Local SEO Mastery: Rankings, Citations, Reviews and Google Business Profile by Semrush Academy

About this course

Get found by the people most likely to buy from you: customers searching in your area. This free online course helps you build practical local SEO skills to improve visibility in Google Maps and the map pack, so your business or clients can win more calls, direction requests, and store visits. You will understand how the local algorithm shapes results, what signals matter most, and how to turn that knowledge into repeatable actions that move the needle.

You will learn how relevance, distance, and prominence work together—and how to influence what you can control. The course walks you through the ranking factors that drive local results and shows you how to strengthen on-site signals, create location-focused relevance, and earn the kind of local links that support long-term performance. You will also see why consistency across the web matters and how accurate business information builds trust for both users and search engines.

A major focus is building a strong Google Business Profile presence, because for many local searches it functions like a new home page. You will learn how to set it up thoughtfully, choose appropriate categories, and use features like posts and Q&A to support engagement and conversion. You will also dive into reviews: how they influence visibility, how they can help you show up for specific queries, and how to manage them in a way that improves reputation while supporting SEO.

Along the way, short checks and exercises reinforce key ideas, helping you recognize when the local algorithm is at play, identify the most impactful levers for maps rankings, and understand engagement signals such as clicks-to-call or direction requests. Finally, you will learn how to report results clearly to a client or your boss, connecting metrics to business outcomes. By the end, you will have a structured approach to improving local search presence ethically and consistently, whether you manage one location or many.