How do you show up on Google Maps for free?

Do you have to pay to be on Google Maps?

No. Google states that you can add or claim your business at no cost.

Google also sells ads on Maps, such as promoted pins on the map. They run through Google Ads and are labelled as ads. The regular map results cannot be bought. So be wary of any offer that promises you “the top spot on Google Maps”.

How do you create your profile?

Go to business.google.com/add, click “Add your business to Google” and follow the steps. Four pieces of information deserve some care.

The name

Enter your business name as your customers know it, the one on your sign, your website and your invoices. Google’s rules forbid adding a slogan, a town or a list of your services. “Dupont Roofing” is fine, “Dupont Roofing, roofer Brussels 24/7” is not.

The category

Google advises choosing as few categories as possible, and asking yourself what your business is rather than what it offers. A carpenter chooses the carpenter category, even if they also fit staircases. Categories are not a place for keywords.

The address or the service area

It all depends on where you meet your customers.

• Customers come to you, at a workshop, a shop or a practice. Enter the exact address.
• You go to them, like a roofer, a cleaning company or a home-visit coach. Google then asks you to remove the address from your profile and to list the areas you serve. You can add up to 20, as towns or postcodes. A radius around your base is not accepted, and Google recommends staying within about two hours’ drive.

Google’s rules do not accept the address of a virtual office, such as a registered business address service, or a PO box. A coworking space is accepted only if your business has signage there and you meet customers there during your opening hours. There can be only one profile per business.

Opening hours, phone number and website

Enter the hours during which you see or answer your customers. Google notes that some businesses that work by appointment only do not need to show hours. Give a local number that you control, and the address of your website. The profile description cannot contain any links.

Why do you need to verify your profile?

Verification proves to Google that you really manage the business. Without it, you can neither edit your information nor reply to your customers, and it is the first of Google’s tips for improving your position.

Google chooses which method to offer. It may be a code sent by phone, text message or email, a live video call, or a short video of your business. Some profiles can still be verified by post, with a code that usually arrives within 14 days. Once you have verified, Google’s review can take up to five working days.

How does Google decide which businesses to show?

Google explains that map results are based mainly on three factors.

• Relevance. Does your profile match what the person typed? Complete and accurate information helps Google understand what you do.
• Distance. This is how far your business is from the person searching, or from the location they entered. You cannot change it, which is why a competitor closer to the searcher can rank above you for some searches.
• Prominence, Google’s word for how well known you are. It takes into account what is said about you online, including the number of websites that link to you and the number of reviews. Google writes that the more reviews and positive ratings you have, the higher your business ranks.

How do you get reviews without breaking the rules?

Your profile includes a link and a QR code to share with your customers. Send the link by email or text after a job is finished, or show the QR code at the end of an appointment. Customers need to be signed in to a Google account to leave a review.

Google’s policy forbids several practices.

• Offering anything in return, whether a discount, a gift, a free service or money. This also applies to getting a negative review changed or removed.
• Choosing whom to ask. Google forbids selectively asking for positive reviews. So ask every one of your customers for a review.
• Discouraging negative reviews.
• Setting your staff a number of reviews to collect.
• Writing reviews yourself or having them written, by an employee, a relative or a partner. Google treats this as a conflict of interest.
• Posting reviews on a competitor’s profile.

Reviews that break these rules are removed.

Reply to every review, including the bad ones. Google points out that a mix of positive and negative feedback often looks more trustworthy.

What should you do next to move up the map?

• Keep your information up to date, including special hours for public holidays and closures.
• Add real photos and videos of your jobs, your work and your team at work. Google lists them among the ways to improve your position.
• Ask for reviews every week, rather than twenty at once, and send each request on the day the job is finished, while your customer still has the result in front of them.
• Give the same information everywhere. Your name, phone number and area should be identical on your profile, your website, your social media and the directories you appear in.
• Have a website that explains your services and the towns where you work, and that links to your profile. It helps Google understand what you do, and the links it receives from other websites count towards how well known you are.

What does not help, or puts you at risk?

• Adding keywords to your name. It goes against Google’s rules.
• Buying reviews, or having relatives write them. Google removes them.
• Creating a profile at a virtual office address, or several profiles for the same business. Both are forbidden.
• Paying for a “guaranteed top spot”, which Google says cannot be obtained.