Can anyone share a good beginner checklist for getting down to on-page SEO & ranking well in Google’s local SERPs?

The short answer is yes, I’ve got a nice beginner checklist that will hopefully help you get a rock-solid starting point for having everything in place with on-page SEO and ranking well in Google’s local search listings (as opposed to paid search optimization – a.k.a. “Google’s sponsored ads”/Pay-Per-Click online promotion). Note, however, that there is no such thing as a universal guide with a guaranteed SEO & ranking progress in Google’s local (as well as nationwide/global) search results. But if you’re completely new to it, the following basic approaches to on-page SEO at the local level will serve you quite well, actually disregarding your business type or target location. That being said, let’s quickly run through the main actions recommended to that point.

Basic Checklist for On-Page SEO: Ranking Locally in Google’s Organic SERPs

The core idea of on-page SEO optimization at the hyper-local level – is to try getting as many long-tail keywords as possible, in line with maintaining a strong hyper-local focus (i.e., putting the name of the city/town or a given target location) throughout your web copy and the key on-page elements. Of course, everything should make sense (i.e., simply applying for “keyword overstuffing” isn’t working anymore). That way, make sure to meet the following basic requirements to the primary on-page SEO elements, such as:

• Title Tags – should be created unique and embedded with your core target “short-tail” keywords. Ideally, these elements are to bear your most valuable keyword assets, which are recommended to be put as close to the title’s beginning as possible. That way, try to mention your brand name when it DOES make sense for the user (i.e., mainly for maximizing your potential gains regarding Click-Through Rate), in line with keeping each Title Tag within a 55-60 character limit (i.e., for making them correctly displayed in Google’s search results as “clickable” links to the web pages, which are most relevant to the user’s keyword-based request query).
• Meta Descriptions – make sure to have these on-page elements created unique for every single web page without exclusion. Put simply, Meta Descriptions are meant to give a clear & concise summary for each web page’s content, which helps the major search engines (like Google itself) readily understand what it’s all about. All you need here is to make everything look maximum intriguing and enticing in the eyes of the user (i.e., to make most out of your Click-Through Rate, and therefore Conversion-generating potential). While you have the average length recommended within 155-160 characters in total, there is a 275 maximum character length that will be still shown by Google’s search listing in the capacity of “rich snippet.” Note, however, that unlike keyword-based Title Tags, your Meta Description should be revolving mainly around their long-tail expressions (ideally, hyper-local keyword variations).

• Image ALT Tags – much like with the previously mentioned on-page elements, these tiny pieces of content are intended to help the search engines ‘understand“ what your images are all about. The only strong recommendation is to make them created within 3-5 single words, separating these little descriptions with hyphens, rather than dashes/underscores. 
• Localized URLs – and don’t forget to create custom URL structure, which should be made up with short and sufficiently descriptive URLs (each coming up to 115 characters). That way, be especially careful when building custom URLs based on long-tail (and more importantly) or hyper-local search terms. Of course, that should be your main point of emphasis. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that every single URL must always be created with local SEO in mind. Just make sure they are making sense for the user – and you’re already halfway done.