How a local business shows up on Google when people search nearby

For a local business, “being on Google” doesn’t mean ranking first nationally for a broad term. It means showing up when someone three kilometres away searches for exactly what you do. Nobody can guarantee a position on Google, us included. Most of what it depends on, though, is in your hands.

How Google decides who to show

Google lists three factors in its own Business Profile help pages: distance (how far you are from the person searching), relevance (how well your profile matches the search) and prominence (how well known the business is, which Google says includes reviews and the websites that link to you).

You can’t change distance. The other two are up to you, and that’s where the work is.

Your Google profile matters more than your website

When someone searches for a local service, Google usually shows a map with a few businesses above the ordinary results. You appear there through the free Google Business Profile, and your website is the link inside it. That’s why we’d sort out the profile first. The minimum:

• The right primary category. It tells Google which searches to show you for at all.
• Full address and opening hours, including holidays. Someone who has walked up to a locked door rarely comes back.
• A phone number you actually answer, and a link to your site.
• Real photos of the premises, the team and the work. Stock photos are spotted at a glance.
• Your services listed one by one, with a sentence or two on each.

Your name, address and phone number need to be identical everywhere: the profile, the website, the directories. An old number in some directory confuses Google and customers alike.

A separate page for each service

A common mistake is a single “Services” page listing ten things. Google doesn’t know what to show it for, and the visitor can’t find the one they need.

It’s better to give each main service its own page, with a heading that names the service and the town. A page called “Teeth whitening in Plovdiv” stands a far better chance for that search than a general page that mentions whitening in one sentence.

Reviews are not vanity

Google says more reviews and positive ratings help local ranking. And the person choosing between you and the business next door reads them. In practice:

• Ask for a review right after a job well done. A week later even a happy customer has forgotten.
• Send a direct link so nobody has to hunt for where to write it.
• Reply to all of them, the weak ones too. We think a calm reply to criticism says more about a business than one more five-star rating.

The technical minimum

Nothing complicated, but these need to be in place:

• Speed. Open your site on your phone with Wi-Fi switched off. If you’re waiting, so is the customer.
• Works on a phone. Someone looking for a service nearby is often out and about, searching on their phone.
• Titles and descriptions. Every page with its own <title> and description that name the service and the town.
• Structured data. A description of the business, address and opening hours in code that Google reads without guessing. Visitors don’t see it.
• A visible phone number. One tap to call, no scrolling.

Where to start

If you only have time for one thing this week, finish your Google profile properly and ask five happy customers for a review. If you have time for a second, build a separate page for the service that earns you the most. The rest can wait.