How To Get Your Business On Google

Yes, absolutely. Think of them as the modern-day word of mouth. When you're choosing a place to eat or a garage to fix your car, you look at the reviews. Your customers are no different. Google sees reviews as a massive signal that you are a real, active business that provides a service people are using. More positive, recent reviews tell Google that you're not just open, you're trusted. This directly helps you appear more often and higher up in the local map results.

Getting them is simpler than you think. You just have to ask. Once you've completed a job and the customer is happy, send a follow-up email with a direct link to the 'Leave a review' section of your Google Business Profile. Don't overcomplicate it. It's also vital to respond to all reviews, both good and bad. A thoughtful reply to a negative review can often win you more trust than a dozen positive ones.

It's not just about Google, either. There are other online directories like Yell, Thomson Local, and probably some that are specific to your trade. You need to make sure your business Name, Address, and Phone number (we call this 'NAP') are exactly the same everywhere. Having 'Anytown Ltd' on one site and 'Anytown Limited' on another confuses Google. Consistency is key; it reinforces to search engines that the information they have about you is correct and reliable.

The original advice mentioned adding 'real photographs', and that's the crucial part. Stock photos are useless. People want to see your business, not a model in a hard hat. Show them your premises, your team at work, your vans on the road, and the finished product. Before-and-after photos are incredibly powerful for any trade, whether it's a new patio, a car repair, or even a logo design.

You can give Google a helping hand by naming your image files properly before you upload them. A file named 'new-boiler-installation-fife.jpg' tells Google what the image is about, which is far more useful than 'IMG_7859.JPG'. If you're able, you can also add location data (geotags) to your photos. This adds another layer of proof to Google that your business is physically located where you say it is.

Don't overlook video. I'm not talking about a big-budget production; your smartphone is more than capable. A simple, 60-second video of you talking through a common job, or a quick walkaround of your workshop, builds an enormous amount of trust. People buy from people, and video is the next best thing to meeting you in person. Upload these to your Google Business Profile and your website. It shows activity and expertise in a way text and photos can't.

You can't manage what you don't measure. Flying blind is a surefire way to waste time and effort. The most important tool for this is Google Search Console. It's free, and it connects directly to your website. It shows you the exact search terms people used to find you, how many times your site appeared in the results (impressions), and how many people actually clicked through to your site.

What you're looking for are trends over time. Don't obsess over daily changes. Are your total impressions and clicks heading in the right direction month-on-month? If you wrote a page about 'emergency plumbing in Perth', are you starting to see impressions for that search? This data tells you what's working and what's not. It takes the guesswork out of it. If you have dyslexia or ADHD like me, having clear data to focus on is a huge help.

Ultimately, though, the only metric that really matters is the one that impacts your bank account. Are you getting more phone calls? More emails through your contact form? Start asking every new customer, 'How did you hear about us?'. If more and more people start saying 'I found you on Google', you know your efforts are paying off. All the rankings and clicks in the world mean nothing if the phone isn't ringing.

Much of the advice so far has a local focus, which is perfect for a business like a garage or a cafe. My own background is in mechanics, based in a workshop in Cupar. But our business, BMR Digital, works with clients across the UK. The strategy for a national business is different.

Instead of targeting searches like 'service + town', your goal is to become an authority on your subject. This means your content needs to answer your customers' bigger questions, problems, and queries. You might write detailed guides, create comparison tools, or publish articles about industry news. The aim is to be the go-to resource, so that when someone in your target market needs help, they think of you first, regardless of where they are.

Your Google Business Profile is still important for legitimacy, but you won't be aiming for the local 'map pack' results. Your battlefield is the main national search results. This means the quality of your website and content is paramount. It also means earning links from other reputable websites becomes more important. Think of these links as professional recommendations or votes of confidence. They tell Google that your business is a recognised name in its field, not just a local shop.

As a former mechanic, I see websites as engines. You can have brilliant content and perfect keywords, but if the website itself is clunky, slow, and hard to use, it's like putting a finely tuned engine into a car with four flat tyres. It's not going anywhere. The technical health and usability of your site are just as important as the words on the page.

The first test is speed. If your page takes more than a few seconds to load, a significant number of visitors will simply give up and go elsewhere. Google knows this, and it favours faster websites. The second test is mobile. Pull up your site on your phone. Is it easy to read without pinching and zooming? Are the buttons big enough to tap with your thumb? Most people search on their phones now, so a poor mobile experience is no longer an option.

Finally, think about the user's journey. Is your phone number clearly visible? Is there an obvious 'Contact Us' button? Can a visitor find the page for the exact service they want within two clicks? A confusing website frustrates users. When a user lands on your site and immediately clicks the 'back' button, Google records this as a 'bounce'. A high bounce rate tells Google your site probably isn't a good answer to the user's search, which can harm your rankings.