SEO in one sentence
SEO means making it easy for Google to understand what you do and where, so it shows you to people searching for it.
Local SEO is different
For a contractor the goal is not to rank across the whole country. It is to appear in your towns, for your trade, in the map results and the normal results.
The three parts
Local SEO is mostly three things working together.
- Your Google Business Profile: complete, active and reviewed
- Your website: a page per service and per town, fast on mobile
- Your reputation: reviews, and consistent business details across the web
Why it takes time
Search results do not change overnight, because Google needs time to see that your site and profile are consistent and keep growing. That is why steady monthly work beats a one-time push, and why nobody honest can promise a rank on a date.