When someone searches “landscaper near me”, “bookkeeper Melbourne CBD”, or “psychologist Gold Coast”, they usually don’t scroll very far.

Most of the clicks and most of the phone calls go to the top three results:

• the Google Maps “3 pack”
• and the first few organic listings underneath.

If your business isn’t showing up there, you’re basically invisible… even if you’re brilliant at what you do.

The good news? Getting into the top 3 isn’t magic. It’s a mix of clear messaging, solid website foundations and consistent signals that tell Google:

“We’re the best, most relevant answer for people in this area.”

In this article, we’ll break local SEO down in plain English, show you what actually moves the needle, and share what we’ve done at Elev8d to help businesses sit in the top spots for years…not weeks.

Why the Top 3 Matters So Much

When you search for a local service, you’ll usually see:

1. Ads at the top.
2. The Google Maps pack, usually three businesses with star ratings, addresses and “Call / Directions / Website” buttons.
3. The organic results, the normal blue links.

Most people:

• click on something in that top section, or
• tap a business directly from the Maps pack on their phone.

Very few people:

• click to page 2
• or even scroll much further down the first page.

So the game is simple:

Be visible and compelling in those top spots, especially on Maps, whenever someone searches for what you do, in the area you serve.

That’s what local SEO is really about.

The 3 Pillars of Local SEO (In Normal Human Language)

Forget jargon. Local SEO comes down to three big things:

1. Relevance: Does Google understand what you actually do and where you do it?
2. Trust: Are there strong signals that you’re a real, reputable business?
3. Experience: When people land on your site, do they get what they need quickly, especially on mobile?

Let’s unpack those.

1. Relevance: make it obvious what you do and where

Google needs to match search terms like:

• “mini digger hire Berwick”
• “bookkeeper for tradies Melbourne”
• “end of lease cleaner Brisbane CBD”

with pages that clearly talk about those services and locations.

That means:

• Your website needs pages that use natural language around your services and suburbs/cities.
• Your Google Business Profile (Google Maps listing) needs accurate categories, service areas and descriptions.

Practical examples:

• A landscaper in South East Melbourne has pages like:
  • /mini-digger-hire
  • /landscaping-retaining-walls
  • /driveways-concrete
  • and mentions suburbs they actually service.
• A psychologist on the Gold Coast has pages like:
  • /anxiety-counselling-gold-coast
  • /depression-counselling-gold-coast
  • /couples-therapy-gold-coast

We’re not talking about stuffing keywords in awkwardly. It’s about making each page clearly about one thing so both humans and Google know what it’s for.

2. Trust: prove you’re a safe choice

Google is in the business of not embarrassing itself.

It doesn’t want to send people to dodgy businesses. So it looks for “trust signals” like:

• Reviews and ratings on your Google Business Profile
• Consistency of your name, address and phone number across the web
• Backlinks – other reputable websites linking to you
• Brand searches – people actually typing your business name into Google
• On-site proof – testimonials, case studies, before/after photos, accreditations

From a human point of view, this is simple:

Would a stranger feel comfortable picking you based on what they see online?

If the answer is “not really”, then both people and algorithms will hesitate.

3. Experience: a website that doesn’t annoy people

User experience sounds fluffy, but here’s the hard reality:

• If people click your site and bounce back quickly, that’s a bad signal.
• If your site is slow, confusing, or broken on mobile, people leave.
• If it’s hard to find basic things (services, pricing, contact details), they’ll try the next result.

Google notices patterns. If people consistently:

• click you
• then abandon you
• and choose a competitor instead

…it will eventually assume the competitor is the better answer.

So a big part of local SEO is simply:

• fast pages
• clear layouts
• obvious calls to action
• all working beautifully on mobile.

The Big SEO Myths That Waste Your Money

There’s a lot of noise out there. Let’s clear a few things up.

Myth 1: “SEO is just writing blog posts”

Blog posts can help, but for local businesses, the heavy lifting usually comes from:

• solid service pages
• well structured location pages
• and a well optimised Google Business Profile.

If an agency is pumping out generic blog posts while your core pages are still a mess, the strategy is backwards.

Myth 2: “You have to sign a 12 month contract before seeing anything”

SEO does take time, especially in competitive niches. But:

• You should see leading indicators early, better rankings for long-tail terms, more impressions, more map visibility.
• You should understand what’s being worked on each month not just “we’re doing SEO”.

Long-term partnerships make sense when there’s clear progress and transparent work, not because of handcuff contracts.

Myth 3: “Rankings are all that matter”

Getting to #1 is pointless if:

• you’re ranking for the wrong terms, or
• people land on your site and don’t convert.

The real goal is qualified leads and revenue, not screenshots of a keyword at the top.

A Simple 30-Day Local SEO Action Plan

If you want to start moving towards the top 3, here’s what you can do in the next month.

Week 1: Fix your Google Business Profile

• Claim and verify your listing (if you haven’t already).
• Choose the most accurate primary category (e.g. “Landscaper”, “Psychologist”, “Bookkeeping service”).
• Add secondary categories where appropriate.
• Write a simple, clear description explaining:
  • what you do
  • who you help
  • where you operate.
• Add your opening hours, phone, website and services.

Week 2: Tidy your core website pages

• Make sure you have clear, focused pages for your main services.
• Add your location naturally into headings and copy where relevant.
• Add visible reviews, logos, photos and guarantees.
• Make your call to action obvious on each page.

Week 3: Speed and mobile checks

• Test your site on your phone over 4G/5G:
  • How quickly does it load?
  • Is the text readable?
  • Are buttons easy to tap?
• Compress any huge images.
• Remove unnecessary sliders, pop-ups or scripts that slow things down.

Week 4: Build trust signals

• Ask 10 happy customers for a Google review, send them the direct link.
• Add a few of those reviews to your website.
• Upload photos of real work, your team and your premises to your Google Business Profile.
• Check that your business name, address and phone number are consistent wherever you appear online.

Do this consistently for a few months and you’re already ahead of most of your competitors.

When to Hire an Agency (And What to Ask Them)

At some point, DIY hits a ceiling, especially if you’re busy running the actual business.

That’s when it can make sense to partner with an agency. But not all “SEO packages” are created equal.

Here are some questions we’d want our own friends and family to ask any agency (including us):

1. “What are the first 3 things you’d do for our business?”
   • You’re looking for specific answers about your site, not generic “we’ll build links and write blogs”.
2. “How will we measure success?”
   • Rankings matter, but so do leads, calls and bookings.
3. “What work will you do on our website vs off our website?”
   • Local SEO usually needs both on-site improvements and off-site credibility building.
4. “How often will we get clear updates?”
   • You shouldn’t be guessing what’s happening each month.

How Elev8d Helps Businesses Get Into (and Stay In) the Top 3

At Elev8d, we’ve worked with businesses across trades, professional services and e-commerce, helping them:

• climb into the top 3 spots for their main search terms, and
• stay there for years by doing things properly.

Our approach to local SEO is simple:

• Plain-English strategy: no jargon, just a clear plan around relevance, trust and experience.
• Website first: we make sure your site behaves like a sales system, not just a brochure.
• Google Business Profile + maps: optimised so you show up where it counts.
• Real tracking: so you can see where leads come from and what’s working.

If you’d like to see what it would take for your business to get into the top 3 for your ideal searches in your area, we’re happy to take a look and give you a straightforward action plan.

You don’t have to become an SEO expert.
You just need a partner who treats your visibility and leads as seriously as you do.