If customers can't find you on Google, they'll find your competitor instead. The good news: a lot of what gets a small business found costs nothing but a few focused hours. Here's exactly what to do, in the order that matters — no jargon, no budget required.
1. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
This is the single highest-return free thing you can do. Your Google Business Profile (the panel that appears on the right of search and on Google Maps) is what puts you in the local map pack — the three businesses Google shows first for "near me" searches. 76% of people who search for a local business on mobile visit within 24 hours, so being in that pack is money.
Claim it at google.com/business, then fill in everything: category, opening hours, services, service area, phone, website, and a keyword-honest description. A complete profile beats a half-finished one every time.
2. Get your name, address and phone identical everywhere
Google trusts businesses it can verify. If your NAP (name, address, phone) differs across your website, Facebook, directories and your Business Profile, that inconsistency quietly drags your local ranking down.
Fix: Pick one exact format and use it everywhere — same abbreviations, same phone format. Audit your website footer, contact page, social profiles and any directory listings.
3. Collect reviews — and reply to them
Reviews are a major local ranking factor and the thing customers judge you on. A steady stream of recent, genuine reviews signals to Google that you're active and trusted.
Fix: Ask every happy customer, make it easy (send the direct review link), and reply to all of them — positive and negative. A calm, helpful reply to a bad review often impresses future customers more than a wall of five stars.
4. Target the words your customers actually type
People don't search "artisan hydration solutions" — they search "plumber near me" or "wedding photographer Kent". Getting found means using the keywords your customers actually use, naturally, across your site.
Fix: List the services you offer and the towns you serve, then make sure each has a clear page or section using those exact phrases in the heading and copy. "[Service] in [town]" pages are local SEO gold.
5. Make sure Google can read your site
If your website is slow, not mobile-friendly, or built so Google can't crawl it, none of the above fully lands. Google now ranks on Core Web Vitals (page speed and stability), and 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes over three seconds to load.
Fix: Test your site on Google PageSpeed Insights, make sure it works perfectly on a phone, and keep the code clean. (More on this in our guide to why your website gets traffic but no leads.)
6. Add useful content, regularly
Every helpful page you publish is another door into your business from Google. Businesses that blog generate around 55% more website visitors. Answer the real questions your customers ask — like this guide does — and each article keeps bringing people in for years.
7. Add local business schema
Schema is invisible code that tells Google exactly who you are — your name, address, hours, reviews. It helps you qualify for rich results (the star ratings and details that make your listing stand out). Most modern sites can add it easily; if yours can't, that's a sign it needs a refresh.
The order that matters
If you only do three things: complete your Business Profile, fix your NAP consistency, and start collecting reviews. Those alone move most local businesses up the map pack within weeks. The rest compounds from there.
Want it done properly — and faster?
Getting found on Google is our day job. We run SEO and local search for UK businesses — and we rank our own brands the same way. If you'd rather not spend weekends fiddling with listings, book a free 20-minute audit and we'll tell you the three changes that would move your business up fastest.
And if the real problem is that your website itself is holding you back, our web design service — and our £99.99 48-hour website — build every site to be found from day one.