If you want to rank in Google Maps, you don’t need hacks. You need clean data, clear relevance, and steady trust signals. Here’s a checklist you can run once, then maintain in small monthly passes.
Foundation → Relevance → Prominence → Maintenance
- Foundation: your business info is accurate and consistent.
- Relevance: Google can tell you match the query.
- Prominence: you look real, trusted, and active.
- Maintenance: you keep it fresh and you watch for drift.
1. Foundation
Google Business Profile essentials
Business name
- Use your real-world name. Don’t append “Best Plumber Berlin” unless it’s on your signage and paperwork—Google’s guidelines expect real-world proof for special terms.
Categories
- Choose one primary category that matches your main service. Add secondary categories only when you truly offer those services.
- If you have separately operated departments at one address, they usually need separate profiles (not extra categories stuffed into one listing).
Address vs. service-area
- If customers don’t visit you, hide the address and set a service area. Google explicitly recommends hiding the address only for service-area businesses.
Micro-example: a mobile locksmith lists a home address “to look established.” People show up at the door, and the listing attracts the wrong searches. Switching to SAB fixes both.
Hours, services, attributes
- Keep hours accurate and add holiday hours early.
- Add services in customer language (“boiler repair,” “immigration consultation”).
- Fill relevant attributes; Google notes they can surface in searches.
Photos
- Add real photos regularly (work, team, location cues). Follow Google’s photo guidelines so assets don’t get filtered or rejected.
Reviews (setup, not “campaign”)
- Build a simple request flow and respond calmly (especially to negatives). Google’s review tips highlight privacy and avoiding personal attacks in responses.
Q&A
- Add a few common questions and answers (parking, after-hours, pricing policies). The Q&A feature is part of Google Maps.
Website foundation (so Maps has a strong landing page)
Even if most leads start in Maps, your site backs up relevance and helps convert the click.
- Core pages: one solid page per core service; location pages for staffed locations.
- Internal links: make service/location pages easy to crawl with descriptive anchors—Google calls out crawlable links and useful anchor text as best practice.
- Structured data: add LocalBusiness schema where it fits (homepage and/or location pages).
- Speed/usability: Core Web Vitals are used by ranking systems, but they’re not the whole story. Aim for “good enough” and fix obvious issues.
2. Relevance
Map services to keywords
List: your top 5 services by revenue, the phrases customers use on calls/emails, the locations/areas you serve.
Then align GBP services + page titles/headings to that language. Search Essentials explicitly recommends using words people would use and placing them prominently on the page.
In audits, we often see service businesses using internal terminology (“residential remediation”) while customers search plain language (“mold removal”). Google can bridge that gap sometimes. Don’t rely on it.
Location pages (multi-location businesses)
If you have multiple staffed locations, each needs its own page:
- unique intro, unique FAQs, unique photos,
- clear NAP, directions/parking,
- the services offered at that location (not every service the company offers).
Micro-example: a clinic has two offices but one shared “Locations” page. Reviews and citations split, and Google struggles to associate each office with the right searches. Separate pages + separate GBP profiles clears the signal.
Service-area pages (SABs): fewer, better
Service-area pages can help if they’re honest:
- “How we serve this area” details (coverage limits, typical turnaround policy),
- local constraints (parking, permits, building types),
- proof (photos from real jobs in that area, without sensitive info).
If you’re swapping city names into the same paragraph 30 times, it’s thin. Google’s guidance on people-first content is a good gut-check: would this page help a customer choose you?
3. Prominence
Reviews: system > spurts
A workable review system:
- ask every satisfied customer,
- ask fast (same/next day),
- one link, one sentence,
- respond weekly.
A simple review request template:
“Thanks again for choosing us. If you’ve got 30 seconds, could you leave a quick review here? [link] It helps locals find us.”
Citations: consistency beats volume
Focus on accuracy first: wrong phone numbers and old addresses cause more damage than “missing directory X.”
- Fix duplicates (especially after moves/rebrands).
- Keep formatting consistent (Suite vs Ste, GmbH vs spelled out).
Whitespark’s citation best practices are a solid reference if you’re cleaning listings yourself.
Local backlinks: earn the obvious ones
You don’t need hundreds. Start with:
- suppliers/partners (featured contractor pages),
- local associations,
- sponsorships with real pages (not logo farms),
- local press when you have something genuinely newsworthy.
Avoid paid link schemes and mass “guest post” packages. Google’s spam policies cover tactics that can cause demotions or removal.
4. Maintenance
Monthly (15–30 minutes)
- GBP: check hours, add a couple photos, answer new Q&A, post one update.
- Reviews: respond; flag obvious spam.
- Tracking: skim GBP performance for query shifts and sudden drops.
Quarterly (60–90 minutes)
- Re-check categories/services (did your offer change?).
- Refresh top service/location pages with new FAQs and photos.
- Quick technical scan; use Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report as a starting point.
What most people get wrong
- They treat GBP like a one-time setup.
- They publish thin “city pages” at scale.
- They chase shortcuts (name spam, paid reviews, paid links) and end up with unstable rankings.
Conclusion
Local SEO is mostly consistency: correct info, pages that match real searches, and steady proof you’re active and trusted. Do the foundation once, then maintain it.
If you want a second set of eyes, we can run a free mini local SEO check and point out the top three fixes to tackle next.
