Local SEO: how to get your business on Google Maps
When someone searches "dentist near me" or "plumber in Austin", Google shows a map with three businesses first. Being in that group can be worth more than any ad campaign. Here's how to get there.
Key takeaways
- Google ranks local results by relevance, distance and prominence.
- Your Google Business Profile is the centerpiece: the right category, complete info, photos and reviews.
- Your website reinforces the profile with location pages, consistent contact details and structured data.
How Google decides which businesses to show
Google says local results depend on three factors:
- Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for.
- Distance: how close you are to the searcher or the location they mentioned.
- Prominence: how well known your business is, based on reviews, mentions on other sites and your website's authority.
You can't change distance, but you can control relevance and build prominence. That's what this guide covers.
Step 1: optimize your Google Business Profile
- Claim and verify your profile at business.google.com. Video verification is the most common method today: have your storefront, signage and some business documentation ready.
- Choose the right primary category. It's the single most important relevance factor. Be specific: "Website designer" rather than "Service establishment". Add secondary categories only for services you actually offer.
- Use your real business name. Stuffing cities or keywords into the name ("Best Cheap Web Design Austin TX") violates the guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
- Fill in everything: hours (including holidays), phone, website, services with descriptions, products with prices and attributes.
- Write a useful description of up to 750 characters: what you do, for whom, where, and what sets you apart.
- Upload real photos and keep them fresh: exterior, interior, team, products and finished work. Avoid stock images.
- Post updates regularly: offers, events, recent projects. It keeps the profile active and adds content.
Tracking tip: add UTM parameters to the website link on your profile, for example ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=business-profile. You'll see in Analytics exactly how many visits and sales come from the map.
Step 2: earn (and reply to) reviews
Reviews affect prominence and, above all, the customer's decision. A business with 80 recent, answered reviews inspires more trust than one with 5 from two years ago.
- Ask at the right moment: right after delivering the work or when the customer expresses satisfaction.
- Make it easy: share your direct review link by text or email, or with a QR code at your location.
- Reply to every review, positive and negative, professionally. A good response to a complaint persuades more than ten stars.
- Never offer discounts or gifts in exchange and never buy reviews: it's prohibited by Google, and the FTC now bans fake reviews in the U.S.
Step 3: align your website with your profile
- Consistent NAP: name, address and phone identical on your website, your profile and every directory.
- Location and service pages: if you serve several cities, create a genuinely useful page for each one with original content (local projects, local testimonials), not copies with the city name swapped.
- Visible map and contact: embed your Google map on the contact page and make your phone number tap-to-call on mobile.
LocalBusinessstructured data in JSON-LD:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Your Business",
"url": "https://yourbusiness.com/",
"telephone": "+1-512-555-0100",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "100 Main St",
"addressLocality": "Austin",
"addressRegion": "TX",
"postalCode": "78701",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"openingHours": "Mo-Fr 08:00-18:00",
"sameAs": ["https://www.instagram.com/yourbusiness"]
}
</script>Step 4: local citations and directories
Citations are mentions of your business with its name, address and phone on other sites. They build prominence and help search engines and AI confirm you exist. Prioritize:
- Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps and Siri) and Bing Places (Bing and Copilot).
- Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and the directories of your industry (Angi, Houzz, Avvo, Healthgrades, etc.).
- Your local chamber of commerce and trade associations.
- Social profiles with complete details: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Nextdoor.
- Local media and blogs: one story in a regional newspaper is worth more than a hundred generic directories.
Mistakes that knock you off the map
- Having duplicate profiles for the same business.
- Using a virtual office or coworking address without in-person service.
- Constantly changing your name, category or address.
- Ignoring user-suggested edits: check your profile every week.
- Abandoning the profile: no photos, posts or replies for months.
Frequently asked questions
Can I have a Business Profile without a storefront?
Yes. If you serve customers at their location, you can create a service-area business profile, hide your address and define the areas you cover.
How long does local SEO take to show results?
Profile changes show up within days, but climbing the map usually takes one to three months of consistent work on reviews, posts and your website.
Should I put keywords in my business name?
It violates Google's guidelines and can get your profile suspended. Use your real business name and work keywords into your category, description, services and website.
Conclusion
Local SEO is the most cost-effective way to win customers for any business with a defined service area. Start with the basics today: verify your profile, choose the right category, complete every field and ask your last five customers for a review. Then align your website and build citations. Consistency wins the map.
