Module 7 workshop: a 90-day local SEO plan

A step-by-step workshop that turns everything in Module 7 into a 13-week local SEO plan for your own business, using Lantern & Lane's plan as the worked model. You will set a baseline, fix your foundations, build priority pages, grow reviews and citations, and measure the result.

Read the transcript

Module 7 workshop: a 90-day local SEO plan.

Local SEO rewards steady work more than clever work.

The businesses that win the map pack in their area are rarely doing anything secret.

Step 1: Set your time budget and baseline.

Start with the hours, not the tasks.

Decide how many hours a week you can protect for search work, then multiply by 13.

Step 2: Fix the foundations in weeks 1 and 2.

Foundations come first because every later task depends on them.

Work through this checklist and tick each line.

Step 3: Choose and build your priority pages in weeks 3 to 8.

Open your keyword map and sort by total score.

Choose the top three pages, no more.

Step 4: Run reviews and citations alongside the pages.

These tasks run every week from week 1, in small amounts.

Ask every client whose event finished that week, using the two-step routine from Module 11. Reply to every new review within a few days.

Step 5: Measure in weeks 9 to 13 and write the plan.

Run the monthly routine from Lesson 7 at the end of weeks 4, 8 and 13.

In week 13, compare every baseline number with its target, and write three sentences: what worked, what did not, and what the next quarter's first priority is.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Record a search baseline for your business across Search Console, your Business Profile and your CRM
• Sequence 13 weeks of local SEO tasks within a realistic weekly time budget
• Set measurable 90-day targets and a review point for deciding what to do next

Local SEO rewards steady work more than clever work. The businesses that win the map pack in their area are rarely doing anything secret. They fixed the basics, wrote the pages their clients needed, asked every client for a review and kept going for longer than their competitors did. A 90-day plan gives that work a shape. By the end of this workshop you will have one page that tells you what to do every week until the end of the quarter.

Step 1: Set your time budget and baseline

Start with the hours, not the tasks. Decide how many hours a week you can protect for search work, then multiply by 13. Lantern & Lane commits three hours a week, split between Marco and Priya: 3 x 13 = 39 hours for the quarter. That number disciplines everything that follows. A plan that needs 120 hours will not happen.

Then record your baseline. You cannot claim progress against a number you never wrote down. Lantern & Lane’s baseline, with illustrative figures:

Keep targets modest. Search changes take weeks to be crawled and trusted, and a quarter is enough to see direction, not destiny. A 20 percent improvement in qualified inquiries is a strong quarter.

Step 2: Fix the foundations in weeks 1 and 2

Foundations come first because every later task depends on them. Work through this checklist and tick each line.

• Business Profile verified, with the business name exactly as used in the real world.
• Primary category chosen to match your main service, plus relevant secondary categories.
• Service area set to the places you genuinely serve, address hidden if clients do not visit you.
• Services, description, hours, booking or inquiry link and at least ten real photos added.
• Master business record written; Apple Business Connect and Bing Places claimed using it.
• Search Console verified, sitemap submitted, Analytics key events created.
• Inquiry source question added to your form and your CRM.

Lantern & Lane spends six of its 39 hours here, mostly on photos and the master record.

Step 3: Choose and build your priority pages in weeks 3 to 8

Open your keyword map and sort by total score. Choose the top three pages, no more. For each, decide whether you are rewriting an existing page or creating a new one, and apply the on-page checklist from Lesson 4: title, description, one H1, question-led H2s, a price or range, real photos, internal links and a clear call to action.

Lantern & Lane’s three pages are the day-of coordination page (rewrite), the small weddings page (new) and the Mississauga page (rewrite, with genuine local content). They budget five hours per page, including photo selection and one round of edits: 3 x 5 = 15 hours. One page every two weeks is a pace a two-person studio can hold during the busy season.

Other vendors choose differently, but the logic is the same. A kids’ entertainer in Etobicoke might pick a birthday party page, a school and library show page and a Mississauga page. A caterer in Vaughan might pick corporate lunch catering, holiday party catering and a halal menu page, if halal service is something it genuinely offers. A tent and rental company might pick backyard wedding tents, a pricing guide and a page for the town where most of its deliveries go. In every case, choose the pages closest to a booking first and leave the broad guides for a later quarter.

Step 4: Run reviews and citations alongside the pages

These tasks run every week from week 1, in small amounts.

