What decides local results
Google's Business Profile help pages name three factors for local results:
- Relevance: how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: how far each business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known a business is.
Google adds that a profile with full, correct details stands a better chance of appearing in local results. That part is in your hands.
Is a Business Profile right for you?
A Google Business Profile is a listing in Google's maps and local results, separate from your website. Google's eligibility guidelines say a business must make in person contact with customers during its stated hours to qualify. They list online-only businesses among those that are not eligible. If you serve customers at their address, as a plumber or cleaner does, you can still qualify; if you only sell online, a profile is not for you.
If you are eligible, complete the profile fully: categories, hours including special hours, phone, website, services and photos. Verification tells Google you are authorised to represent the business, according to its help page.
Make the website and profile agree
The name, address, phone number and hours on your website should match your Business Profile exactly. If you change opening hours for a holiday, change them in both places. Inconsistent details confuse customers before they confuse search engines.
Pages that describe what you do and where
Google's SEO Starter Guide focuses on helping people and search engines understand your content. For a local business, that means pages that say plainly:
- what you do, in the words customers use
- where you do it: town names, areas covered or your address
- how to get in touch
An "areas covered" section or page helps trades and services that travel. Avoid creating near identical pages for every nearby town with only the place name changed; if you have nothing different to say about a town, one page listing the areas covered is clearer.
Titles and descriptions
Each page needs its own title. Google's guidance on title links advises titles that are descriptive and concise, and its starter guide describes a good title as unique to the page and accurate about its content. A title such as "Boiler Servicing in Market Harborough | Example Plumbing" tells both people and search engines what the page covers.
Meta descriptions do not decide rankings, but Google may show them in results. A good one is short, unique to the page and includes the most relevant points, according to the starter guide.
Structured data
Google documents structured data for local businesses, which can describe your opening hours, address and contact details in a form search engines read. It is optional, and it must match what the page shows. Ask your builder whether they add it.
Reviews
Reviews on your Business Profile come from customers. Google's help page says that replying to reviews shows you value customers' feedback. Do not buy, write or swap reviews: UK law since April 2025 bans fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews, as the CMA's guidance explains. The reviews guide covers asking customers fairly.
A short local search checklist
- Your business name, address or service area, phone and hours are the same on the website and your Business Profile.
- Each service has a clear description on the site, in the words customers use.
- Every page carries a title and description of its own.
- The areas you cover are written out in words, not only shown on a map image.
- Special opening hours are updated in both places before bank holidays.
- You reply to reviews, positive and negative, in a measured way.
Keeping details consistent elsewhere
Your business may also be listed in directories, on trade association pages or on social media profiles. Each listing is another place where an old phone number or address can linger. When you launch the new site, make a list of every listing you control, update the name, address, phone and website on each, and keep the list with your account records so the next change takes minutes rather than an afternoon of searching. Google's help page says complete and accurate information helps local results; the same consistency also stops customers ringing a number you no longer answer.
How long changes take
Google's starter guide says some changes might take effect in a few hours and others could take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging whether a change had an effect. Nobody can promise a position in local results, and anyone who does is promising something they do not control.
What to do next
Check your Business Profile against your website, line by line, and write any mismatches into the launch checklist. If you are planning a new site, add an areas covered section to the page list in the planner.
Sources checked for this page