PROFILE, LISTINGS, REVIEWS AND PAGES
THREE PROGRAMS. ONE PLAN.LOCAL SEO SERVICES
FOR YOUR OWN BACKYARD.
Our local SEO services help your business get found in Google Search and Google Maps by nearby customers looking for what you do.
We do the work in every program. The difference is how much we take off your plate. We’re 5.0 on Google ↗.
PUT MY BUSINESS ON THE MAP ↗Compare the three programs ↓You’ve built the business.
Let’s help people find it. ↗
01 / WHO GETS THE CALL
REFERRALS ARE GREAT. strangers need to find you, too.
A referral searches your name. A new customer searches “HVAC near me.” If your competitor shows up and you don’t, who do you think gets the call?
Everything we do is built for local intent, because we’re not trying to rank you nationally. Google’s local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and prominence. We can improve your information and reputation; we can’t move the searcher.
Google Maps SEO focuses on visibility in Google Maps and the Local Pack. Local SEO is broader and also includes organic website rankings, service pages, technical SEO, citations, reviews, local links, and conversion paths. Most local businesses need both, so our programs cover both.
Search visibility is one measure of progress. Received inquiries and qualified prospects show whether that visibility is useful.
02 / WHAT’S INCLUDED
THE WORK. THE AREA. the proof.
Make three things clear: what you do, where you do it, and why people should trust you. Then measure what changes. Every program starts with keyword research, a full Google Business Profile audit, and citation work.
The work: does Google know what you actually do?
Accurate categories, real services, and useful pages that explain the jobs you want more of. That covers local keyword research, Google Business Profile optimization, on-page SEO, website SEO, technical SEO and structured data.
The area: can customers find you where you work?
Clear service areas, consistent business details, and pages built around places you genuinely serve. That covers business listings and citations and Google Maps SEO measured across the neighborhoods you actually serve, not just from your office.
The proof: is there a reason to choose you?
Customer feedback, documented work, and relevant websites that mention your business. That covers review management, with honest requests and helpful replies, and authority building from real local and industry sources.
The scoreboard: what changed?
Competitor evaluation shows who shows up instead of you. Tracking and reporting keeps search visibility, website activity and recorded requests separate, with dates and limits next to the numbers.
03 / THE HEAT MAP
YOUR RANKING ISN’T ONE NUMBER. it’s a map.
Search “plumber near me” from your own shop and you probably look great. That’s the problem. Google shows a different map pack depending on where the searcher is standing, so someone a few miles away sees a different set of businesses than you do.
Plenty of agencies report one ranking from one spot, or worse, a statewide keyword that has nothing to do with the neighborhoods you actually drive to. We measure it the way your customers see it: across your service area, one point at a time.
How a heat map works
We lay a square grid of points over your area, usually centered on your business. At every point, we run the same search a customer standing there would run, and record where your business shows up. Green means you’re in the top three. The warmer the color, the further down the list you are, and red means you’re buried or missing completely.
The grid size depends on your plan. The scan we run in a free consultation is usually a 9x9 grid that reaches 10 miles out in every direction: 81 points, 2.5 miles apart.
One look tells you what a single ranking never will: where customers can find you and where they can’t. The scan behind it shows which competitors get the call instead.
Why the top three is the number that counts
Google’s map pack shows three businesses. Everyone else sits behind a click to the full list. Showing up sixth, eleventh or twelfth across a suburb looks fine in a report and does far less for your phone. According to Local Falcon, the top three spots get nearly half of all clicks on a local search.
What SoLV means, and why we chase it
SoLV stands for Share of Local Voice. It’s the percentage of points on your heat map where you show up in the top three. If you’re in the top three at 20 of 81 points, your SoLV is about 25%. Put another way: at about three of every four points we checked, you’re not in the map pack.
That’s why SoLV is the first number we look at and the one we work hardest to move. Average rank can hide a lot. SoLV tells you how much of your market you actually own, keyword by keyword, and how far you are behind the business that owns the most of it. Our guide to tracking local rankings on Google Maps explains the other numbers on a scan.
