Most local SEO advice tells you what to do. This tells you what to do first — because the order matters as much as the actions themselves. Some fixes unlock the impact of others. Getting the sequence wrong wastes time on lower-leverage work while higher-leverage wins sit untouched.
Do technical fixes before content. Do GBP fixes before citations. Do review generation before digital PR. Each layer amplifies the one above it. A well-structured 90 days compounds — a poorly sequenced 90 days is just busy work.
Phase 1: Weeks 1–2 — Technical foundation
These are the highest-leverage fixes with the shortest implementation time. Do them first because they unblock everything else.
- Add canonical tags to every page (30 minutes)
- Fix title tags over 60 characters — prioritise homepage and main service pages (1 hour)
- Add LocalBusiness, FAQPage, and AggregateRating schema to homepage (2–3 hours)
- Add a Google Maps embed to your contact page (20 minutes)
- Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console (10 minutes)
- Start your first review generation SMS sequence — target your 10 warmest existing customers
Phase 2: Weeks 3–6 — GBP and local signals
With the technical foundation in place, focus shifts to the GBP and local content signals that directly influence Maps ranking.
- Complete your GBP to 100% — every field, 25+ photos, services listed, business description with keywords
- Start weekly Google Posts — set a recurring Monday morning calendar block
- Build your top 3 suburb pages — 800+ words each, suburb-specific content, FAQPage schema, internal links
- Audit and fix your top 20 citations — ensure NAP (name, address, phone) is identical across all directories
- Run PageSpeed Insights on your homepage — fix the top 3 speed issues
Phase 3: Weeks 7–12 — Scale and compound
The foundation is solid. Now scale what's working.
- Build remaining suburb pages — cover all suburbs you serve, 2 per week
- Systematise review generation — build it into your post-service workflow, not as a periodic campaign
- Build 30 additional citations — target industry-specific directories relevant to your business type
- Add internal links between all suburb pages and back to the homepage
- Respond to all existing reviews — include service keywords and suburb names in responses
What to measure at Day 90
Check these in Google Search Console and GBP Insights:
- Impressions for your target keywords — have they increased?
- Average position for target keywords — moving toward page 1?
- GBP profile views — should be 2–3x your starting baseline
- Direction requests and calls from GBP — the clearest revenue signal
- Local pack appearance — are you now appearing for your primary suburb + service queries?
Most businesses following this sequence see Map Pack appearances for their primary keywords within 60 days. Full top-3 positioning for competitive terms typically takes 90–120 days with consistent implementation.