Reading sits in an awkward position for search. It is large enough that most trades and professional firms face real competition in Google, yet close enough to London that firms based there compete for the same Reading searches. I work with Reading and Thames Valley businesses on SEO, Google Business Profile and paid search, and this page sets out what I would do differently for a firm here compared with one in central London.
How I work with Reading businesses
Reading is one of the two places I work from, alongside London. In practice the work runs remotely: a video call to start, shared documents for the plan and the keyword map, and a written report each month showing what changed, what it did and what comes next. That rhythm suits most Reading firms, because the person running the work on the client side is usually an owner or a marketing lead with a full diary, not a team waiting for a weekly meeting.
The general process, from the first call to monthly reporting, is the same wherever you are, and it is described on the page about the areas I cover and how working together runs. The rest of this page is about what is specific to Reading.
What changes about search in Reading
Customers search by town, not by county
Berkshire has had no county council since 1998. It is run by six unitary authorities, and people search the way they think about where they live. Someone in Earley or Tilehurst types “Reading”, someone a few miles east types “Wokingham” or “Bracknell”, and very few people type “Berkshire” unless they want options across the whole county.
The practical step is to find out which towns your enquiries really come from before writing anything. Search Console shows the place names people already use to find you. Build a location landing page only for a town where you can say something true and different, such as how far you travel, which jobs you do there or which local rules apply. Swapping the town name into the same page five times rarely helps and can drag the whole site down.
The map pack is smaller, but it is not empty
The local pack for a Reading search usually draws on fewer competing businesses than the same search in Westminster or Shoreditch. That is good news, but it has a catch. Google weighs proximity, the distance between the searcher and the business, so a firm near the town centre can rank well for someone in town and drop away for someone searching from Woodley or Theale.
In a market this size, thorough basics go further than they do in London. I would check the primary category first, then services, opening hours, photos and how reviews are answered, and make sure the business name, address and phone number match everywhere they appear. What I would never do is add a second address or a virtual office to reach another town. Google’s guidelines do not allow it, and recovering a suspended profile takes far longer than building a legitimate one.
Firms based in London want your Reading searches too
Fast trains to Paddington and the Elizabeth line put Reading inside many London firms’ catchment, and some London accountants, solicitors and agencies publish pages aimed at Reading searches. For organic searches, then, you are often competing with businesses that are not here.
Your advantage is that you are. Put your Reading address and local phone number on the site and the profile, ask customers for reviews that describe the job and the area in their own words, and write pages that show working knowledge of Reading, for example the planning authority a building project goes through or the parking near your premises. A page written from a desk in London rarely has that detail.
Business-park firms often sell well beyond Reading
Reading and the wider M4 corridor are home to a large number of technology and business-to-business firms, many on business parks at the edge of town. For them, a search like “IT support Reading” might bring a few useful enquiries, but the buyers who matter most usually search by problem, product or software with no place name at all.
So I split the keyword plan in two. Local terms are handled by the Google Business Profile and one strong service page. National terms are handled by content and the technical health of the site, which is where most of the effort goes. If you run a software house or managed service provider, the approach on SEO for IT and software companies covers the national side in more depth.
Commuters search from two places
Many people who live in Reading work in London or elsewhere in the Thames Valley, so the same person may look for a dentist from a desk in the City at lunchtime and from home in the evening. Organic and map results shift with that movement. For paid search, check your location targeting settings: Google Ads can show ads to people who are regularly in, or simply interested in, your chosen area, and for a Reading firm that may be exactly right or a leak of budget into London clicks that never convert. Decide which, then set it deliberately.
When a remote consultant is the wrong choice for a Reading business
If you want someone in your office every week, sitting in on sales meetings and briefing staff face to face, a consultant who works on site will suit you better than I will. The same applies if you need design, development, copywriting and social media delivered by one supplier with a team behind it. I work alone, and I will tell you when a job needs more hands than mine.
And if your business is a single shop that relies on walk-in trade, you may not need a consultant yet. Working through the local SEO checklist yourself, a task or two each week, will cover most of what matters at that stage.
Services that fit a Reading business
- Local SEO, if you serve customers in Reading and the towns around it. That page explains why your map rankings depend on where your business is located, and what can and cannot be done about it.
- Google Business Profile optimisation, if your profile is missing from the map pack, sits in the wrong category or has been suspended.
- B2B SEO, for business-park firms whose buyers search nationally and take months to decide.
- Google search ads management, if you need enquiries while organic work builds, with location settings checked for a commuter catchment.
Next step
If you want to know what is holding your site back in Reading searches, request a free SEO audit and I will tell you what I would fix first and why. There is no obligation to go further.