• Reviews. Ask every client whose event finished that week, using the two-step routine from Module 11. Reply to every new review within a few days. Budget 20 minutes a week, about 4 hours for the quarter.
• Citations. Fix one or two citation errors each week, starting with the most visible platforms. Budget 3 hours across weeks 3 to 8.
• Links. Choose five honest link opportunities from Lesson 6: two venues, one vendor partner, one association and one community sponsorship or resource. Contact one every second week. Budget 4 hours.
• Profile posts and photos. Add new photos from each event, with the photographer’s permission and credit where required. Budget 2 hours.

Running total: 6 + 15 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 2 = 34 hours, leaving 5 hours for measurement and the unexpected.

Step 5: Measure in weeks 9 to 13 and write the plan

Run the monthly routine from Lesson 7 at the end of weeks 4, 8 and 13. In week 13, compare every baseline number with its target, and write three sentences: what worked, what did not, and what the next quarter’s first priority is. If a page has not moved, check whether it is indexed before you rewrite it again.

Now put the whole plan on one page. Here is the template Lantern & Lane uses, which you can copy:

1. Hours per week and total hours: 3 hours, 39 hours.
2. Baseline and targets: the six-row table above.
3. Weeks 1 to 2: foundations checklist.
4. Weeks 3 to 4: page one, coordination; citation fixes on Google, Apple, Bing.
5. Weeks 5 to 6: page two, small weddings; first venue link request.
6. Weeks 7 to 8: page three, Mississauga; association listing.
7. Weeks 9 to 12: refine titles on any page with low CTR; second venue and vendor link requests; profile photos from autumn events.
8. Week 13: measure against targets; write the next quarter’s priorities.
9. Every week: review requests and replies; one citation fix; record inquiry sources.
10. Owner of each task: Priya for pages and photos, Marco for profile, citations, links and measurement.

Print it and pin it where you work. A plan that lives in a drawer is not a plan.

In Canada and the GTA

Time the quarter to the GTA calendar. Search work takes weeks to show results, so your 90 days should end before your busiest inquiry season begins, not during it. For wedding businesses, many couples get engaged over the December holidays and start searching in January, and the big GTA bridal shows run through the winter. A plan that runs from September to early December puts your pages in place for that wave. Corporate event businesses face the opposite timing: holiday party searches build from late summer, so a plan running from May to July has the pages indexed and trusted before buyers start comparing in September. Spring is the time to prepare for summer festival, graduation and backyard party demand. Write the end date of your quarter beside the season it serves.

Keep ownership of your profile and data. If you hire a freelancer or agency to help, make sure your business remains the primary owner of your Google Business Profile, and that the contractor is added as a manager rather than creating the profile under their own account. The same applies to Search Console, Analytics and your domain name: the accounts should be in your name, with the contractor given access. GTA businesses regularly lose profiles and years of reviews when a relationship with a contractor ends badly. Google’s Business Profile guidelines apply to whoever manages the profile, so a contractor who stuffs keywords into your business name puts your profile, not theirs, at risk of suspension.

Be wary of guarantees. Google states that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. An offer of “guaranteed first place on Google Maps in 30 days” is therefore a promise no one can keep. Under the Competition Act, a representation to the public that is false or misleading in a material respect is reviewable conduct, and that applies to the claims you make to your own clients as well. If you sell SEO help to other vendors as part of a planning or consulting service, describe what you will do, not rankings you cannot control. The Competition Bureau’s guide to deceptive marketing practices explains the general rules.

Budget in Canadian terms. For a small event business, the realistic choice is usually between doing the work yourself in a few protected hours a week and paying a freelancer for specific pieces, such as photography, page writing or a technical audit. If you pay someone, ask for a written scope with deliverables and dates, and check whether their invoice includes HST. Ontario’s HST rate is 13 percent, and a contractor who is a GST/HST registrant will add it to their fee. A small supplier whose taxable supplies stay at or under the $30,000 threshold, and who has not registered voluntarily, does not charge it. Compare quotes on the same basis.

Photos and permissions for your pages. Your three priority pages will need real event photos. For photos taken on or after November 7, 2012, the photographer owns the copyright by default, even if the client paid for the shoot, unless there is a signed written agreement saying otherwise. Get a written licence or permission from the photographer before using their images on your website or profile, and credit them as agreed. Module 8 covers this in detail.

French and community pages. If your plan includes French pages for Ottawa or eastern Ontario, or pages for specific cultural occasions in the GTA, schedule them only if you can deliver the service. A Tamil wedding page or a French coordination page brings inquiries that expect real experience and real language skills on the first call.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the official sources linked above, the CRA or a professional for your situation.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 15 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)