The five moves below are the ones that cover the foundations of local SEO without spending a dollar. Each one is documented in Google's own help materials and Schema.org's specs. None of them require a developer or an agency.
1. Claim and complete the Google Business Profile
Verified profile. The most specific primary category that fits your business. Every relevant service typed in. Photos updated. Hours that match the door. A phone number that rings to the right phone.
Source: Book the call.
2. Fix the title tag of every page
Open the home page, the services page, and any location page. Look at the browser tab text. The format that performs is 'Service in Suburb or City | Business Name'. The default 'Home | Business Name' or 'Welcome' is one of the most common reasons local pages underperform.
Source: Google Search Central, Influencing your title links.
3. Get three new reviews
Pick three customers from the past 60 days who said something kind during the job. Send each a short text or email with a direct link to your Google review form. Mentioning the suburb in the request tends to surface that detail in the review itself.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, Read and reply to reviews.
4. List on the major NZ directories
Localist NZ, Yellow NZ, Finda, NZS Directory. Use the exact same name, address, and phone number on every listing. Citations across multiple directories help Google verify that the business is a real entity with a real address.
5. Write one suburb specific blog post
600 words is plenty. Pick the suburb where your highest paying customer lives. Answer one specific question they would ask. Mention the suburb in the title, the first paragraph, and naturally in the body. Add a real photo from a job in that suburb.
The total time
About five hours. Zero dollars. The five steps cover the relevance and prominence sides of Google's local ranking model and start the citation pattern that takes weeks to develop. Doing them properly is genuinely sufficient for most small businesses to start showing up for the easier local terms.
If you want a free check on what to do next once the Saturday list is done, the strategy call is 18 minutes.
Edited by a human.