An SEO guide for service businesses
- 7 days ago
- 9 min read
Author: Zoe Ashbridge
There’s no doubt that the SEO landscape is changing, but for service businesses—like hair salons, gyms, and spas—search marketing might be more valuable than ever.
Consumers of all ages trust Google and navigation apps like Google Maps to find local businesses over any other format, including review sites, social media, and AI tools, according to a 2025 Soci report.
That said, I don’t want to dismiss the ongoing evolution of search: people aren’t just “Googling it” and showing up at your door anymore. Discovery in 2026 is more diverse and complex, and that demands a robust SEO strategy for modern business owners.
In this article, I’m sharing strategies to help service businesses of all sizes make the most of their SEO efforts.
An SEO strategy for service businesses
The strategy below goes beyond the basics, but before you can run, you need to walk. These steps are critical for modern-day SEO success. As the steps go on, the strategy becomes more complex, but they’re still doable if you have a small team.
Set up your Google Business Profile
Every local business needs a completed Google Business Profile.
A Google Business Profile (GBP) is your free business listing on Google. As pictured below, it includes your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, services, photos, and reviews.
Here’s what a Google Business Profile looks like for my local salon:
Your Google Business Profile is the profile that appears in Google Maps and in the local map pack, which is the block of three local business listings that appears near the top of Google search results when someone searches for a service or business in a specific area.
Here’s the same Google Business Profile listing within the map pack:
If someone searches for a service, like, “hair cut near me,” “emergency plumber near me,” “restaurant in [place],” or “best gym in Austin,” the Google Business Profile listings often dominate the top of the search engine results page (SERP).
This means your visibility is heavily influenced by how well optimized your profile is. Once you’ve created your Google Business Profile, you’ll set up your account by adding information like:
Business details such as your business name, address, phone number, website link, opening hours, and business category.
A primary category that tells Google what your business does.
High-quality photos so searchers know what to expect from your space.
The goal is to complete your profile accurately and fully. Here’s more on adding and managing your Google Business Profile with Wix.
Ask for reviews
Reviews are your foundation. They’ve always influenced decisions. The difference is that word of mouth used to happen in private conversations. Today, it happens in public (on Google, on maps, on social media, or on your GBP profile) right at the moment someone is deciding whether to book one of your services.
In today’s search era, reviews are super important for service-based businesses. According to BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review survey, 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and they read reviews in as many as six different places.
The chart below shows the top sites for reviews, comparing 2026 data to 2025:
Although Google's share is declining compared to other sites, it still holds a significant spot, with over 71% of consumers using Google to access reviews. Video reviews are on the rise via sources like social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) and YouTube. Consumers are also using AI sources (ChatGPT, Google’s AI Mode, Gemini, etc.)
Reviews also factor into visibility in AI search for local businesses, and LLMs like ChatGPT can pull your reviews into its answer.
Here’s an example:
In its reply, ChatGPT says the restaurant is highly rated and praised for its “flavorsome food, friendly service, and generous portions.” The reviews are cited from Wanderlog, and sure enough, here are these types of sentiments within reviews on that website:
Building reviews can feel like a lot. There’s only one way to get them, and that’s by asking. A simple follow-up email, text message, or in-person ask can dramatically increase the number of reviews you receive.
Consider this case study:
I work closely with Leigh Buttrey, the co-founder of our boutique SEM agency, Forank. Buttrey set up a simple automated post-purchase email in Klaviyo asking catering customers to leave a review. In three months, the email sequence collected 25 reviews at an average rating of 4.76. Reviews drove an 11% increase in add-to-carts.
Pro tip: Make leaving reviews as easy as you can. For example, most of my reviews go onto LinkedIn or Google. Instead of just asking someone to leave a review, I send them the link that’ll take them straight there.
Here’s how you do that on Google. Go to your Google Business Profile by searching for your brand name > Click Add a Review > A pop-up will appear with the review box.
Share the URL that’s generated with your customer.
This new URL will take them straight to the pop-up, and all they’ll need to do is type their review.
If it feels okay to do so, you can ask customers to copy and paste that review into other places, such as on TripAdvisor, LinkedIn, social media, or other review platforms.
Admittedly, asking for that second review can feel like a lot. I tend to play that one by ear, depending on my relationship with the customer.
You can also incentivize the action. For example, offer 10% off a future booking in exchange for an honest review. If you take this route, think of that 10% not as a discount, but as an investment. You’re encouraging repeat customers, increasing your review volume, and strengthening the signals that influence visibility and conversions. One review can influence dozens of future buying decisions.
Optimize your most important pages first
When you’re building an SEO strategy, you’ll research keywords and find that there are a lot of them out there. The ones you want to focus on are the ones most likely to bring in work.
For a service-based business, that might be terms with a format like:
“emergency [service]”
“24-hour [service]”
“[service] near me”
“[service] in [city].”
“[service] consultation”
“[service] support for [audience].”
These are high-intent keywords. The person searching isn’t casually browsing; they know what they need and where they need it. The urgency and clarity of intent make those clicks far more likely to turn into enquiries or bookings.
Yes, these keywords can be competitive. They often have stronger businesses already ranking and established map pack listings. But they’re commercially important, so they should shape your core service pages from the beginning.
