Short answer
You need a Google Business Profile. It is free, it puts you on Google Maps and in the local results, and it takes about an hour to create. The hard part is not creating it — it is getting it verified and then keeping it accurate.
The five steps
- Create the profile at business.google.com using your real business name, not a keyword-stuffed one. Google suspends profiles for that.
- Choose the right primary category. This single field decides which searches you can appear for. It is the most consequential choice on the whole profile.
- Verify. Postcard, phone, email or video depending on your category. This is where most applications stall, and a failed verification can sit for weeks.
- Fill it in properly. Hours, service area, services with prices, and photos of your actual work — not stock images.
- Keep it current. Reply to every review, post updates, and change your hours when they change. A profile that says open when you are closed costs you the customer and the review.
Google Maps is not a separate listing
This trips people up constantly. There is no "Maps listing" to create. Google Maps draws from Google Business Profiles. Verify the profile and you appear on Maps; there is nothing else to submit.
The part that actually decides whether you get found
A complete profile is the entry ticket, not the win. What separates the businesses that get the call from the ones that do not:
- The category matches what people search. Wrong category, invisible — no amount of photos fixes it.
- Reviews are recent and answered. A reply from the owner is read by the next customer as much as by Google.
- The profile agrees with your website. Same name, same address, same phone. Mismatches are a common reason a business fails to surface locally.
- Photos are of real work. Stock imagery is recognisable and it does not earn trust.
What we do
Local Visibility is £495 a month, no setup fee. It covers the Google Business Profile setup and optimisation, your social profiles, local search work and keeping the whole thing accurate as your business changes.
If you would rather do it yourself, everything above is the honest recipe — there is no secret. What people pay for is the time and the follow-through, not information.
Ring Fiona and hear it for yourself
0141 345 5562 — answered by the same system we would set up for you, day or night.
Call 0141 345 5562 →Or start with the free visibility assessment — it costs nothing and tells you whether any of this is worth doing for your business.