How to get your business on Google

Two ways to show up

Your business can appear on Google in two main ways: as a Google Business Profile, which shows on Google Maps and in local results, and as a website, which shows in ordinary search results. Both are free to set up on Google's side, and they work better together.

One thing first: nobody can promise you a ranking, including us. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, and that it doesn't accept payment to crawl a site more frequently or rank it higher. What you can do is give Google complete, accurate information and keep it current. Here's how.

Step 1: Add or claim your Business Profile

First, check whether your business is already on Google Maps: search for its name and town.

• If it's there and unclaimed, select Claim this business, then Manage now, and follow the steps.
• If it isn't there, go to business.google.com/add and select Add your business to Google.
• If someone else has already verified it, you can request ownership from the current owner.

Adding or claiming a profile costs nothing. Read Google's eligibility guidelines as well: for example, a rented mailing address you don't operate from (a virtual office) isn't eligible, and a service-area business should hide its address from customers.

Step 2: Verify it

Verification tells Google you're authorized to represent the business. Google decides which methods you're offered, based on things like your business type, region and hours, and you can't change them. The options include phone or text, email, a live video call and mail. Reviews can take up to 5 business days. Until you're verified, your photos won't show on your Business Profile.

Step 3: Fill in everything

Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results. Go through every field:

• Name: your real-world name, as it appears on your storefront, website and stationery. Adding unnecessary information, like a list of services, isn't permitted.
• Category: the one that describes your business most precisely.
• Hours: your regular customer-facing hours, plus special hours for holidays and other temporary changes.
• Phone: a number that connects to your business. You can add up to two more.
• Website: the full address, including https://.
• Description: up to 750 characters on what you offer and what makes you special, with no web addresses, focused on the business rather than promotions or prices.
• Menu or services: food and drink businesses can use the menu editor, and others can list services and prices.

Step 4: Give your business a website

Your profile is the listing; your website is where people go to decide. Some of Google's advice for websites is easy for a small business to get right:

• A clear title. Google advises a title that's descriptive and concise, without stuffing in keywords. For an example plumber: "Northline Plumbing | Plumber in Elm Falls".
• A short, accurate description. Google mainly builds the snippet under your result from your content, but sometimes uses the description when it gives a more accurate picture. Example: "Drain cleaning, leak repairs and water heaters in Elm Falls. Call for a free estimate."
• It works on a phone. Google uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking.
• The same name, address and phone number as your profile.

Then add the website's address to your Business Profile, so people can go from one to the other.

Step 5: Add your website to Search Console

Google Search Console is a free service from Google that shows how your website performs in Search. You don't need a Search Console account to be included in Google's results, but it shows which searches bring people to your website, how often you appear and get clicked, and emails you when Google finds issues.

1. Log in to Search Console and add your website as a property. A Domain property covers your whole domain and is verified with a DNS record; a URL-prefix property covers only addresses that start with what you enter, and has other ways to verify. Ask your website platform which methods it supports.
2. Submit a sitemap if you have one. Google can find your website without it, but a sitemap might speed up discovery.
3. Use the URL Inspection tool to check whether your website is indexed, and to request crawling after a big change.
4. Check back about once a month. There's no need to log in every day.

A quick check you can do today: search Google for site: followed by your website's address (for example, site:yourbusiness.ca). If results appear, Google already knows about your website.

Step 6: Use the same details everywhere

Your name, address and phone number should read the same on your website, your Business Profile, your social accounts, directories and your invoices. It's simple housekeeping, and it means nobody calls an old number or drives to an old address. If you move or change numbers, update every place on the same day, starting with your website and your profile.

Step 7: Add real photos

Photos show people what to expect. Google's photo tips ask for images that are in focus and well lit, with no significant alterations or heavy use of filters or AI, so they represent reality. Useful kinds include:

• The outside of your business, so people recognize it when they arrive
• The inside, if customers come to you
• Your products, dishes or finished work
• You and your team at work

Google's recommended size is 720 by 720 pixels, as JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB. Use the same real photos on your website.

Step 8: Ask real customers for reviews

Google's local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence (how well known a business is), and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Reviews must reflect a genuine experience, so the only good way to get them is to ask real customers.

• Ask customers to visit your Google review link or scan its QR code. Share it after a job, on a receipt or in a thank-you message.
• Never offer anything in return. Google strictly prohibits incentives, such as free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for reviews.
• Reply to reviews, good and bad, to show customers their feedback matters. With a negative review, stay calm, never share the reviewer's private information and never make it personal.
• Don't panic about one bad review. Google itself says negative reviews aren't necessarily a sign of poor business practices.

Beyond Google: Apple Maps and Bing

Not everyone uses Google. Apple Business lets you claim your location on Apple Maps and control how your business appears, with your logo, hours, images and key details. Bing Places for Business, now at bing.com/forbusiness, is a free way to manage how your business appears in Bing search results and Bing Maps, and it can import listings from Google. For your website, Bing Webmaster Tools can import sites you've already added to Google Search Console.

How long it takes

Be patient. Google says it can take a few weeks for it to notice a new site or changes to an existing one, and that some changes take effect in a few hours while others could take several months. Give it a few weeks before you judge the results, and keep your details current in the meantime.

Where Suddn fits

Suddn takes care of the website side of step 4: every Suddn website works on phones and has a proper title, a short description and structured data built from the details you enter, and you can add its address to your Business Profile. That gives Google clear information to work with. It doesn't guarantee a ranking, which depends on many things, including the steps above.