SoLV is a registered trademark of Local Falcon LLC.
THE DOOM PATTERN. great at the shop, red a few miles out.
Here’s a pattern we see on a lot of first scans. The business ranks great close to the shop, then fades fast. A few miles out, the map turns red.
Meanwhile, your trucks drive a lot farther than that for jobs. The calls from those neighborhoods still happen every week. They’re just going to whoever shows up when someone across town types what you do into Google.
It happens because distance is one of the three main things Google says it weighs in local results. When it doesn’t have other reasons to show you further out, it assumes you’re the right answer only for people close by.
Telling Google you go further than your front door
The fix is proof. Google needs real evidence that you work in those towns. Not a long list of city names in your footer, and not copy-and-paste city pages with the name swapped out.
We build that evidence town by town, across your website, your Google Business Profile and the rest of the web, aimed at the exact spots where your map is red. Which signals, how many and in what order all depend on your market and what your competitors are already doing. Figuring that out is what your audit is for.
One thing we’ll tell you for free: the service area setting in your Google Business Profile shows customers where you go, but in our experience it won’t move your rankings much on its own. If that’s all that stands between you and the next town over, it isn’t enough.
Distance still matters, and we won’t pretend otherwise. We can’t move the searcher, and a shop in one corner of a metro isn’t going to own the far corner overnight. But distance isn’t everything. Google weighs it together with how well you match the search and how well-known you are, and those two are what we build.
FROM THE SHOP OUTWARD. how the green spreads.
Nobody goes from a small patch of green to owning the whole map in one move. It spreads outward, ring by ring, as Google sees more reasons to show you further from home.
1. Map your area. Your first scan is the baseline. Same keyword, same grid, same center point from here on, so you’re always comparing like with like. Many businesses start out ranking well close to home and fading fast.
2. Lock down home base. Before we push outward, the core has to be solid: your Google Business Profile, categories, services and listings all right, so the area around your shop can turn green and stay green.
3. Push into the next ring. We aim at specific towns, starting with the ones where you’re close, ranking fourth through tenth. Those tend to move first.
4. Reach the edge, then go further. We keep building into the higher-value towns where you were missing completely. Once most of the grid is green, we look at the towns beyond it.
Every market moves at its own pace
Some climb steadily, some swing from scan to scan, and a few take months to start. That’s why we read the whole series of scans, not one good or bad day.
Our goal in the heat map
Turn red into green in the towns that matter most to your business, and keep it there.
Every month, we rescan the same keyword, the same grid and the same center point, so the only thing that changes is the date. Each scan also shows us who holds the top three where you don’t, so we know exactly who we’re chasing.
We don’t promise a specific SoLV. Nobody honest can, because your competitors are working too. What we promise is that you’ll always see the map, wins and misses both.
If your current agency can pull a neighborhood-by-neighborhood map of where you rank, you’re in good hands. If they can’t, you can’t see which neighborhoods you’re losing.
Free map scan in every consultation, for your area and the searches for what you do.
SHOW ME MY HEAT MAP ↗04 / RESULTS WITH DATES
RESULTS WITH DATES. misses included.
Each result compares Local Falcon scans with the same keyword, grid and center. Only the dates differ. This is sampled map visibility, not leads, and every case study shows the full scan history and its limits.
Reborn Roofing, Collierville, TN
For “roof repair Collierville”, SoLV (top-three share) went from 0% on March 30, 2026 to 28.9% on October 8, 2026 (15x15 grid, 15 miles). “Roof repair Memphis” did not follow: 0.4% in March, 0% in October.
ROOFING→02Cohens Electronics and Appliances, Montgomery, AL
For “gas grill store”, it appeared in the top 20 at 12 of 81 grid points on May 29, 2026 and at 80 on October 5, 2026. “Electronics store” dipped, from 50.62% to 45.68% top-three share.
RETAIL→03Eric Kjelshus Energy Heating And Cooling, Greenwood, MO
For “energy audit near me”, it appeared in the top 20 at 20 of 81 grid points on March 5, 2026 and at 60 on August 31. “AC repair near me” slipped from 3.70% to 1.23% top-three share.
