Originally published November 2016 ยท Updated October 2026 · By SM Web Development
When someone types “furnace repair Edmonton” or “plumber Sherwood Park” into Google, a handful of businesses get almost all the calls. SEO is just the work of being one of them. It isn’t a trick, and you can’t pay Google to rank in the regular results. Here’s how it works, in plain terms.
What Google is trying to do
Google wants people to keep using Google. That means the first results have to be the most useful ones for what was searched. Everything it changes over the years points the same way: show the business or page that best answers the question.
Years ago, people tried to game this. They’d repeat a keyword hundreds of times on a page, sometimes hidden in the footer, hoping Google would think the page was relevant. It worked for a while. It doesn’t now, and it can get a page pushed down. The lesson still holds: anything built to fool Google rather than help a customer tends to stop working.
1. Pages that answer the search
Google reads your pages to work out what you do and where. Make that easy.
- Give each main service its own page. Drain cleaning, water heater installs and bathroom renovations are different searches.
- Write the way your customers talk. They search “furnace not working”, not “heating system diagnostics”.
- Say where you work. Name the towns and areas you serve.
- Answer the questions people ask you on the phone, on the page where they belong.
Write for people, not for a keyword count. If it reads naturally out loud, you’re on the right track.
2. Your Google Business Profile
For local searches, the map results near the top of the page often get the calls before the regular results do. Those come mostly from your Google Business Profile, not your website.
Google says local results are based on three things: how relevant you are to the search, how far you are from the searcher, and how well known and well reviewed you are. You can’t change your address, but you can control the rest:
- Fill in every part of your profile: categories, services, service area, hours and photos
- Make sure your business name, address and phone number match your website exactly
- Link the profile to your website, and your website back to it
3. Reviews
Reviews help you show up and help people choose you. Ask every happy customer, ideally the same day the job is finished, with a direct link to leave one. Reply to reviews, including the bad ones, calmly and briefly. Never buy reviews or write your own.
4. Links
Links still matter in two ways.
- Links between your own pages. Linking your service pages to each other and to your contact page helps Google find everything, and helps visitors find their next step.
- Links from other sites. A link from a reputable site tells Google you’re real and trusted. For a local business, the useful ones are usually close to home: your suppliers, trade associations, local business groups, sponsorships and the local paper.
A few good local links beat hundreds of junk ones. Avoid anyone selling links in bulk.
5. A site that works on phones
Most local searches happen on phones, and Google looks at the phone version of your site first. It should load quickly, be easy to read without zooming, and let someone call you with one tap. If it’s frustrating on a phone, people leave, and that’s a customer lost whatever your ranking. See making sure your website looks great across devices.
What about the age of my domain, or my traffic?
A domain name that’s been around for years isn’t a big advantage on its own. A domain with a history of spam can hold you back, though, so check before buying a used one.
Traffic is mostly a result, not a cause. Do the five things above well and more people find you. That’s the part that grows on its own.
What about AI answers?
Google now shows AI-written summaries at the top of some searches, and people ask assistants for recommendations. The same basics apply. Clear pages that say what you do and where, a complete Business Profile and honest reviews are what these tools draw from too.
The short version
Be the most useful answer for the people you want to serve. Keep your Business Profile complete, collect reviews, make your pages clear and make your site easy on a phone. None of it is fast, but it adds up, and it keeps working. Keeping it up is easier with a site that’s looked after every month, which is what our care plans cover.
When you’re ready to work on it yourself, part 2 covers the local SEO you can do on your own.
Want to know where you stand?
Get a free website review. We’ll look at your site on a phone, the way your customers do, and tell you the three things we’d fix first.