If you're asking yourself, how do I get my Google Business Profile to rank higher? , there are several areas you need to work on. Google doesn’t rank local businesses based on one single factor. Its own guidance says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence . Google Support You can’t control where every potential customer is searching from, but you can improve how relevant your business appears and how strong your local presence looks compared with competitors. In this article, I’m going to focus on three important areas: Show Google clearly what your business does Build stronger local proof through reviews Strengthen your local authority across the web These are not the only factors involved, but they are important ones to get right. 1. Show Google Clearly What Your Business Does The first thing to look at is your Google Business Profile categories and services. Your primary category should describe the main thing your business does. For example, if you are a plumber, your primary category might simply be: Plumber But many businesses stop there. Google allows one primary category and up to nine additional categories. However, Google also recommends using as few categories as possible while making sure they accurately describe your core business. So this is not about adding every category you can find. It is about choosing the additional categories that genuinely represent important parts of your business. For example, a plumbing business might also genuinely provide services connected with: Gas fitting Drainage Hot-water systems Water filtration Other specialist plumbing work The categories you select can affect your local ranking, so they matter. Add the Services You Actually Provide The next step is to look at your services. Your service list gives Google more detail about the actual work you carry out. For example, rather than simply saying you are a plumber, your services might include: Hot-water cylinder installation Leak repairs Drain clearing Gas fitting Water softener installation Only add services you genuinely provide. Google can also use information from your website and other online sources when building its understanding of your business. That means your website should support what you are saying on your Google Business Profile. If you claim an important secondary category or service, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website too. The clearer and more consistent this information is, the easier it is for Google to understand what searches your business may be relevant to. 2. Build Strong Local Proof Through Reviews The second area is reviews. Reviews do two jobs. They help potential customers decide whether they trust you, and they also contribute to Google's understanding of how prominent your business is locally. Google specifically says that more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. That is why a steady flow of genuine reviews is so valuable. Make Asking for Reviews Part of Your Process Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to make review requests part of your normal customer follow-up. You can ask through: Email Text message Your invoice process Your email signature A QR code A direct Google review link Google actively recommends reminding customers to leave reviews, provided the reviews reflect a genuine experience and you are not offering incentives. The important thing is consistency. Rather than getting a lot of reviews in one month and then nothing for six months, build review requests into your normal process. Detailed Reviews Are More Useful to Customers A review that simply says: “Great service.” is useful. But a review such as: “They installed our new water softener, explained everything clearly and left the place clean and tidy.” gives a future customer much more useful information. Google can also ask service-business customers what type of work was carried out, using information from your service list, website and other authoritative sources. That reinforces the importance of keeping your services accurate. You should also respond to reviews. Google encourages businesses to reply because it shows customers that their feedback matters. If you want a structured way to check the important areas of your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through them step by step. 3. Strengthen Your Local Authority The third area is local prominence. Google describes prominence as how well-known a business is, and says it can be influenced by things such as reviews and links from other websites. This is where your wider online presence becomes important. Your business may appear on: Local business directories Industry directories Trade association websites Local supplier websites School websites Charity websites Sports club websites Community organisations Traditionally, directory listings containing your business name, address and phone number are often called citations . The key thing is that the information should be accurate and consistent. Look for Genuine Local Mentions Some of the strongest local signals can come from genuine local relationships. For example, perhaps you: Sponsor a local sports team Support a charity Help a school Work with a local community organisation Belong to a local trade association If those organisations mention your business on their websites, that can create valuable local links and references. The important thing is that these relationships should be real. You should not be trying to manufacture links purely for SEO. Instead, think about the organisations your business already works with or genuinely wants to support. A local plumber might sponsor a junior football team. A builder might support a school fundraiser. A local service business might provide discounted or free help to a charity they genuinely care about. If that organisation then acknowledges the support on its website, that gives Google another external reference to the business. Keep Your Business Information Accurate Weak or inconsistent information can also make