Creating a new website for your small business is a big deal. You dedicate time and money (plus blood, sweat and tears) to build a website that will show off your business and (hopefully) bring the customers flocking to you. But the site goes live and there’s tumbleweed.
You’ve scrolled through the first few pages of search engine results (SERPs) but can’t see your website listed – and it’s not showing up on Google Maps either. That’s because you’ve hidden your business down a digital backstreet and the only people who can find you are customers who’ve already got the address.
A Website Without SEO Is Like A Shop Without a Sign!
Think of your website as your ‘virtual’ shop window. You wouldn’t create a beautiful shop (or office space) that’s tucked away off the main road and then leave off clear signage or the door number. Some customers will still find you if you’ve given them directions.
But you can’t rely on existing customers only and need new ones to find you but there’s no passing footfall. Few people wander by so nobody finds you by happy accident. Exactly the same principle applies to a small business website. People may find you via if they’ve got the address via social media, word of mouth, or at a trade show. But they won’t find you via Google search – and with Google handling 9 in 10 searches in the UK, that’s a lot of footfall you’re missing.
Get on the High Street with Google Maps
When someone searches “accountant for small business” or “dog walker near me“, Google usually shows a map with three businesses before any of the other results, including AI and ads. That box is called the map pack (or local pack).
If your business features in the map pack, it’s like being a shop on the main road with a big sign. Even if you don’t make the top 3, you’ll still be listed in ‘more businesses’ and visible when anyone clicks through to the map.
And it’s not just for actual shops. People offering service-based businesses, working remotely from home can still add a listing. You can hide your address and just show the cities, towns or areas you cover or service.
How? Create a Google Business Profile
Getting into the map pack is fundamental part of local SEO. Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in local search results. For many customers, it’s the first thing they see before they even reach your website.
A well set-up business profile shows people:
- What you do and where you do it, including the areas you cover
- Opening hours, phone number, website and booking details, so they can call, click or book straight from your profile
- Directions to your door, if you have premises like a shop or office people can visit
- Reviews and photos, to show happy customers and more about your business
Google decides who appears in the map pack based on relevance, distance and prominence. Basically, that means:
- how well you match the search
- how close you are
- how well known and trusted your business looks online.
Your business profile and website need to work together to show Google that your website is relevant, prominent and is located exactly where you said it is.
Without Local SEO, Your Website Isn’t Operating At Its Full Potential
If your website is nowhere near the map pack or page 1, it’s probably because it hasn’t been fully optimised. A website can look fabulous but if it’s not ticking the boxes Google wants to see, it won’t rank well. If your competitors are working on their SEO and doing a better job, they’ll be snapping up the traffic.
Learn more about SEO
Start getting to grips with what SEO is all about and how to implement it in your small business. Like building a social media following, improving your search rankings is all about sure and steady work that builds results over time.
Make a start and within a year (or less), your website will no longer be an unvisited shop languishing down a backstreet. It could be transformed into a busy, thriving business with plenty of footfall, sales and inquiries.
Want Help Getting on Google Maps?
Get it done properly from the start with my Local SEO Starter Package and move your business off the backstreets and onto the digital high street! It covers the foundations every small business needs to get found locally:
- Google Business Profile set up – so you’re on the map
- Google Search Console and Google Analytics set up – so you can see who’s finding you and how
- Keyword research for your three most important pages (home, about and your main service page) – with clear recommendations on where to use those keywords
- A crawl error report – picks up technical issues holding your site back
- Your own SEO checklist – so you can keep going yourself
Exactly what we needed from the set everything right from the beginning… The process is completely transparent giving us not only visibility on progress every step of the way but also the information required for us to become “owners” of the SEO work once the Starter Pack has been completed.
Italian Bear Chocolate, Soho, London
As a freelance SEO consultant, I keep everything 100% transparent and don’t use technical jargon. Get in touch to find out more and get your website found locally.
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