the searches that matter near you.
Local content that earns its place.
Briefs for the pages worth having — your service areas, the questions locals ask — written to help a real person, not to stuff a keyword. I brief and review; the writing stays with you or your writer.
The measurement underneath it.
Google Business Profile insights, calls, direction requests and website clicks tracked cleanly alongside GA4 and Search Console — so you can see whether local search is actually bringing people in.
// For the technically curious — the local details behind this
LocalBusiness + Service schema (address, geo, areaServed, opening hours) · Google Business Profile (categories, services, service-area setup, posts, photos) · NAP / citation consistency across reputable directories · review-acquisition flow (Google-compliant — no gating, no incentives) · GBP Insights + GA4 + Search Console for local performance · Bing Places for the Microsoft/Copilot side. All set up cleanly, all reported in plain language.
Want the plain-English detail first? I wrote a guide to local SEO for Melbourne businesses — what actually moves the needle on Maps and in the local pack.
You work directly with me — one person, start to finish. You'll always know exactly who's doing your local SEO, because it's me.— Nathan Schram · Local SEO, Melbourne
An agency suits businesses that need large-scale output across a big team. A consultant suits businesses that want direct access, plain answers, and someone who'll tell them when something isn't worth doing. If that's you, this is built for how you like to work.
// Where I work
Who I work with locally.
I'm based in Melbourne and work with small businesses right across the city and the suburbs, as well as regional Victoria and the rest of Australia remotely. Local SEO is location-specific work, so I tune it to wherever your customers actually are — a single Melbourne suburb, a service area across several, or a regional town.
Your local visibility is built on one real, well-kept Google Business Profile and a site that genuinely serves the places you work — not a stack of near-identical "SEO in [suburb]" pages. Google treats those as doorway pages, and they don't help anyone.
// What I don't do
What I don't do.
Honest scope — and with local SEO, some of the "services" out there are things you actively shouldn't buy.
If something sits outside the default scope and there's a real reason to do it, ask anyway. The honest discipline runs both ways: you have to agree to the scope, and I have to be confident I can deliver it to a standard worth my name.
// Pricing
What it costs.
Here's how the money usually works, in plain numbers. Most local SEO work with me takes one of three shapes:
// Audit
A one-off local audit.
A clear read on where you stand in local search and Maps, with fixes you can action yourself or hand to another provider. Free as the Basic Digital Health Check on every call; the In-Depth version — checked against your actual Google Business Profile and accounts — starts at $300.
// Setup
A local-SEO setup sprint.
Claiming and optimising the Google Business Profile, sorting out citations and local schema, setting up the review flow and the tracking — then a window to see it working. Project-based, quoted to scope after the call.
// Ongoing
Ongoing local care.
Keeping the profile active, watching the local rankings and reviews, and shipping the next round of work each month. Suits competitive local markets. From around $1,000/month, quoted to your scope — see Looked After.
ACNC-registered charities: 25% off. Single ABN-lookup verification at intake — the same rate that runs across every NSD service.
// FAQ
Common questions.
What is local SEO?
How much does local SEO cost in Melbourne?
Is local SEO worth it for a small business?
What's a Google Business Profile and do I need one?
How long until I show up in the map pack?
Do you guarantee a #1 ranking on Google Maps?
What's the difference between local SEO and regular SEO?
Do you work with businesses outside Melbourne, or in my suburb?
Can I do local SEO myself?
// Start
Get started.
Wondering whether local SEO would bring more customers through the door? Book a 45-minute call. I'll run a free Basic Digital Health Check on your site and Google Business Profile beforehand and walk you through it — so the conversation starts from a clear picture of where you stand locally.
// 45 minutes · Google Meet · no obligation
Every call ends with one — a plain-English read on where you stand in local search today. No charge, no catch.
- What's working in local search — and what's quietly holding you back
- Your top 3 local fixes, in priority order
- Yours to keep, whether you work with me afterwards or not
The PDF is yours to keep regardless.
// Last updated: 2026-07-17