In this guide6 sections
How Google picks the three businesses on the map
Google says local results are based on three things:
- Relevance: how well your profile matches the search.
- Distance: how far you are from the person searching, or the place they typed.
- Prominence: how well known and trusted you are, including reviews, links and your website.
You can't move your yard, but you can do a lot about relevance and prominence.
Win on relevance
- Choose the most accurate primary category. It carries the most weight.
- Add every service you offer in the Services section, in your customers' words.
- Write a clear business description: what you do, where, and what you're accredited for.
- Link your profile to the matching page on your website, not just the home page if a service page fits better.
Build prominence
- Reviews: ask every customer, reply to every review, and keep them coming month by month.
- Photos: upload real photos of jobs, vans and team regularly.
- Posts: a short update each week or two shows the profile is active.
- A strong website: service and town pages with matching details back the profile up.
- Consistent listings: the same name, address and number everywhere online.
Service-area businesses: covering more than one town
Most trades hide their home address and set service areas instead. That's right, but the map will still favour you near your base. To win further out, lean on your website: a well-written page for each town, reviews from customers there, and photos of jobs done there.
Mistakes that sink map rankings
- Keyword-stuffed business names ("Best Cheap Plumber London 24/7"), which risk suspension.
- Virtual offices or fake addresses.
- Buying reviews or offering money off for them.
- Different phone numbers or trading names on different sites.
- Setting it up once and never touching it again.
We set up and manage profiles on our Google Business Profile service, with a monthly plan for posts and review replies.
