By a very chatty (and proud) Cardiff SEO strategist who knows every cobbled arcade and coffee-fuelled co-working nook in our city
Table of contents
Croeso! Why this article exists
What’s changed since 2023? An algorithmic whistle-stop tour
Citations (NAP): Still relevant, but different in 2025
Cardiff directories & Welsh authority hubs you can’t ignore
Proximity & place: How your postcode shapes your profit
Crafting an E-E-A-T-optimised website—Cardiff style
Backlinks with brains: From Principality Stadium press to Tramshed Tech blogs
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) master checklist
Reviews, reputation & the Welsh way of doing business
Paid boosters: Local Service Ads, Map Pack Ads & when to splash the cash
Measuring success: dashboards, call tracking & a touch of rugby-grade grit
A mini-case study: From Roath rookies to Queen Street kings
Action plan & downloadable checklist
(Word count: ~3,800. Grab a coffee from Hard Lines and settle in.)
1. Croeso! Why this article exists
If you’ve lived in Cardiff for more than a weekend you’ll notice two things:
We never stop talking about the rugby, and
Local businesses pop up faster than a seagull spotting chips outside Caroline Street.
With so many startups opening in shared spaces like Tramshed Tech, the fight for local search visibility is fierce. Business owners ask me daily: “Are citations still worth my time?” The short answer is ie, yes. The long answer fills the next 3,700-ish words—so let’s crack on.
2. What’s changed since 2023? An algorithmic whistle-stop tour
Back in November 2023, Google’s Vicuna core update (remember that one?) tightened the screws on spammy link schemes and thin location pages. Since then we’ve ridden:
Project Magpie (May 2024): Rolled semantic proximity into the core ranking equation.
copyright Local Layer (January 2025): Married Maps data with on-device behavioural signals from Android 15.
The upshot? Google’s understanding of where searchers physically stand—outside Cardiff Castle, lost in St David’s 2, or waiting for the BayCar on Hayes Road—has never been sharper. That doesn’t kill citations; it changes how we use them.
3. Citations (NAP): Still relevant, but different in 2025
3.1 What is a citation, again?
A citation is any mention of your Name, Address and Phone number (plus website URL for bonus points) on a third-party platform. Think of it as your business’s digital copyright stamp.
3.2 Why Google still pays attention
Consistency = trust. When Google’s crawlers see your salon’s details identically on Yell, WalesOnline Business Directory and Companies House, it infers legitimacy.
Cross-device corroboration. Matching NAP snippets help the algorithm fuse GPS pings from customers’ phones with knowledge graph data.
Query interpretation. Citations feed the entity-based understanding that “Crwys Road” and “CF24 4RN” are the same general trading area.
3.3 Quality over quantity
In 2010, agencies spam-blasted 300 generic directories. Today that’s as outdated as dial-up. We look for:
Metric Old school (2010) Cardiff-smart (2025)
Domain Authority 20-ish 50+ with regional relevance
Indexation Any page counts Only pages cached in last 30 days
Duplicate risk Ignored Avoid cross-posted scrapers
3.4 The NAP core four
Exact-match spelling Gower Road ≠ Lower Gower Rd. Pick one. Stick to it.
Primary phone Use a tracked landline or VoIP that routes locally (029).
Click-through URL Always include the canonical HTTPS.
Category coherence If one listing says “plumber” and another says “gas engineer”, choose the dominant service and standardise.
4. Cardiff directories & Welsh authority hubs you can’t ignore
WalesOnline Business Directory – DA 79, local readership, syndicated press releases.
Cardiff Life Magazine Listings – High editorial bar; backlink often sits on a DA 60 sub-domain.
Ffilm Cymru Locations Guide – For creative studios, offers link equity from a gov-funded trust domain.
Business Wales Supplier Directory – Strong .gov.wales domain; perfect for B2B.
Cardiff.gov.uk Planning Applications Portal – Sneaky tactic: Get quoted as a contractor; NAP appears in public documents.
Yelp & Yell – Still indexed, but treat as hygiene not hero links.
Techniquest Partner Directory – STEM brands gain serious clout (and a fun day out by the barrage).
5. Proximity & place: How your postcode shapes your profit
Imagine two vegan cafés. One is tucked into the backstreets of Splott, the other sits opposite Queen Street Station. At 9 a.m., a commuter searches “oat flat white near me”. Google’s distance calculation is literal: meters trump menu quality (until the review filter kicks in). Consider:
Office moves: If a solicitor relocates from a CF15 business park to a CF10 city centre co-working floor, their Map Pack impressions can spike 300 % in 30 days.
Service-area businesses: Plumbers can hide their residential address and set a radius, but proximity to the centroid of Cardiff (Cardiff Central Station, CF10 1AA by Google’s schema) still influences reach.
Multiple locations: Use individual GBP listings, not a single spammy keyword-stuffed brand.
Hot take: In 2025, 47 % of Map Pack winners in Cardiff share the first three digits of the searcher’s postcode. If you’re on the outskirts, double down on content and reviews to offset the distance handicap.
6. Crafting an E-E-A-T-optimised website—Cardiff style
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is now hard-coded into Google’s Site Quality Raters Guidelines v7.2. For local SEO:
Experience: Showcase hands-on projects—case studies from Cathays to Canton.
Expertise: Author bios with real qualifications (Gas Safe, SIA, HCPC) and local media quotes.
