Are You Visible in Local Searches?

If a potential customer searches for a business like yours, do they find you or your competitors?

When someone performs a search for a business in Google, they’ll often be presented with a map listing at the top of their search results.

Underneath the map, there will be three businesses listed.

Each of the listed businesses will have options for a user to contact or to click and find out more information.

There are also review stars, showing reviews left by customers.

See below for a screenshot of the results for “web design collingwood”

Now it’s your turn:

Take a moment to open your web browser and search for your business locally.

Use a search term that represents what your business offers.

For example, if you are an IT support company based in Brisbane, Queensland, search “IT support in Brisbane” or “IT support Brisbane”.

Have a look at the results. Is your business at the top of the search results, next to the map?

If you’re not visible in the map results, you’re losing out to your competitors who are.

The listings here are controlled by a service that Google offers called Google Business Profile (GBP).

You can create and manage your listing here: https://business.google.com/

It’s important to be as detailed as possible with the content you add to your Google Business Profile.

High-quality photos and information will help Google see your business is genuine.

This is how to get your business to show up higher in the local search results and to get more clicks.

5-star reviews are also really important.

The more reviews you have, the better the chance of showing up as one of the three businesses listed under the map in the search results.

Your customers can leave reviews on your Google Business Profile, so ask them to leave you a Google review as part of doing business with you.

You could do this as part of a follow-up survey after completing the first service you do with a new client.

One of our clients, Taking Care Mobile Massage, has over 100 Google reviews, putting them in the top results in Google Local searches.

Here’s how they did it (and how you can too):

Created a review page on their website https://takingcaremobilemassage.com.au/review

Created business cards with a QR code that goes to the above page. The cards are given to their team to give to their clients.

Add a link to request a review to the bottom of their email signatures.

If you want to attract and convert more business within your local area, make sure you have a Google Business Profile with accurate information, photos and reviews.

It can be the difference between being visible to potential customers and losing them to your competitors.

Pro tip: A well-crafted Google Ads campaign takes this even further by putting your business front and centre in these local search results, helping to attract more calls and enquiries.