Local SEO and Google Maps help that keeps you the owner

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the work that decides whether you show up in the map pack and the local results when someone searches “plumber near me” or “family lawyer in Tulsa”. The map pack is the map and short list of businesses Google shows above the regular results.

Google says local results mainly come down to three things:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches the search. Complete, accurate categories, services and a description help here.
• Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or from the place they typed. You can’t change this one.
• Prominence (Google also calls it popularity): how well known you are. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.

Money isn’t on the list. In Google’s words: “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.”

How do I get my business on Google Maps?

Add or claim a free Google Business Profile, then verify it. Google says you can add or claim a business at no charge.

1. Search Google Maps for your business name and town. If a profile already exists, select “Claim this business”.
2. If there isn’t one, go to business.google.com/add and enter your details.
3. Pick the primary category that says what you are, such as “Plumber” or “Personal injury attorney”, not a broad one like “Contractor”.
4. If you go to your customers, hide your address and set a service area. Google’s guidelines say service-area businesses should hide their address.
5. Verify. Google decides which methods you see: a video call or recording, a code by phone or text, email, or a postcard. Google says reviews take up to 5 business days, on rare occasions longer.

Then fill in the rest: services, hours, photos of your real work and team, and a booking or quote link.

What stops a business from showing on Google Maps?

Usually one of these:

• The profile isn’t verified, or it’s suspended. Look for a warning while signed in.
• There are two profiles for one business. Google allows one profile per business location, and says duplicates can cause display problems on Maps and Search.
• The address isn’t allowed. A virtual office, a remote mailbox or a P.O. box isn’t eligible for a profile.
• Extra words in the business name. Google’s guidelines say unnecessary information in the name isn’t permitted and can lead to suspension.
• The wrong primary category, so you don’t match the searches that matter.
• Competitors nearby have more recent reviews and fuller profiles.
• The searcher is far from you. Distance is part of every local search.

For businesses that travel to customers, our HVAC, plumbing and electrical page walks through the checks in order. For a brand-new business, our roofing and restoration page covers how long it takes to show up.

What do you do for local SEO?

Lola, our local SEO agent, does this work, and a human approves it before anything changes on your profile.

• Profile audit and cleanup: categories, services, description, hours (holiday hours too), photos and booking or quote links, compared with the businesses that show in your map pack.
• Duplicates and wrong pins: we find duplicate or old profiles and misplaced map pins, and ask Google to fix them through its own forms.
• Posts: offers, updates and photos of real jobs, drafted by us and approved by you.
• Listings: Bing Places, your Apple Maps place card through Apple Business, and the directories people use in your industry, with the same name, address and phone everywhere.
• Review requests that ask every customer the same way: one short message with your Google review link, sent after every job or visit by you or your team. No “were you happy?” filter first, and no discounts or gifts for reviews.
• Review reply drafts: written for you to approve, within your industry’s rules. A dental practice can’t confirm someone is a patient in a reply, and a law firm can’t reveal client details.
• Spam reports: competitors with fake names or fake addresses, reported through Google’s own complaint process.
• Map-pack checks: where you show for your main searches across your service area, checked each month.

Why the review rules matter: Google’s review policy bans selectively asking for positive reviews and offering incentives for reviews, and the FTC’s rule bars incentives tied to a review being positive or negative.

Who owns my Business Profile?

You do, and you stay the owner. You add us as a manager. Managers can edit the profile, but Google says they can’t add or remove users or remove the profile.

Google’s rules for agencies say the business must keep ownership or co-ownership of its profile at all times, and Google suggests the agency take the manager role. Because we charge for our work, Google also requires us to tell you in writing, before we manage your profile, that a Business Profile comes at no extra cost from Google. Our fee is for our work, it shows on your invoice, and we tell you about every change we make.

To add us as a manager:

1. Open your profile at business.google.com.
2. Go to More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select Add, enter the email address we give you, choose Manager and select Invite.

You can remove us from the same screen at any time.

Should I pay someone to manage my Google Business Profile?

Only if it saves you time or fixes something you can’t. The profile is free, and many owners keep a simple one up to date themselves. Paying for help makes sense when:

• you don’t have time to post, add photos and answer reviews each month
• the profile has problems you can’t clear, such as a duplicate, a suspension or a wrong pin
• competitors outrank you in your own area
• you serve several towns, or have more than one location
• you want every customer asked for a review the same way, every time

If you hire anyone, including us, Google suggests getting a written agreement that lists the services and their costs, and working with one provider at a time. It names guaranteed placement, claims to work for Google, threats to remove your business and deceptive pricing as red flags.

How do you measure local SEO?

• Profile actions: calls, website clicks and direction requests from your Business Profile.
• Map-pack position: where you show for your main searches across your service area.
• Reviews: how many came in, your average rating and how many have a reply.
• Qualified leads: calls, forms and bookings, using the definition we agree with you at the start.

Max, our reporting agent, puts it on one page each month.

Frequently asked questions