it harder for Google to understand your business. Make sure things such as these are correct: Business name Address Phone number Website Opening hours Special hours Categories Services Google says complete, detailed and up-to-date information can help a business appear in relevant local results. Google Support If your website says you close at 5pm but your profile says 6pm, fix it. If your phone number changed two years ago and some directories still show the old one, update them. If you have holiday or special opening hours, keep those current too. Don’t Chase One Ranking Trick The biggest mistake is looking for one magic tactic that will suddenly push your Google Business Profile to the top. That isn’t how local ranking works. Think instead about the three broad factors Google talks about: Relevance — how closely your business matches the search. Distance — how far away you are from the person searching. Prominence — how established and well-known your business appears. Google Support You can’t control distance. But you can improve relevance and prominence. You can make your profile clearer. You can improve your reviews. You can strengthen your website. You can build genuine local mentions and links. And you can make sure your business information is consistent everywhere. Those improvements work together. What Should You Do Next? Start by looking at the businesses that consistently rank above you. Compare: Their categories Their services Their reviews Their website Their local links Their directory presence Their overall profile completeness Then compare that with your own business. You’re looking for the gaps. You don’t have to fix everything at once. Start with the biggest weaknesses and improve them one by one. If you want a more detailed walkthrough, I’ve also created a free Google Business Profile masterclass that goes through the wider optimisation process and shows you what else to look at.
If you're asking yourself, how do I get my business higher on Google Maps? , there are several areas you need to look at. Google doesn't rank local businesses based on one single factor. Instead, local results are mainly influenced by relevance, distance and prominence. You can't control where the person searching is located, but you can improve how clearly Google understands your business and how strong your business appears compared with local competitors. In this article, we'll look at three areas that can help: Make your business more relevant Build more trust Strengthen your local authority These won't guarantee a particular Maps position, but they can help improve the signals Google uses when deciding which businesses to show in local search results. 1. Make Your Business More Relevant One of the first things to look at is your Google Business Profile categories. Many businesses set up their profile, choose one category and never look at it again. For example, a plumbing company might choose: Plumber That may be exactly the right primary category. However, the business may also genuinely operate in other areas that Google provides separate categories for. Depending on the company, those could include services connected with gas fitting, drainage or other specialist work. Google allows one primary category and additional categories, but the important thing isn't to add as many as possible. The categories should genuinely describe what the business is. Google specifically recommends choosing a small number of categories that accurately represent the business rather than adding a category for every individual service. Add the Services You Actually Provide Your services are another useful way of giving Google more information about what your business does. If you're a plumber, for example, you might provide services involving: Hot-water systems Drainage Gas fitting Water filtration Leak repairs Only include services you genuinely provide. The aim is to make your Google Business Profile as accurate and complete as possible. Your website should also support what you're saying on your profile. If you have an additional business category or important service on your Google Business Profile, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website as well. Google uses information from Business Profiles, websites and other sources when building its understanding of a local business. The clearer and more consistent that information is, the easier it is for Google to understand which searches your business may be relevant to. 2. Build More Local Trust The second area is trust. Reviews are one of the most visible trust signals on a Google Business Profile. Google says that the number of reviews and positive ratings can contribute to local prominence, which is one of the main factors used in local rankings. Reviews also matter enormously to potential customers. Imagine somebody is comparing three local plumbers. One has only a handful of old reviews. Another has a steady stream of recent feedback from customers talking about specific jobs they've completed. That can make the second business look far more established and credible. Encourage Genuine Customer Feedback The best reviews often include useful detail. For example: "Great service." is useful. But something like: "They installed our new water softener, explained how everything worked and left the area tidy." gives a potential customer much more information. It helps confirm what kind of work the business actually carries out. You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write or offer incentives for positive feedback. Instead, make asking for genuine reviews part of your normal follow-up process. Consistency matters. A regular flow of customer feedback is generally more useful than getting a burst of reviews and then nothing for months. You should also reply to reviews naturally and helpfully. Google specifically recommends responding to reviews because it shows customers that you value their feedback. If you're not sure which areas of your profile need attention, my Google Business Profile Checklist gives you a useful starting point. Keep Your Business Information Accurate Trust also comes from getting the basics right. Your business hours should be accurate. Your special hours should be updated for holidays and other changes. Your phone number, website and business details should all be current. Google says complete and accurate Business Profile information makes a business more likely to appear in relevant local search results. This is one of the simplest things to check, yet it's surprisingly common to find profiles with outdated opening times, incorrect website links or missing information. 