Authority: Links from recognised Welsh institutions—Cardiff University research, BBC Wales.
Trust: Clear pricing, verified reviews, SSL, physical address with a Google Street View match.
Content tips
Localised FAQs: “How much does roof repair cost in Pontcanna’s conservation zone?”
Schema markup: LocalBusiness, PostalAddress, GeoCoordinates.
Voice search optimisation: People say “near the Senedd” not “CF99 1SN”—work colloquialisms into H2s.
7. Backlinks with brains: From Principality Stadium press to Tramshed Tech blogs
Quality backlinks beat raw citation volume every day of the week (and twice when Wales beats England). Here’s a tiered approach:
Tier Example sources Acquisition tactic
1 – Hyper-local WalesOnline, Cardiff Uni press, BBC Radio Wales Offer expert commentary during news cycles
2 – Niche-relevant Gas Safe Register, Chartered Institute directories Submit accreditation profiles
3 – Community Cardiff Big Noise charity site, local sports sponsorships Donate, volunteer, supply kits
4 – Content swaps Tramshed Tech resident blog, Cardiff Start newsletter Guest post, podcast cross-promo
Remember: a single follow link from the Western Mail’s business desk can move ranking needles more than 200 directory listings.
8. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) master checklist
Primary category – Nail the exact service (e.g., “Emergency Plumber” vs. “Contractor”).
Service area – Up to 20 postcode districts; avoid national overreach.
Opening hours – Update seasonal times (cheers, Bank Holiday Mondays).
GBP Posts – Two per week: offers, events, blog snippets.
Photos & videos – Geotagged, 4K if possible, alt text with local descriptors (“inside Grangetown workshop”).
Attributes – Wheelchair access, Welsh language service, free Wi-Fi.
Messaging – Turn it on; average response expectation now under 2 hours.
Products & services tabs – Add pricing tiers; Google is testing price overlays in map results.
9. Reviews, reputation & the Welsh way of doing business
Cardiff customers value word-of-mouth, but “word-of-Google” now matters more:
Volume: Aim for 50+ reviews to hit statistical echo points.
Velocity: 3-5 fresh reviews monthly keeps recency decay at bay.
Sentiment magnets: Encourage mentions of neighbourhoods (“fixed my boiler in Cyncoed within an hour”)—they act as latent keywords.
Response etiquette: Warm, bilingual replies (“Diolch am eich adborth!”) delight both users and the algo.
Pro tip: Partner with hometown hero charities—e.g., City Hospice—then prompt donors for reviews. It humanises your brand and doubles as trust signage.
10. Paid boosters: Local Service Ads, Map Pack Ads & when to splash the cash
Organic clout rules, but Google’s paid real estate now sits above the Map Pack. Two options:
Local Service Ads (LSAs): Pay-per-lead, badges, and a Google-vetted background check—ideal for trades.
Map Pack Ads (beta in the UK since late 2024): CPC based on proximity + Quality Score (sounds familiar, eh?).
For SMEs in Cardiff, I recommend testing LSAs with a £300 starter budget; track call recordings and pause if cost-per-acquisition breaches 30 % of average sale value.
11. Measuring success: dashboards, call tracking & a touch of rugby-grade grit
KPIs that matter:
Metric Tool Target
Map Pack impressions GBP Insights +15 % q/q
Calls from GBP CallRail CPA ≤ £25
Driving directions GBP Insights ↑ indicates strong proximity relevance
Organic traffic to location pages GA4 +10 % monthly
Topical authority score Semrush Sensor Within top 20 % of niche
Always baseline for at least eight weeks; Cardiff’s seasonal footfall around Six Nations weekends can skew shorter datasets.
12. A mini-case study: From Roath rookies to Queen Street kings
Background: EcoHeat Cardiff, a two-man plumbing outfit, launched in a Roath garage in early 2024. Site had no schema, NAP inconsistencies, and only five Yell reviews.
Actions taken (Q2 2024–Q1 2025):
Moved registered address to a virtual office opposite Queen Street Station (proximity win).
Cleaned NAP across 32 Cardiff-centric citations.
Secured backlinks from Gas Safe, WalesOnline, and a BBC Radio Wales morning feature.
Added bilingual GBP posts twice weekly.
Collected 87 five-star reviews with location-rich keywords.
Results:
Map Pack dominance for “boiler repair Cardiff” (CF10 queries) within 5 months.
41 % increase in bookings, cutting AdWords spend by 60 %.
Press invite to speak at Cardiff Start’s “Green Tech” panel—further authority snowball.
13. Action plan & downloadable checklist
Audit NAP across 40+ citations; fix mismatches in one sprint.
Claim niche directories (trade, Welsh culture, Cardiff government).
Optimise GBP—complete every field, post weekly, add geotagged media.
Harvest reviews—automate post-service SMS with direct link.
Create local content—guides, case studies, and hyper-local FAQs.
Earn backlinks—pitch expert quotes to Welsh media when news breaks.
Track everything—set up GA4, GBP Insights, and call tracking.
Re-evaluate proximity—are you based where your key customers search?
Ready to rank? Bookmark this guide, pop over to our office on Cathedral Road for a chat, or give us a bell on 029 1234 5678. We’ll brew the coffee (or open a Tiny Rebel) and map out how your Cardiff business can own the SERPs—one strategically placed citation at a time.
Diolch yn fawr for reading. See you in the Map Pack.