Before we get granular, let's hit pause and look around. We've all felt the tug—from clients, business partners, or that tiny inner voice—that our websites could be doing more. Not just looking prettier. Not just loading faster. But showing up where it counts: in front of people who are actually searching for something you offer, at the exact moment they need it.
And no SEO topic hits that sweet spot like the local pack. If you're a local business or serve a geographic area—and almost every one of my clients fits that category—then that little block of map listings that appears in Google search is gold. It's where the buying intentions are clearest. It's not about vanity traffic. It's about visibility that turns into visits, calls, and revenue.
So we're going to unpack exactly how to optimize your website, your presence, and your mindset for showing up in the local pack. Along the way, I’ll share stories from real clients, tactics I’ve battle-tested, and frameworks I use when helping someone figure out why their bakery in Nashville isn't showing up while their competitor two miles away is.
The "local pack" is that lit-up map section that shows a few nearby businesses when someone does a search like “coffee shop near me” or “Web designer in Franklin TN.” It usually lives right under the ads and above the regular organic results. Each listing includes a business’s name, Google rating, quick info, and sometimes call-to-action buttons like “Call” or “Directions.”
Here's the key: These results dominate the top of the page, especially on mobile. And in about 44% of all Google searches, a user is looking for local information according to a HubSpot report. That means nearly half the time, people want results that are geographically relevant. The local pack is how Google delivers those results.
If you're a service-area business or have any kind of physical presence—even a coworking space you rent for client meetings—you have a chance to show up here. When I'm working with clients who can't figure out why web traffic hasn't translated into new business, we often uncover one key issue: they're not showing up in that crucial map pack for local searches. They're not even in the game yet.
If your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) isn't fully built out, you're trying to win a race you never signed up for.
I've seen this over and over: a business claims their GBP, adds a couple photos and their hours, then forgets it exists for the next three years. But Google rewards businesses that actively manage their profile. That means uploading new photos monthly, responding to every review (yes, even the nasty one from Steve who didn't understand your 24-hour cancellation policy), and publishing Google Posts like short updates or offers.
One client of mine—a roofing company in Brentwood—went from 12 monthly calls to over 40 in just two months, without changing a single thing on their main site. The difference? Weekly Google Post updates, new project photos, and a 95% response rate to reviews. It's not rocket science, just consistency.
If you treat your GBP like a living part of your strategy—not a one-time form—you'll already be ahead of 80% of local businesses.
Even though most people associate the local pack with what's in your Google Business Profile, your website plays a massive supporting role. Google crawls your site to confirm and contextualize what you're presenting in GBP.
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. It needs to be consistent across your website, GBP, directory listings, and anywhere else you show up online. Inconsistent NAP info is a trust-breaker for search engines (and, honestly, for users too).
For example, I worked with a local pet grooming shop in Spring Hill whose GBP wasn’t ranking even when people searched “pet groomer Spring Hill TN.” Why? Their new location had the correct address, but three directories and their own homepage still listed the old one. Once we cleaned that up, boom—map rankings jumped in a week.
If you serve multiple cities or neighborhoods, don't cram them all onto one "Service Areas" page. Build out dedicated landing pages for each city with custom content, unique testimonials, and locally relevant images. These pages shouldn't feel templated or repetitive. They should give Google a strong signal that you're genuinely invested in each area.
I helped a home renovation business nearby optimize separate pages for Franklin, Brentwood, and Nolensville. We included before-and-after galleries for each region, keyword-rich headings like “Franklin Kitchen Remodels,” and client testimonials that specifically mentioned their neighborhood. Result: a 78% uptick in traffic from users Googling "[city] home renovation."
Add localBusiness schema to your website to help search engines better interpret your NAP info, hours, and services. It’s not a silver bullet, but it ties the signals together like a strong handshake between your site and Google.
Google uses online reviews as a heavily weighted trust factor for the local pack. The quantity, diversity, frequency, and sentiment of your reviews all play a role.
This seems obvious, yet so few actually build it into their process. One local yoga studio I work with turned things around by automating review requests via email after class packages were completed. Within 90 days they went from 14 reviews to 113. It wasn’t the new site I built them that moved the needle—it was the explosion of local feedback that proved they were relevant and trustworthy to potential students.
Responding to reviews—positive or negative—shows both prospective customers and Google that you care. For example, when someone drops a five-star review and the business replies with “Thanks!”—that’s fine.
But when you personalize the response, mention the specific service, and welcome them back? It reinforces all the key terms you want to show up for. Even better, responding to negative reviews diplomatically can actually improve your perception and rankings.
Backlinks remain a foundational part of SEO, and local SEO is no exception. But it's not about chasing high DA sites across the web. It’s about accruing relevant links from local and niche sources that point toward your legitimacy.
For example, when I helped a Franklin photographer get covered in the local digital news round-up (including a link to their site), they noticed not just an SEO boost, but direct referral traffic that owned the first steps of the buyer journey.
Citations are mentions of your NAP across the web, like Yelp, YellowPages, Facebook, or industry directories. They aren’t as highly weighted as they used to be, but inconsistencies can ding your trust signal.
Use tools like Whitespark or Moz Local to audit and fix incorrect listings, then build missing citations in the top 30-50 directories for your industry.
The local pack is a mobile-first experience. Over 60% of Google searches happen on mobile devices according to Statista. That means your site better load fast, display clearly, and make it dead simple to take action—like calling, booking, or navigating.
A restaurant I worked with in East Nashville had a gorgeous desktop site, but the mobile menu was buried behind three layers of navigation. After redesigning their mobile layout to show hours, address, and a menu upfront, their bounce rate on mobile dropped by 42%, and they had significantly more "click to call" actions during peak hours.
This is where it gets a little nebulous—but important. Google's tracking how users engage with map listings and websites. If people click your GBP profile and bounce quickly, or if they never click it at all, those soft signals can work against you.
That's why having compelling copy, strong visuals, and clear next steps on both GBP and your site matters. It’s not just about ranking—it’s about holding attention and facilitating action.
A dentist I consulted in Cool Springs implemented video walk-throughs on their GBP and homepage. The average time on page jumped from 0:52 to 2:03. More dwell time, more interaction, and within a couple weeks they outranked a larger competitor for “Cool Springs dentist near me.”
You can’t improve what you’re not measuring. Local SEO doesn’t show up neatly in Google Analytics unless you know what to look for. Use Google Business Insights to analyze your GBP performance—track phone calls, click-throughs, driving directions, and photo views.
Set up UTM parameters in your GBP website link so you can trace GBP traffic inside Google Analytics. This helps you identify how much business is coming directly through your local listings.
And track keyword rankings with tools like BrightLocal that focus on actual local map pack movement, not just general organic.
If you’ve made it this far, then here’s the biggest thing I want you to take away: optimizing for the local pack isn’t about tricking algorithms. It’s about aligning your digital signals with what you’re already doing in the real world to serve your community well.
Your Google Business Profile should tell the true story of your business—in photos, in reviews, and in how consistently you communicate.
Your website should reinforce that story with technically sound, content-rich, user-friendly pages that Google (and customers) can trust.
Your links, citations, and press should expand that story into your broader network of community credibility.
None of this is glamorous. But it works. And in a local economy like ours—whether you're in Franklin, Nashville, or any other tight-knit city—authentic visibility matters more than ever.
The map pack might just be a block of real estate on a screen. But if you care about your town, your clients, and your craft, it’s some of the most valuable digital property you’ll ever fight for.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