3. Strengthen Your Local Authority The third area is local authority, or what Google calls prominence . Prominence is Google's way of assessing how well-known a business is. Google says this can be influenced by information it finds around the web, including links to the business and customer reviews. This is where your broader online presence becomes important. Your business may appear on: Local directories Industry directories Trade organisations Local business websites Supplier websites Community websites These mentions can help reinforce information about your business. Traditionally, these listings are often referred to as citations , especially when they include your business name, address and phone number. The most important thing is accuracy. If your business details appear across several websites, make sure they're consistent and current. Add Useful Photos and Videos Photographs and videos are also valuable parts of your Google Business Profile. Google recommends adding photos and videos that show your storefront, products and services because they help customers understand what your business offers. For a local service business, useful examples could include: Before-and-after photographs Recently completed jobs Your team Your vehicles Your premises Tools and equipment Different services you provide Before-and-after photos can be particularly effective because they quickly show the transformation you've achieved for a customer. If you're repairing a roof, laying tiles or renovating a bathroom, the finished result can often communicate far more quickly than a long description. Video can work well too. You might briefly explain: What problem you found What work you're carrying out Why you've chosen that solution What the finished result looks like This type of content is valuable primarily because it gives prospective customers useful evidence of the work you do. Don't Chase One Ranking Trick If you want to get your business higher on Google Maps, don't concentrate on finding one clever trick. Google's own guidance points back to three broad factors: Relevance — how closely your business matches the search. Distance — how far the business is from the person searching. Prominence — how well-known and established the business appears. You can't control all three. You can't change the searcher's location. But you can improve your relevance and prominence by giving Google better information and building a stronger overall local presence. What Should You Do Next? Start by comparing your Google Business Profile with the businesses that regularly appear above you. Look at: Their categories Their services Their reviews Their photographs Their website Their wider online presence Then look for the gaps in your own profile. You don't necessarily need to change everything at once. A series of small improvements can gradually make your business easier for Google to understand and more convincing to the customers who find you. If you'd like a more structured way to work through your profile, you can start with my FREE Google Business Profile Audit . It can help identify the areas that may be holding back your local visibility
If you're asking yourself, how do I get more calls from my Google Business Profile? , one of the first things to understand is that simply creating a profile isn't enough. A lot of businesses set up their Google Business Profile, add their basic information and then do very little with it. Months later, they wonder why they aren't getting as many calls and enquiries as they expected. Your Google Business Profile can be one of th e most valuable ways to generate local enquiries, but it needs to give Google enough information to understand what your business does and give potential customers enough confidence to contact you. There are three main areas I'd focus on: Increasing your visibility for relevant local searches Building trust through genuine customer reviews Making it easier for people to contact you There are also a few additional things you can do to keep your profile current and give potential customers more reasons to choose your business. 1. Make Sure You're Using the Right Business Categories One of the first areas to check is your Google Business Profile categories. When many businesses create their profile, they choose one obvious category and stop there. For example, a plumber might choose: Plumber That's a sensible primary category if plumbing is the main part of the business. But that same plumber might genuinely provide other types of work that have relevant Google Business Profile categories available. Depending on the business, that could include areas such as gas fitting, drainage or other specialist services. The important thing is that the categories you select should accurately represent what your business actually does. Don't add categories simply because you want to appear for more searches. Why Additional Categories Can Matter Categories help Google understand what type of business you are. If Google only has information about one part of your business, it may have less context about the other services you provide. Adding genuinely relevant categories can therefore help Google understand more about your business and the types of searches your profile may be relevant to. Your website should support this information as well. For example, if you say you provide a particular type of specialist service, ideally your website should contain useful information about that service. You're giving Google a consistent picture of what you do. More relevant visibility creates more opportunities to appear in front of local customers — and ultimately more opportunities to generate calls. 