8 Local SEO Mistakes Derbyshire Businesses Keep Making
Most Derbyshire businesses think they've "done" local SEO because they claimed their Google Business Profile years ago and haven't touched it since. Local SEO is closer to a maintenance job than a one-off task. Here are the 8 mistakes we see most often auditing local businesses, with a straightforward fix for each. Run your own listing against this list. Most businesses find at least three.
1. A Google Business Profile stuck in the wrong category
Your primary GBP category has an outsized effect on which searches you show up for. A marketing agency listed under "advertising agency," or a dental practice under the wrong specialism, quietly loses visibility for the exact searches that would bring in enquiries. This sits under the Local pillar of the BIG12 framework.
Fix: Check your primary and secondary GBP categories match everything you actually do. Takes five minutes.
2. Inconsistent name, address and phone number across the web
Google cross-checks your details against directories, review sites and citations. A phone number on Facebook that doesn't match your website, or an address written three different ways, chips away at how much Google trusts your listing.
Fix: Audit your top ten directory listings and make the name, address and phone number identical everywhere.
3. No dedicated page for each area you actually serve
One generic "our area" page can't compete for searches across four different towns. A proper local landing page for each area, with real, specific detail rather than a find-and-replace on the town name, does far more work.
Fix: Build one page per town or area you genuinely serve, each with something real to say about that area.
4. Ignoring reviews, or only chasing them when things go wrong
Review volume, recency and how you respond all factor into local rankings, not just how they read to a customer. A calm reply to a bad review often builds more trust than another five-star review with no context.
Fix: Set a simple, consistent ask at the right moment in the customer journey, and reply to every review, good or bad.
5. Duplicate or abandoned listings
We regularly find businesses with two or three Google Business Profiles, created at different points by different people, splitting reviews and confusing the algorithm about which one is real.
Fix: Search your business name and merge or report any duplicate listings you find.
6. No local schema markup on the website itself
Beyond your Google Business Profile, your website should carry structured data confirming your name, address, service area and hours in a format search engines read directly.
Fix: Ask your web developer to add LocalBusiness schema if it isn't there already.
7. Weak or nonexistent local citations and backlinks
Being listed accurately on the directories and local sites that matter, and mentioned by other real local businesses or community pages, still carries real weight for local rankings.
Fix: Get listed correctly on your local chamber of commerce directory and one community group or local press mention this quarter.
8. Treating local SEO as a project instead of an ongoing pillar
Categories change, competitors adjust, and Google's local algorithm shifts more often than people realise. The businesses that stay visible check this pillar on a regular cadence, not once and forget it.
Fix: Put a 30-minute local SEO check on the calendar every month.
What to do with this list
These are the same 8 checks we run under the Local pillar of a full BIG12 audit, alongside Google/GBP, SEO and Website. Fixed together, they compound, Balance and Beam saw a 500% increase in weekly enquiries after theirs.
Score your site free with the BIG12 Scorecard →
See the Balance & Beam result · Read all our case studies · Read the full Local pillar page · See how we've done this for businesses in your sector · Book your free 90-minute audit
