Everything clients ask us, answered.

Google Business Profile, every time. It appears above the normal search results, it is free, and most businesses leave it incomplete. Correct categories, real photographs, accurate hours, and genuine reviews will out-earn most paid campaigns.

Relevance, distance, and prominence. You cannot change distance, so the work is in the other two: complete and accurate profile information, consistent details everywhere you are listed, genuine recent reviews, and a website with real local content.

More than your nearest competitors and recent enough to look current. Fifty reviews from three years ago is weaker than fifteen from the last six months. Steady flow matters more than total.

Yes. Your Google listing brings people to a decision point; the website is where they check whether you are credible. It also gives you a channel no platform can change the rules on.

Less than most expect, because you are only bidding within a small radius. A tightly targeted local campaign can produce steady enquiries on a modest budget, which is not true of broader campaigns.

No. Pick where your customers are and do that well. For most local service businesses that is Google, one social platform, and WhatsApp. Five neglected profiles look worse than one active one.

Make the button obvious on every page and in your Google listing, pre-fill a sensible message so people do not have to compose one, and answer during business hours. Most local businesses lose enquiries to the delay, not to the competition.

For certain catchments and certain categories, yes, particularly outside metros. Add a QR code or a dedicated number so you can tell whether it returned anything, rather than repeating it out of habit.

On the things they cannot do: knowing customers by name, flexibility, response speed, and genuine local presence. Their advantage is budget; yours is proximity and relationship, and most local businesses fail to communicate either.

Actual work, actual customers with permission, seasonal relevance, and answers to the questions people ring up and ask. It does not need to be polished. Real and regular beats produced and rare.