Own Google Business Profile
For any local business this is 60-80% of your SEO. Complete every field, add photos monthly, respond to every review within 48 hours, and post updates weekly.
Target one primary city + service combo
Do not chase generic terms - chase '[service] in [your city]'. Small sites cannot outrank aggregators on generic terms but can absolutely own city+service combos.
Get 10-20 real citations
Yelp, BBB, chamber of commerce, industry directories. Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) across all of them. This one push often moves local rankings within weeks.
Write 10-20 pages, not 100
One page per service, one per city you serve, an About page, a Contact page, and 5-10 helpful blog posts targeting real customer questions. That is enough for most SMBs.
Ignore the noise
You do not need a technical SEO consultant, a link-building agency, or an enterprise tool. A free audit tool, Google Business Profile, and disciplined content usually handles it.