Most local SEO advice is a collection of tactics with no sequence. You read about schema markup, then NAP consistency, then title tags, then Google Business Profile, and you don’t know where to start or what to do first. Here is a structured 90-day plan that prioritizes actions by impact.
Do these in order. Each phase builds on the previous one. After 90 days, you will have the foundation that the businesses currently outranking you have built over years.
Days 1 to 30: Fix the Foundation
Week 1: Audit and fix your Google Business Profile. Confirm your primary category matches your most searched service. Fill out every section: description, services, attributes, products if applicable. Add 10 photos minimum if you don’t have them. Set your service area if you’re a service-area business.
Week 2: Run a NAP consistency audit. Search your business name and check the top 10 to 15 directory listings that appear. Document every inconsistency. Begin fixing them, starting with Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Bing Places.
Week 3: Fix your website’s title tags and meta descriptions. Every service page and your homepage should have a unique title tag with your primary keyword and city. Test with Google Search Console to confirm the pages are indexed.
Week 4: Set up Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console if you don’t have them. Connect both. Submit your sitemap. Verify your mobile usability in Search Console’s Mobile Usability report.
Days 31 to 60: Build Signals
Week 5: Launch your review collection process. Set a goal of 5 new Google reviews in these 30 days. Text every customer within 24 hours of service completion with a direct review link. Respond to every existing review on Google.
Week 6: Add schema markup to your site. Use Rank Math or Yoast on WordPress, or Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper for other platforms. At minimum: LocalBusiness schema with your name, address, phone, and hours. Validate with Google’s Rich Results Test.
Week 7: Build or claim your Tier 1 citations: Data Axle, Localeze, Apple Maps, and your industry-specific directories. Make sure all information matches your GBP exactly.
Week 8: Post to your Google Business Profile twice this week and commit to a once-per-week posting cadence going forward. Posts keep your profile active and can include offers, updates, or photos of recent work.
Days 61 to 90: Build Authority
Week 9 to 10: Write and publish 2 blog posts targeting local, informational keywords that your prospects search. Focus on questions you answer on sales calls: “How much does X cost in O’Fallon?” and “What’s the difference between X and Y?” These build organic content depth.
Week 11: Request a link from your local Chamber of Commerce. If you’re not a member, join. Request listings in any local business directories you identified during your NAP audit.
Week 12: Run your PageSpeed Insights test and address the top 3 Opportunities flagged for your mobile score. If your score is below 70, prioritize image compression first.
What to Expect
By day 90, most businesses in competitive local markets see measurable improvement in GBP visibility and Local Pack appearances for their primary keywords. The full compounding effect of this foundation takes 6 to 12 months.
This checklist works because it’s complete and ordered. Most businesses fail local SEO by doing some of it, inconsistently, with no sequence.
SVG Digital executes this exact process for clients in O’Fallon, Yorktown, Florence, and surrounding markets. If you’d rather have a team run this for you while you run your business, that’s what we’re here for. Schedule a free consultation at svgdigital.com.
