If your business has a physical location that customers visit — a restaurant, dental office, retail store, law firm, salon, gym, or any brick-and-mortar establishment — Local SEO is not optional, it is essential. Local SEO helps your business appear in Google Maps, the “local pack” (the map with three business listings that appears at the top of location-based searches), and “near me” search results. Rank Forge includes a complete Local SEO module that generates the structured data Google needs to display your business prominently in local search results. The module is part of the Free core; only the AI Auto-Fill button (described below) requires Pro.
Why Local SEO Matters
When someone searches “pizza near me” or “dentist in downtown Portland,” Google shows local results prominently — often above all regular search results. These local results include a map, business hours, phone numbers, review ratings, and directions. To appear here, Google needs structured information about your business in a specific format called LocalBusiness schema. Without it, you are invisible in local search.
Complete Setup for a Restaurant
Here is a complete walkthrough for a restaurant called “Portland Coffee Roasters”:
Step 1: Open the Local SEO settings- Go to Rank Forge > Tools in the WordPress sidebar and open the Local SEO tab.
- You will see a comprehensive business profile form.
| Field | What to Enter | Example Value |
|---|---|---|
| Business Name | Your official name as it appears on Google Business Profile | Portland Coffee Roasters |
| Business Type | Pick one of the 30 entries in the menu | Cafe / Coffee Shop |
| Phone | Primary contact number in international format | +1 (503) 555-0142 |
| Contact email | [email protected] | |
| Street Address | Full street address | 123 NW Burnside St |
| City | City name | Portland |
| State / Region | State or province | Oregon |
| ZIP / Postal Code | Postal code | 97209 |
| Country | Country, as text (for example a two-letter code) | US |
| Latitude | Exact latitude coordinate | 45.5231 |
| Longitude | Exact longitude coordinate | -122.6765 |
| Price Range | Cost level indicator | $$ |
Type your opening hours in the Opening Hours box, one entry per line, in the format Mo-Fr 09:00-17:00. The box is plain text: there is no table of days and no Closed option, and each line becomes one entry of the opening hours in the schema. For the restaurant above:
Mo-Th 06:00-20:00Fr 06:00-22:00Sa 07:00-22:00Su 07:00-18:00
- Logo URL: the web address of your business logo image. The field takes a URL, so upload the image to the Media Library first and paste its address here
Type the URLs of your profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and others) in the Social Profile URLs box, one URL per line.
Step 6: Turn on the markupTick Enable Local Business Schema. The box is unticked until you tick it, and Rank Forge writes the markup only while it is ticked and a Business Name is entered. AI Auto-Fill does not tick it for you.
Step 7: Click Save Local SEOComplete Setup for a Dental Office
For a dental practice called “Bright Smile Dental”:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Business Name | Bright Smile Dental |
| Business Type | Dentist |
| Phone | +1 (503) 555-0198 |
| [email protected] | |
| Street Address, City, State / Region, ZIP / Postal Code | 456 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214 |
| Latitude and Longitude | 45.5122 and -122.6321 |
| Price Range | $$$ |
| Opening Hours | Mo-Fr 08:00-17:00 on one line and Sa 09:00-13:00 on the next |
AI Auto-Fill (PRO)
With the Pro add-on running, an AI Auto-Fill box appears at the top of the Local SEO form. Enter the business name, the city and, if you like, what the business does, then click Generate All Fields. The AI suggests the business type, phone, email, address, price range, opening hours and social profile URLs and puts them in the form. It does not read your website, so treat the details as guesses and replace them with your real details before you save. This one button is the only part of Local SEO that requires a Pro license; you can still fill every field by hand on the Free core.
What Local SEO Generates
After saving, once Enable Local Business Schema is ticked and a Business Name is entered, Rank Forge adds LocalBusiness structured data (in JSON-LD format) to your homepage and to your pages. This structured data tells Google:
- Your business name and type
- Your exact address and map coordinates
- Your phone number and email
- Your opening hours for each day of the week
- Your logo URL
- Your social media profiles
- Your price range
What This Looks Like in Google
When Google processes your LocalBusiness schema, your business becomes eligible to appear in:
- Google Maps search results — with your business pin on the map
- The local 3-packthe map section at the top of local search results showing three businesses
- Knowledge panelthe large information box on the right side of search results showing your hours, address, phone, photo, and reviews
- “Near me” searcheslocation-based queries like “coffee shop near me” or “dentist open now”
[Screenshot: A Google search result showing a local 3-pack with business names, star ratings, hours, and a map]
Available Business Types
The Business Type menu on the Local SEO screen has 30 choices. The choice you make is written as the schema type of the markup. The menu shows these names, followed here by the schema type each one writes:
- Organization (Online / No Physical Location):
Organization - Professional Service (Freelancer / Agency):
ProfessionalService - Local Business (Generic):
LocalBusiness - Restaurant:
Restaurant - Bar / Pub:
BarOrPub - Cafe / Coffee Shop:
CafeOrCoffeeShop - Bakery:
Bakery - Store (Generic):
Store - Clothing Store:
ClothingStore - Electronics Store:
ElectronicsStore - Grocery Store:
GroceryStore - Hardware Store:
HardwareStore - Auto Dealer:
AutoDealer - Auto Repair:
AutoRepair - Beauty Salon:
BeautySalon - Hair Salon:
HairSalon - Health Club / Gym:
HealthClub - Dentist:
Dentist - Medical Clinic:
MedicalClinic - Pharmacy:
Pharmacy - Veterinarian:
VeterinaryCare - Legal Service:
LegalService - Accounting Service:
AccountingService - Real Estate Agent:
RealEstateAgent - Insurance Agency:
InsuranceAgency - Travel Agency:
TravelAgency - Hotel:
Hotel - Plumber:
Plumber - Electrician:
Electrician - Locksmith:
Locksmith
Pick the entry that fits your business best.
> Good to know: Local SEO works best when your business information is consistent across the web — your Google Business Profile, your website, directory listings (Yelp, Yellow Pages), and social media profiles should all show the exact same name, address, and phone number. Inconsistencies confuse Google and weaken your local ranking.
> Tip: After setting up Local SEO, verify your schema using Google’s Rich Results Test. Enter your homepage URL and check that LocalBusiness appears in the detected structured data with all your information correctly populated.
Common Mistakes
- Using a different business name than your Google Business Profile. The name must match exactly. “Portland Coffee” on your website and “Portland Coffee Roasters” on Google Business Profile counts as a mismatch.
- Entering approximate coordinates. Use Google Maps to get your exact latitude and longitude. Right-click your business location on Google Maps and the coordinates appear.
- Forgetting to update hours for holidays. If your hours change seasonally or for holidays, update the Local SEO settings to reflect current hours.
- Not having a Google Business Profile. Local SEO schema helps, but for the best local results, you should also have a claimed and optimized Google Business Profile at business.google.com.
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