Local SEO is the work of getting your business shown when people nearby search for what you do, in Google Maps and the local results on Google Search. For a Kent business, that means an accurate Google Business Profile, genuine reviews, the same contact details everywhere online and a website that is clear about which towns you serve. None of it can be bought: Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
We're based in Gravesend, so this is home ground. Here is how it works, and how it varies across the county.
How does Google decide which local businesses to show?
Google says local results are mainly based on three things:
- Relevance — how well your Business Profile matches what someone searched for. Google says complete, detailed information helps it make that match.
- Distance — how far your business is from the person searching. If they don't share their location, Google uses what it knows about where they are.
- Prominence — how well known your business is. Google says this draws on things like how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have.
You can't change distance. Relevance and prominence are where your effort goes, and neither is instant: see how long SEO takes.
Is your Business Profile complete and accurate?
Our Google Business Profile setup guide goes step by step, so here are the points worth checking first.
- Verify it. Google says a verified profile is more likely to show up in search results.
- Use your real business name. Google's guidelines for representing your business say it should match your shopfront, website and stationery. Adding extras such as "Emergency Roofer Gravesend" isn't permitted and can lead to suspension.
- Keep hours and details accurate. Google says inaccurate information can stop your profile showing for relevant searches.
If you work from home or travel to customers
Many trades run from home. Google calls these service-area businesses, and its guidelines are direct: if you don't serve customers at your address, you should hide it. A plumber working from home in Northfleet should clear the address and set a service area instead.
Between those guidelines and Google's service area help page, a few rules stand out:
- You can set up to 20 service areas, by city, postcode or other area, but not as a radius.
- Your overall area shouldn't stretch beyond about two hours' driving time from where you're based.
- PO boxes aren't acceptable, and a virtual office (an address you rent but don't work from) isn't eligible at all.
- An office in a co-working space only counts if it has clear signage and is staffed and open to customers during opening hours.
Listing a town as a service area is not the same as ranking there. Relevance, distance and prominence still apply, so don't expect twenty towns to put you in the map results across the county.
Why must your name, address and phone match everywhere?
Google says it compiles profile information from a variety of sources, including your website, licensed third-party data and facts contributed by users, as well as what you enter yourself. When those sources disagree — an old number on a directory, a previous address on Facebook — you leave Google and your customers guessing.
Pick one exact version of your name, address and phone number, known as NAP, and use it on your website, social profiles and every directory you're listed on. If you move or change number, update them all at once.
How do you get Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Reviews feed prominence, and customers read them before they ring. Google's Maps user-generated content policy does not allow:
- offering incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, in exchange for a review
- discouraging negative reviews, or selectively asking only happy customers for reviews
- pressuring customers to review you while they're on the premises, or asking staff to collect a set number of reviews
- reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as those from current or former employees
So don't send your review link only to pleased customers. Ask everyone, in the same way, once the job is done. Google suggests a review link or QR code to make it easy.
UK law points the same way. Since April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has included an explicit ban on posting and commissioning fake reviews, and the Competition and Markets Authority can fine companies that break consumer law up to 10% of their global turnover.
Then reply to reviews, good and bad. Google says helpful replies can help your business stand out. With a negative review, acknowledge the problem, don't argue, and offer to sort it out directly.
Location pages: when do they help, and when are they doorway pages?
A page for each Kent town you serve can help customers, but done badly it breaks Google's rules. Its spam policies describe doorway abuse, including pages targeted at specific cities that funnel visitors to one page, and substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clear site structure. The same policies count blocks of text listing the cities a page wants to rank for as keyword stuffing, so skip the long list of Kent towns in your footer.
A "Looking for a roofer in Maidstone?" page copied for Ashford with only the town name changed is the thing to avoid. A location page worth having:
- exists only for a place you genuinely cover
- says which services you offer there, and any you don't
- answers local practical questions, such as call-out charges or parking
- shows real work from the area, with the customer's permission
If you can't write something different and useful for a town, don't make the page; one page listing the areas you cover is the honest alternative. Thin pages also feature in why a website isn't ranking on Google.
How do you earn local links and mentions in Kent?
Links to your business count towards prominence, and the most natural local ones come from groups you're already part of:
- local chambers of commerce and business membership organisations that list their members
- trade bodies and accreditation schemes that list approved members
- suppliers and local businesses you genuinely work with
- local news coverage when you have something worth reporting, such as new premises or a first apprentice
Sponsoring a local club is good for being seen, but a link given for money is a paid link. Google says those should be marked as sponsored, and buying links to manipulate rankings counts as link spam.
How do searches differ across Kent towns?
Kent isn't one market. We won't quote search volumes by town, and be wary of anyone who does without a source. What we can describe is how the places differ, which shapes how people search and who you compete with.
| Area | Worth knowing |
|---|---|
| Gravesend | Part of Gravesham borough, with Northfleet and several villages. Customers may search by the smaller place name. |
| Dartford | Borders the London Borough of Bexley. Because distance counts, a search in Dartford can bring up businesses just over the border. |
| Medway | Several towns, not one: Chatham, Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. Name the ones you serve. |
| Maidstone | The county town, at the centre of a large borough of villages. You may compete with firms from across it. |
| Canterbury | A cathedral and university city with many visitors. Whitstable and Herne Bay share its district but are distinct places. |
| Ashford | A largely rural borough that includes Tenterden, so customers can be spread over a wide area. |
| Tunbridge Wells | Easily confused with Tonbridge, a separate town a few miles away. Be precise about which you serve. |
Check your own data instead. Google Search Console's Performance report can group results by the queries people typed, and your Business Profile's performance section shows the search terms people used to find you. Look for which town names actually appear.
Don't judge your position by searching from your own desk, either. Google notes that results depend on the time, place, device and recent history of the person searching, so what you see in Gravesend may not be what someone sees in Tunbridge Wells.
Getting help with local SEO in Kent
Most of this you can do yourself, with some patience. If you'd rather someone checked your profile, pages and links and told you plainly what to fix first, that is what our SEO service does for businesses across Kent and London.