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Recommended Settings for Local Business Sites

Local business sites have unique SEO needs focused on geographic targeting, local search visibility, and driving foot traffic. This guide provides recommended SEOvault AI settings to maximize your local business’s online presence.

Core settings

Section titled “Core settings”

Output mode

Section titled “Output mode”

Recommended: Auto

Auto mode automatically generates SEO metadata based on your templates, ensuring consistency across all pages.

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Output Mode
  2. Select Auto
  3. Click Save Changes

Homepage settings

Section titled “Homepage settings”

Title template:

%business_name% - %city% %state% - %service_keyword%

Description template:

%business_name% provides %service_keyword% in %city%, %state%. Call %phone% for %primary_service%.

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > Homepage
  2. Set the title and description templates
  3. Click Save Changes

This format emphasizes your location and services, which are critical for local search.

Local business schema

Section titled “Local business schema”

Recommended: Enable LocalBusiness schema

LocalBusiness schema is essential for local SEO. It helps search engines understand your business information for local search results and Google Business Profile integration.

Required schema fields:

Section titled “Required schema fields:”
  • Name — Your business name
  • Address — Full street address
  • Phone — Local phone number
  • Opening hours — Business hours
  • Geo coordinates — Latitude and longitude
Section titled “Recommended schema types:”

Choose the most specific type for your business:

  • LocalBusiness — General local business
  • Restaurant — Restaurants and cafes
  • Dentist — Dental practices
  • Plumber — Plumbing services
  • Electrician — Electrical services
  • HairSalon — Hair and beauty salons
  • AccountingService — Accounting firms
  • Attorney — Law firms
  • RealEstateAgent — Real estate agents

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Schema
  2. Check Enable Schema Markup
  3. Add LocalBusiness schema with your business details
  4. Click Save Changes

NAP consistency

Section titled “NAP consistency”

Critical: Ensure Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) are consistent across:

  • Your website
  • Google Business Profile
  • Other local directories (Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc.)
  • Social media profiles

Inconsistent NAP data confuses search engines and hurts local rankings.

Location pages

Section titled “Location pages”

If you have multiple locations, create dedicated location pages:

Title template for location pages:

Section titled “Title template for location pages:”
%service_keyword% in %city% %state% - %business_name%

Description template:

Section titled “Description template:”
%business_name% offers %service_keyword% in %city%, %state%. Visit us at %address% or call %phone%.

Schema for location pages:

Section titled “Schema for location pages:”

Add LocalBusiness schema to each location page with location-specific details.

Service pages

Section titled “Service pages”

Create dedicated pages for each service you offer:

Title template:

Section titled “Title template:”
%service_name% in %city% %state% - %business_name%

Description template:

Section titled “Description template:”
Learn about %service_name% from %business_name% in %city%, %state%. %service_description%. Call %phone%.

Schema:

Section titled “Schema:”

Use Service schema or Article schema for service pages.

Social media optimization

Section titled “Social media optimization”

Open Graph

Section titled “Open Graph”

Recommended: Enable

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Open Graph
  2. Check Enable Open Graph
  3. Set default OG image (business logo or storefront photo)
  4. Click Save Changes

Twitter Cards

Section titled “Twitter Cards”

Recommended: Enable with large image

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Twitter Cards
  2. Check Enable Twitter Cards
  3. Select Summary with Large Image
  4. Click Save Changes

Sitemap

Section titled “Sitemap”

Recommended: Enable

Include all location and service pages in your sitemap.

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > Sitemap
  2. Check Enable Custom Sitemap
  3. Set sitemap URL to /sitemap.xml
  4. Click Save Changes

Post types to include:

Section titled “Post types to include:”
  • Pages (location pages, service pages, about, contact)
  • Posts (if you have a blog)
  • Custom post types (services, locations, testimonials)

Canonical URLs

Section titled “Canonical URLs”

Recommended: Enable

Canonical URLs prevent duplicate content issues, especially important if you have similar location or service pages.

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Canonical URLs
  2. Check Enable Canonical URLs
  3. Click Save Changes

Feed optimization

Section titled “Feed optimization”

Recommended: Optional

Most local businesses don’t need RSS feeds. Disable if not used.

To configure:

  1. Go to SEOvault AI > General > Feed
  2. Uncheck feed options if not needed
  3. Click Save Changes

Advanced local business recommendations

Section titled “Advanced local business recommendations”

Contact page optimization

Section titled “Contact page optimization”

Your contact page is critical for local SEO:

Title:

Contact %business_name% - %city% %state% - %phone%

Description:

Contact %business_name% in %city%, %state%. Address: %address%. Phone: %phone%. Hours: %hours%.

