Get Found in Google Maps and Google Search

If you've ever searched for your own business on Google and watched a competitor show up where you should be, you already know the problem. Someone in your area needed a service that you offer, they searched for it, and they ended up calling someone else. Not because that company does better work, but because Google showed them first.

That's what this series is about. Not marketing theory. Not complicated strategies that require a full-time person to run. Just the specific things that determine whether a local business shows up when customers are actively looking for it.

Step 1 is your Google Business Profile. The listing that appears in Google Maps and in search results when someone searches for a service near them. It's free, it's the single most important piece of your local online presence, and most small business owners either don't have one set up correctly or set it up once and never touch it again.

This post walks you through what it is, why it matters, and what you need to have in place before anything else.