HVAC→04Amprite Electric Company, Nashville, TN
For “industrial electrician nashville”, it appeared in the top 20 at 67 of 81 grid points on May 21, 2026 and at 80 on October 5. It was in the top three at just one point.
ELECTRICAL→05Every case study
Roofing, home services, retail, restaurants and more, with the work, the dates and what did not move.
ALL RESULTS→06Want your business measured the same way?
Same keyword, same grid, same center, with a date on every number and the misses left in. Tell us what you do and where.
LET’S TALK→05 / HOW IT WORKS
LESS “SEO STUFF.” more “here’s the plan.”
Don’t worry. We don’t just hand you homework. We’ll do the work with you, or for you.
See where you stand
Start with the free automated website report. A human local SEO review also looks at your Google Business Profile, listings, competitors and Maps visibility across your service area.
Review the gaps
Check where your services are missing or underrepresented, and verify what the audit found.
Set the priorities
Focus on the services, cities, and changes that matter most to your business. Agree what Local Howl will implement and what needs your access, details or approval.
Build the roadmap and do the work
Turn the findings into clear tasks, then do the work and measure what changes, comparing the same searches and locations over time.
See the full walkthrough on how it works.
06 / CHOOSE YOUR PROGRAM
HERE’S HOW we can help.
Start with your Google profile, share the wider work, or hand us the website stuff too. Each program builds on the one before it.
GBP Lite
We manage your Google Business Profile and do this work for you: 12 Google posts a month (4 for each of your 3 tracked keywords), business listings cleaned up and corrected, a reply to every review that needs a response, and local ranking updates you can follow. For website content, schema and backlinks, we give you or your web team clear guidance.
$1,200/MO, 12-MONTH AGREEMENT→02GBP Basic+
Everything in GBP Lite, scaled to 5 tracked keywords and 20 Google posts a month, plus deeper technical audits, local landing page guidance, more business listings in relevant places, two DA 20+ backlinks a month, and schema code with clear website recommendations. You or your web team make the website changes.
GET PRICING→03Local Growth Standard
Your Google profile, links, listings and website SEO handled, including 6 tracked keywords with 24 Google posts a month and four DA 20+ backlinks a month. We write and publish the content, install schema, and make the technical SEO fixes and internal links, with regular strategy calls and clear progress updates.
GET PRICING→07 / WHO IT’S FOR
BUILT FOR LOCAL service businesses.
We focus on home-service companies. We also work with law firms, dentists, restaurants, med spas, gyms, local retailers and more. If local customers need to find you online, Local Howl can help you show up.
Home-service businesses
Plumbers, roofers, HVAC companies, electricians and other home-service businesses.
GOOGLE MAPS SEO→02Roofing
Roofers in St. Peters, Memphis, Collierville, Savannah and Colorado Springs.
CASE STUDIES→03Other home-service trades
HVAC, electrical, lawn care, landscaping, windows and pools.
CASE STUDIES→04Franchises and multi-location brands
One strong website, accurate profiles for every eligible location, and reporting by market.
FRANCHISE SEO→08 / IN THEIR WORDS
WHAT CLIENTS tell Google.
We’re 5.0 on Google. Three of those reviews, quoted as written.
Leon Abramovich
“Finally, a company that focuses on results and delivers. They laid out the plan for our shop, optimized our listings to be consistent across all channels and as a result our visibility in local searches improved within the first few weeks. Our entire team was impressed with the attention to detail and promptness!”
GOOGLE REVIEW, OCT 2025→02Kevin Davis
“We recently contracted with LocalHowl after a cold-call audit of our website and GBP. Their response and proactive pitch, along with the customer support along the way, has been refreshing in an industry filled with empty promises. …”
GOOGLE REVIEW, APR 2026→03Alexander haddad
“I couldn’t be happier with results, the team is easy to work with, they keep me informed on what’s going on, and it is working, the local leads are flying in! Highly recommend”
GOOGLE REVIEW, OCT 2025→09 / FAIR QUESTIONS
LOCAL SEO
questions.
What owners ask us before they start.