Include:

  • Full address with Google Maps embed
  • Phone number with click-to-call link
  • Business hours
  • Driving directions
  • Contact form
  • Email address

About page optimization

Section titled “About page optimization”

Title:

About %business_name% - %service_keyword% in %city% %state%

Description:

Learn about %business_name%, your trusted %service_keyword% in %city%, %state%. Serving the community since %year%.

Include:

  • Business history
  • Team information with photos
  • Certifications and licenses
  • Service area
  • Customer testimonials

Testimonials

Section titled “Testimonials”

Add schema markup to testimonials for rich results:

Recommended schema: Review schema

Include:

  • Customer name (or “Verified Customer”)
  • Review rating (1-5 stars)
  • Review text
  • Date of review
  • Service or product reviewed

Image optimization

Section titled “Image optimization”

Critical images:

Section titled “Critical images:”
  • Business logo — Use on all pages
  • Storefront photo — Homepage and about page
  • Team photos — About page
  • Service photos — Service pages
  • Location photos — Location pages

Image SEO:

Section titled “Image SEO:”
  • Use descriptive alt text (e.g., “Smith Plumbing storefront in Denver, Colorado”)
  • Compress images for faster loading
  • Use appropriate file names
  • Add geotagged images if possible

Mobile optimization

Section titled “Mobile optimization”

Critical: Local searches are predominantly mobile

Ensure:

  • Click-to-call phone numbers
  • Mobile-friendly maps
  • Fast page load speed
  • Easy-to-use contact forms
  • Readable text without zooming

Google Business Profile integration

Section titled “Google Business Profile integration”

While SEOvault AI handles on-page SEO, integrate with Google Business Profile for maximum local visibility:

  • Verify your business
  • Complete all information (hours, categories, attributes)
  • Add photos regularly
  • Respond to reviews
  • Post updates and offers
  • Use the exact NAP as on your website

Performance considerations

Section titled “Performance considerations”

Page speed

Section titled “Page speed”

Local search users expect fast results. Optimize:

  • Image compression
  • Caching
  • Minimize CSS/JS
  • Use a CDN
  • Choose fast hosting

Core Web Vitals

Section titled “Core Web Vitals”

Monitor and optimize:

  • Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
  • First Input Delay (FID)
  • Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)

Monitoring and maintenance

Section titled “Monitoring and maintenance”

Regular tasks

Section titled “Regular tasks”
  • Weekly: Check Google Business Profile insights
  • Monthly: Review local search rankings
  • Quarterly: Update business hours and seasonal info
  • Annually: Refresh photos and testimonials

Key metrics to track

Section titled “Key metrics to track”
  • Local search rankings for target keywords
  • Google Business Profile views and clicks
  • Phone call tracking
  • Direction requests
  • Website traffic from local searches
  • Conversion rate (calls, form submissions, visits)

Common local business mistakes to avoid

Section titled “Common local business mistakes to avoid”
  • Inconsistent NAP — Keep business info identical everywhere
  • Keyword stuffing — Use location keywords naturally
  • Ignoring reviews — Respond to all reviews, positive and negative
  • Duplicate listings — Claim and merge duplicate business listings
  • Missing schema — LocalBusiness schema is essential for local SEO
  • No mobile optimization — Most local searches are on mobile
  • Ignoring Google Business Profile — It’s critical for local visibility

Multi-location businesses

Section titled “Multi-location businesses”

For businesses with multiple locations:

Create separate pages for each location

Section titled “Create separate pages for each location”

Each location page should have:

  • Unique title and description
  • Location-specific address and phone
  • Location-specific schema
  • Location-specific content (not duplicated)
  • Location-specific reviews
  • Embedded map for that location

Use location-based URLs

Section titled “Use location-based URLs”

Example structure:

  • yoursite.com/locations/denver/
  • yoursite.com/locations/colorado-springs/

Add breadcrumb schema

Section titled “Add breadcrumb schema”

Help search engines understand your site structure and location hierarchy.

Service area businesses

Section titled “Service area businesses”

If you serve customers at their locations (e.g., plumbers, electricians):

Use ServiceAreaBusiness schema

Section titled “Use ServiceAreaBusiness schema”

Instead of LocalBusiness, use ServiceAreaBusiness with:

  • Service area (cities, counties, or radius)
  • No physical address (or use address as admin only)
  • Travel radius if applicable

Optimize for service area keywords

Section titled “Optimize for service area keywords”

Include service area in titles and descriptions:

Plumbing Services in Denver Metro Area - Smith Plumbing

When to customize these recommendations

Section titled “When to customize these recommendations”

Customize settings if:

  • Your business has a unique model (e.g., mobile service only)
  • You target multiple service areas with different strategies
  • You have a franchise structure with specific requirements
  • Your industry has specialized schema needs
Section titled “Related docs”