Start by:
Optimizing your primary service pages around these terms
Making sure the page clearly explains the service, who it’s for, and how to take action
Strengthen local signals by embedding your location, including your address, or getting backlinks from local press
Then, over time, build supporting content around them. For example, FAQs, blog posts, case studies, and related sub-services to reinforce your authority and depth. (These are the content types most cited by LLMs, based on research from our sister publication, The AI Search Lab.)
If you focus on the keywords that actually drive revenue first, your SEO strategy stays commercially aligned. You may get fewer clicks than a broad, high-volume content strategy, but the clicks you do get are far more likely to become customers.
Once you’ve established the pages you’re building, then you need a page that converts.
Build landing pages with on-site bookings
When you're optimizing a page for the conversion keyword, you know you’re generating clicks from people who know what they want. Make it easy for them to book a service.
All being well, users will convert as soon as they land on the page.
Here’s an example from Wix user, Lana Skyn:
Lana Skyn, a business offering services like laser hair removal and tattoo removal, uses Wix Bookings. On Lana Skyn’s treatment pages, there’s a CTA high up the page. When clicked, users are scrolled down to the treatment where they can book.
On-site bookings kept users on the site longer and increased conversions. "Wix Bookings removed the last barrier between clicks and conversions," says Giomero Brand, founder and CEO of Unnamed Project, the agency that worked on the Lana Skyn site. "The new booking flow removed friction, improved user experience, and directly boosted conversions." Conversions increased from 3 to 35 over 18 months.
Embrace local SEO best practices
Local SEO encompasses many of the tactics listed above, but there’s more you can do to make sure Google knows who you are, what you do, where you operate from, and who you serve.
In this section, I outline some more local SEO strategies to improve your online visibility.
01. Embed Google Maps
Once you’ve got your landing pages set up, consider adding a map showing your location.
Think of embedding your Google Map listing as a direct communication with Google about where you’re based, using Google tools. Embedding the maps helps connect your entities (your website and your Google Business Profile).
Embedding Google Maps is a common tactic. While it’s helpful for Google, it also helps people find you. Check out Wix's support pages to learn how to embed a Google Map on a Wix website and a Wix Harmony website.
Consider embedding Google Maps on:
Local landing pages
Contact us pages
About pages
02. Create local content
A local-driven content strategy has been helpful for my clients who want to improve their visibility in AI tools. Content related to specific locations seem to improve visibility for AI search queries like “I’m looking for [service] in [location].”
Strong local content might include:
A clear headline including the service + location (e.g., Plumber in Austin)
A short introduction explaining who you help in that specific area
Details about the services you offer in that location
Testimonials from customers in that area
Case studies or examples of work completed locally
Your business address
Embedded Google Map (where appropriate)
FAQs tailored to that location
A strong call-to-action (book, call, request a quote)
Important: The goal isn’t to duplicate the same page with a different city name swapped in. It’s to genuinely demonstrate relevance and experience in that area. Case studies and content tailored specifically to that location are key.
03. Get involved with the local community
For service-based businesses, local visibility isn’t just about keywords; it’s about genuine presence.
Getting involved in your local community strengthens your brand in ways that impact SEO and marketing more broadly.
For example, you can support a local charity, sponsor a youth sports team, host an event, partner with nearby businesses, or contribute to community initiatives.
Community involvement creates:
Genuine connections to a location, which could help with SEO and local visibility
Local press coverage
Mentions on local community websites
Backlinks from relevant local organizations
Social proof and word-of-mouth referrals
Brand familiarity within your service area
From an SEO perspective, local links and brand mentions reinforce geographic relevance. From a marketing perspective, they build trust. From a commercial perspective, they put you in front of the exact audience you want to serve.
Your local community engagement also creates content opportunities, such as blog posts that reinforce your commitment to the local area.
04. Use schema markup
Schema markup is a way of structuring data that search engines understand. Schema is also pretty useful for AI because AI crawlers can read and extract content from the schema. Consider this case study on schema markup and AI Overviews:
In a recent Schema App case study, implementing connected schema markup with entity linking led to a 19.72% increase in AI Overview visibility, with similar improvements observed across enterprise customer implementations.
Instead of Google guessing whether something is a service, a case study, a review, or an FAQ, schema tells it directly.
For example, a local service-based business will likely benefit from:
Service schema used on service pages to provide details about the service, such as opening hours, areas served (which reinforces your geographic location), ratings, and reviews.
Organization schema is used to provide more details and context about the business providing the service. For example, address, contact details, other digital entities (like your social media accounts), founders, and employees.
There are over 800 schema types, and within those types, over 1,500 properties. Wix automatically generates schema for many common page types. Check out this introduction to schema and how to add schema on Wix.
Make an impact with your service-based SEO strategy
SEO for service businesses isn't about chasing every algorithm update or publishing content for the sake of it. It's about showing up in the right place, for the right person, at the moment they're ready to book.
Get your Google Business Profile in order, earn and manage reviews consistently, build pages around high-intent keywords, and use local SEO and schema markup to reinforce who you are and where you operate.
Do those things well, and you'll have qualified customers booking your services.
Zoe Ashbridge is an SEO strategist and co-founder of Forank, a boutique search engine marketing (SEM) agency that helps B2B companies turn Google and AI search visibility into qualified leads through data-driven SEM strategies. Linkedin