Does local SEO cover my website, or just Google Maps?
Both. Your Google Business Profile, listings and reviews drive what people see in Google Maps, and that is only part of local SEO. The rest is your website: organic rankings, service and location pages, technical SEO, local links and the path from a search to a call or form. A home-service business usually needs both, because the website has to back up what the profile says you do. If the map is your biggest gap, start with our Google Maps SEO services.
What does a local SEO company do that a general SEO agency does not?
A local SEO company works on the signals behind nearby searches, not national traffic. That means your Google Business Profile, business listings, reviews, service and location pages, and visibility measured across the area you serve. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, so the job is to make what you do, where you do it and why people trust you clear to Google and to customers. We measure it with map grids run from many search points, not one rank check from your office.
Do you need an office in my city to do local SEO for me?
No. Local Howl is a virtual team with one address, in Kirkwood, Missouri, and we work with businesses across the U.S. by phone, video and email. Your rankings depend on your business, not ours: your real address or service area, your profile, your reviews and your pages. We won’t invent a local office for you or for us. Our case studies include businesses in Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Texas, Florida and New Mexico.
How much do local SEO services cost?
Pricing depends on competition, locations, deliverables, and whether the work is audit-only or managed monthly. Local Howl’s GBP Lite plan is $1,200 a month on a 12-month agreement, with a deposit to start. Check the current plan scope and billing terms before choosing a service, and run your own numbers in the local SEO ROI calculator first.
How long does it take to see results?
That depends on your market and your plan. As typical ranges: GBP Lite, 6 to 9 months for real movement; GBP Basic+, 3 to 6 months; Local Growth Standard, 2 to 3 months. These are estimates, not guarantees. We give you benchmarks at every step so you know what to expect. Need calls sooner? Google Ads management can bring them in while your rankings build.
Do I have to do the work myself?
Not unless you choose to. On GBP Lite, your profile, listings, review replies and 12 posts a month (4 per tracked keyword) are on us, and we give you or your web team clear guidance for website content, schema and backlinks. On GBP Basic+ we also build the links and listings and provide schema code, and on Local Growth Standard our team makes the website changes too.
What’s included in each plan?
All plans include keyword research, Google Business Profile optimization, review response and citation work. GBP Basic+ adds deeper technical audits, local landing page guidance, more citation building and two DA 20+ backlinks a month. Local Growth Standard adds monthly content, schema and technical fixes installed by our team, four DA 20+ backlinks a month, GBP call tracking and monthly reviews with a dedicated strategist. See our plans for the full breakdown.
Can I rank for multiple services or neighborhoods?
Yes, but it has to be built right. We prioritize the most winnable areas first, then help you expand to nearby cities or additional services over time.
What is a local SEO heat map?
It’s a grid of points laid over your service area showing where your business ranks in Google Maps at each point for one search. Green points are top three, and red points are where you’re buried or missing. It shows where customers can find you and where they can’t.
What does SoLV mean in local SEO?
SoLV stands for Share of Local Voice, a metric from Local Falcon. It’s the percentage of points on a heat map where your business ranks in Google’s top three map results for a keyword. A SoLV of 25% means you’re in the top three at about one in four points across the area scanned.
Does setting a service area in Google Business Profile help me rank in more towns?
It helps customers see where you go, but in our experience it doesn’t do much for rankings on its own. What helps you rank further out is real evidence that you work in those towns, built across your website, your profile and the rest of the web.
What should I ask before hiring a local SEO company?
Ask what they will change on your Google Business Profile, how they handle citations and reviews, whether they track rankings across your service area, what service pages they will improve, what reports you will see, and how they define a qualified lead.
Does the audit guarantee better rankings or a set turnaround?
No. The automated report is not a ranking guarantee, and no turnaround or ranking outcome is guaranteed for a human review either. We will confirm the scope and next steps with you, then explain the findings and what we would prioritize.
LOCAL HOWL / LET’S GET TO WORK
KEEP DOING
WHAT YOU DO BEST.
Take care of your customers. Send us the real work.
We’ll turn it into a focused local SEO plan.