The problem with "just Google yourself"
Most business owners check their local SEO progress by searching their own business name or main service on Google and seeing where they appear. It feels like a direct test, but it's not reliable. Google personalises search results based on your location, your search history, and your device — so what you see when you search from your own office in Duncan is different from what a potential customer in Mill Bay sees.
To actually know whether your local SEO is working, you need data that isn't filtered through your personal search history. The good news: Google provides it for free.
Tool 1: Google Business Profile Insights
Inside your GBP dashboard (business.google.com), the Performance section shows you how your listing is performing in Google Search and Maps. This data is directly about your GBP — it's not personalised and it reflects what actual customers are seeing.
How many times your listing appeared in Google Search or Maps results. This is your visibility number. If it's growing month over month, your listing is becoming more visible. If it's flat or declining, something has changed — a competitor has improved, your profile has gone stale, or an algorithm update has shifted things.
How many people clicked "Get directions" or tapped your phone number from your listing. These are high-intent actions — someone who clicks for directions is very likely coming to your business. Tracking this month over month tells you whether your GBP is generating real business, not just impressions.
The actual search terms that triggered your listing. This is valuable intelligence: you can see whether customers are finding you through branded searches (your business name) or discovery searches ("plumber Duncan BC"). A healthy local presence generates a mix of both, with discovery searches growing over time as your visibility improves.
Compare periods, not single months: GBP Insights can be noisy month to month. Compare the last 3 months to the same 3 months a year ago — that strips out seasonal variation and shows real trend direction.
Tool 2: Google Search Console
Search Console (search.google.com/search-console) shows you how your website is performing in Google Search — which queries it appears for, how often it's clicked, and where it ranks. It's free and requires you to verify ownership of your site.
Clicks are people who visited your site from Google. Impressions are how many times your site appeared in results. Both should grow over time as your SEO improves. A site with lots of impressions but few clicks usually has a title or meta description problem — you're ranking but not compelling people to click.
The search terms your site ranks for. Filter by date range and look for local terms: "plumber Duncan BC," "electrician Cowichan Valley," "coffee shop near me." If local terms are appearing with growing impressions, your on-page local SEO is working. If you're only ranking for your business name, there's room to improve your content targeting.
Where your pages rank on average for the queries that trigger them. Position 1–3 gets the clicks; position 4–10 gets some; position 11+ is effectively invisible. Watch for queries where you're at position 8–15 — these are pages where focused improvement (better content, more internal links, stronger title tags) can push you onto the first page.
The Coverage report shows whether Google has successfully indexed your pages. Errors here mean Google can't see your content — a silent problem that tanks rankings without any obvious symptoms. Check this when you add new pages or make significant changes to your site.
The simple monthly check-in
You don't need to spend hours in these tools. A 10-minute monthly review is enough to spot trends and catch problems early:
- Open GBP Insights — are impressions, direction requests, and calls trending up?
- Open Search Console — are clicks and impressions growing compared to last month? Last year?
- Check your top 10 queries in Search Console — are local terms appearing? Are positions improving?
- Note anything that's moved significantly (up or down) and ask why
Write these numbers down somewhere — a simple spreadsheet with one row per month. The trend over 6–12 months is far more informative than any single month's snapshot.
What good progress looks like
For a new website or a newly-optimised GBP, expect little to no movement in the first 6–8 weeks. Google takes time to re-crawl and re-evaluate pages. After that, a healthy trajectory looks like:
- GBP impressions growing 10–30% month over month in the first few months
- New local search queries appearing in Search Console that weren't there before
- Average position for key local terms slowly improving (dropping from 12 to 8 to 5)
- Direction requests and calls growing alongside impressions
If impressions are growing but calls aren't, the problem is usually your listing itself — not enough photos, weak description, low review count. If impressions are flat despite consistent GBP work, the competition in your niche may be stronger and it's time to look at building local backlinks and strengthening your website content.
Don't check rankings manually: Searching "plumber Duncan" from your own device and noting your position is not a reliable measurement. Google's personalisation makes it inaccurate. Trust Search Console's position data — it's averaged across all the real searches that triggered your listing, from real people who aren't you.
When to ask for help
If you've been consistently working on your GBP and website for 4–6 months and the numbers aren't moving, it's worth having someone look at the specifics. Flat or declining metrics usually point to one of a few fixable issues: a technical problem with your website, a stronger local competitor who's been doing this longer, or a gap in your content or citation profile.
If you want someone to look at your Search Console and GBP data and tell you what they see, send Michael a message.
Need help with your local SEO?
Get in touch with Michael
Based in Duncan, BC. I help Vancouver Island small businesses get found on Google — without the agency markup.