2. Get Reviews More Consistently The second area to focus on is reviews. Visibility gets people to your profile. Reviews can help give them the confidence to contact you. When somebody is comparing several businesses, there's a good chance they'll look at the reviews before making their decision. Imagine somebody needs a plumber. They find three businesses nearby offering the service they need. One has very few recent reviews. Another has plenty of recent reviews from real customers describing the work they've had completed. Which business is likely to give the potential customer greater confidence? That's why I often describe Google reviews as your digital word of mouth . Your previous customers are effectively helping future customers decide whether they should contact you. The Content of Your Reviews Matters Too The number of reviews is important, but what customers actually say can be valuable as well. Compare these two reviews: "Great service." And: "James repaired our leaking hot-water cylinder, arrived when he said he would and left everything clean and tidy." The second review gives a potential customer much more information. It confirms the type of service provided and describes the customer's experience. You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write, and you shouldn't offer incentives in return for positive reviews. Instead, build a simple process for asking genuine customers to leave feedback after you've completed their work. The key is consistency. Rather than collecting ten reviews and then doing nothing for a year, make requesting reviews part of your normal customer follow-up process. If you're not sure what else needs checking on your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through the main areas step by step. 3. Make It Easier for People to Contact You The third thing is making it as easy as possible for someone to get in touch. Different customers prefer different ways of communicating. Some people want to call. Others prefer to send a message. Some customers use WhatsApp. Others would rather click through to your website and complete an enquiry or booking. The fewer barriers you place between somebody finding your business and contacting you, the better. Check the contact options available on your Google Business Profile and make sure the ones that are relevant to your business are properly configured. Make sure your telephone number is correct. Add messaging options where they're available and appropriate. If you use appointment or booking links, make sure they send the customer somewhere useful. For example, if you have a specific booking or enquiry page, it's usually better to send someone directly there rather than making them search through your website trying to work out what to do next. Make the next step obvious. 4. Keep Your Google Business Profile Up to Date There's also another simple principle worth following: Keep your profile current. Your basic business information should always be correct, including: Business hours Special opening hours Telephone number Website Services Business information You should also consider regularly adding genuine photographs showing what's happening inside your business. That could include: Recently completed jobs Before-and-after photographs Your team Company vehicles Your premises Equipment Examples of different services These images help prospective customers get a better feel for your business before they contact you. If somebody has never dealt with your company before, they're looking for reasons to trust you. Good photographs, strong reviews and complete business information can all help build that confidence. Use Google Business Profile Posts Google Business Profile posts can also be useful for keeping customers informed about what's happening. You could use posts to show recently completed work, share a business update or promote an appropriate seasonal offer. For example, a roofing company might show before-and-after photographs from a recently completed roof clean. A plumber might highlight a particular service. A local service business might promote an offer during a traditionally quieter part of the year. You're giving customers more useful information when they're considering whether to contact you. More Calls Usually Come From Improving the Whole Profile There isn't normally one magic change that suddenly doubles the number of calls coming from your Google Business Profile. It's about improving several areas that work together. Make sure Google understands exactly what your business does. Use the most appropriate categories. Build a consistent collection of genuine customer reviews. Make it easy for customers to contact you. Keep your business information accurate. Add useful photographs and updates. When these things work together, you create a stronger Google Business Profile. And importantly, you may already have people finding your business. The opportunity might not simply be getting more visibility. It may be doing a better job of turning the visibility you already have into more calls and enquiries. What Should You Do Next? Take a look at your Google Business Profile alongside some of your strongest local competitors. Compare the categories they're using, the quality and consistency of their reviews, their photographs, their services and how easy they make it for someone to contact them. Then ask yourself one simple question: If I were the customer looking at these businesses, would my profile give me enough confidence to make the call? If you're not sure where the gaps are, you can start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit . I'll look at your profile and identify areas that could be holding back the number of local calls and enquiries you're generating.