How to Get Your Business Found Online in Durham, New Hampshire
If you run a business in Durham, you already know this town punches above its weight. With about 15,000 residents—plus another 12,000 or so UNH students during the school year—there’s a steady stream of customers looking for pizza, plumbers, hair salons, and mechanics. But here’s the problem: most small businesses in Durham are invisible on Google.
Why? Because the same things that make Durham great also make it tough to rank. UNH students search for everything on their phones. Visitors come for hockey games and graduation weekends. And every one of those searches triggers Google’s algorithm. If your business doesn’t show up in the first few results, you might as well not exist.
The good news? You don’t need to be a tech wizard to fix this. Here are four practical things you can do yourself.
1. Set up your Google Business Profile correctly
This is the single most important thing you can do. Go to Google Business Profile (it’s free) and claim your listing. Make sure your business name, address, and phone number are exactly the same everywhere online. If you’re “Joe’s Pizza” on your website but “Joe’s Pizza & Subs” on Yelp, Google gets confused. Add your hours, photos of your shop, and pick the right categories (e.g., “Pizza restaurant” not “Food service”).
2. Ask for reviews—and respond to them
Reviews are like gold for local rankings. After a good experience, ask a customer if they’d mind leaving a quick review. Don’t offer discounts or freebies in exchange (that’s against Google’s rules). When you get a review, reply to it—even if it’s just “Thanks, Sarah!” This tells Google you’re an active, real business.
3. Make your website mobile-friendly
Most people in Durham search on their phones. If your website takes more than three seconds to load or looks tiny on a phone screen, people will leave. Google notices this and drops your ranking. You can test your site for free using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. If it fails, talk to your web developer about a responsive design.
4. Use local keywords on your website
Think about what someone might type into Google when looking for you. “Plumber in Durham NH” or “best coffee near UNH.” Sprinkle these phrases naturally into your website text, page titles, and image descriptions. Don’t stuff them in—just write like a normal person who happens to mention where you’re located.
What about backlinks?
You might hear the term “backlinks” and tune out. Here’s what it means in plain English: a backlink is when another website links to yours. Think of it like a recommendation. If the UNH alumni association links to your restaurant’s website, Google sees that as a vote of confidence. The more quality recommendations you get from trusted sites, the higher you’ll rank.
That’s where BacklinkUSA.com comes in. We publish articles about local businesses on high-authority websites, helping you earn those valuable backlinks without having to chase them yourself.
Start with the basics above, and you’ll already be ahead of most businesses in Durham. Need a hand with the backlinks part? That’s what we’re here for.