It's a fair question. Your Google Business Profile shows up on Maps, has your phone number, your hours, your photos and your reviews, and people can call you straight from it. Some businesses get most of their calls that way. So why pay for a website?

The short answer: you don't strictly need one to get started, but a profile alone puts a ceiling on how much work you get. Here's how to tell which situation you're in.

When a Google profile is enough, for now

A profile on its own can work well if:

• you're just starting out and money is tight
• you offer one simple service that customers already understand
• most of your customers call after a quick look at your reviews
• you're in a small area with few competitors

If that's you, put your energy into a complete profile and a steady flow of reviews first. That will do more for you this month than a website.

What a website does that a profile can't

It explains what you do, properly. A profile gives you a short description and a list of services. A website gives every service its own page: what's included, how long it takes, what it costs or what affects the price, photos of real jobs. That's what convinces the customer who's comparing you with two others.

It helps you show up for more searches. Google reads your website too. A page about "basement waterproofing in Barrhaven" is a clear signal for that search; a profile alone gives Google much less to work with. Google also says your position in regular web results counts toward prominence in local rankings.

It feeds AI assistants. When someone asks ChatGPT or Gemini who to call, the assistants that search the web read websites. A clear site with your services, areas and hours gives them something specific to use. Our guide on getting recommended by AI assistants explains why.

It's yours. Google controls your profile: its layout, its features, and whether it's visible. Profiles can be suspended by mistake, and features come and go. Your website, on your own domain, stays under your control.

It's where ads and promotions should land. If you ever run ads or a seasonal promotion, you need a page built for that offer.

It makes you look established. Many customers check whether a business has a real website before they hand over their address or a deposit. Fair or not, "no website" reads as "might not be around next year" to some people.

The usual path

For most local businesses, the order that makes sense is:

1. Complete your Google Business Profile and start collecting reviews.
2. Launch a simple, fast website, even one page, that says what you do and where, shows your reviews and photos, and makes calling one tap away.
3. Grow the website with a page for each main service and area as you see which searches bring you work.

Link the profile to the website, and keep your name, phone number and hours identical on both.

What a good small business website needs

Not much, but each piece matters. Our free 10-point website checklist covers it, with a quick test for each point. The short version: a headline that says what you do and where, a tap-to-call button, real photos and reviews, fast loading on mobile data, and one obvious next step.

If you'd like a site that does those things and is built to work with your Google profile, that's what our Websites That Convert service is for.

It's the first question almost every owner asks, and the one most often answered dishonestly. "Page one in 30 days, guaranteed" sells well. It's also not something anyone can promise, because Google decides rankings and says so itself.

Here's a realistic picture of what happens, and what makes it faster or slower for your business.

The short answer

For most local businesses doing the work consistently:

• First 2–6 weeks: fixes to the basics take effect. If your profile was incomplete, miscategorized or unverified, this is when you can see the biggest jump.
• Months 2–6: steady movement as reviews, content and consistency build up. This is the typical window for real improvement on competitive searches.
• 6–12 months: strong positions in competitive categories and larger areas, if the work continues.

These ranges are common across the industry, but they're not promises. Your timeline depends on the factors below.

What makes it faster

A weak but fixable starting point. If your Google Business Profile has the wrong primary category, missing services, no photos or inconsistent details, fixing those is the quickest win in local SEO. Some businesses move noticeably within weeks of getting the basics right.

Low competition. A specialized service in a smaller area moves faster than "plumber Ottawa".

Being close to your customers. Distance is one of Google's three local ranking factors. You'll rank fastest in the neighbourhoods closest to where you're based.

A real review habit. Businesses that start asking every customer for a review see results build faster than those that don't.

What makes it slower

Strong, established competitors. If the top three have hundreds of reviews and years of history, closing the gap takes time.

Problems that need fixing first. Duplicate listings, a suspended profile, or an old address still listed across the web all need cleaning up before new work can pay off.

Inconsistency. Two good months followed by six months of nothing resets a lot of the progress. Local SEO rewards steady effort.

What should be happening along the way

You shouldn't have to wait six months to know whether it's working. Look at these signals in your Google Business Profile performance data:

• Profile views and searches you appear in, rising month over month
• Calls, direction requests and website clicks from your profile
• Your position for your main service, checked from a few locations in your area
• Review count and rating, steadily growing

Rankings are the lagging signal. More views and more calls usually show up first.

Month by month, what the work looks like

Month 1: foundation. Verify and complete the profile, fix the primary category, add services and photos, make your name, address and phone identical everywhere, and start asking every customer for a review.

Months 2–3: relevance and reputation. Build out service and area pages on your website, add structured data, keep reviews coming in, reply to every one, and post updates regularly.

Months 4–6: prominence. Earn mentions and links from local organizations, associations and news; keep content current; expand to the next most valuable searches and areas.

Every month: measure. Check positions, calls and reviews, and adjust.

How to judge anyone you hire

A good local SEO provider will:

• tell you honestly how competitive your area is before you start
• never guarantee a ranking
• show you where you rank before they begin, and every month after
• explain what they did that month in plain language

If someone guarantees the top spot, or won't show you before-and-after positions, keep your wallet in your pocket.

Want a realistic estimate for your business?

The honest answer to "how long will it take for me?" depends on where you're starting and who you're up against. Our free visibility audit shows where you rank today, how your reviews compare with the businesses above you, and which fixes are likely to move you fastest.

Reviews do two jobs at once. They're one of the things Google uses to decide who shows up first on the map, and they're what a stranger reads before deciding whether to call you. Google's own help page on local ranking says more reviews and positive ratings can improve your local ranking.

Most businesses that do good work still have too few reviews. Not because customers are unhappy, but because nobody asked them at the right moment. Here's how to fix that without putting your profile at risk.

The rules first: what Google prohibits

Google's prohibited and restricted content policy is clear about a few things, and breaking them can get reviews removed or your profile restricted.

No incentives. You can't offer payment, discounts, free products or services, contest entries or anything else in exchange for a review. This applies even if you don't ask for a positive review.

No review gating. You can't ask only the customers you think are happy, or send unhappy ones somewhere private while happy ones get the Google link. Google calls this selectively soliciting positive reviews, and it's prohibited.

No fake or bought reviews. No reviews from friends who were never customers, staff posting as customers, or services that sell reviews.

What's allowed: asking every customer for an honest review, making it easy, and replying to the reviews you get.

Step 1: get your direct review link and QR code

Sign in to your Google Business Profile and look for the option to ask for reviews or get more reviews. Google gives you a short link that opens the review box directly, and a QR code. Google's tips to get more reviews walk through it.

Turn that link into something customers can scan in two seconds. Our free Google review QR code card maker creates a printable card for your counter, your truck or the invoice you leave behind.

Step 2: ask at the right moment

The best time to ask is right after the customer has seen the result and said something nice about it: the leak is fixed, the haircut looks great, the floor is done.

A simple script that works in person:

"I'm really glad it turned out well. Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It makes a big difference for a small business like ours. I'll text you the link."

Then text it while you're still there or within the hour. The longer you wait, the less likely it happens.

Step 3: follow up once, by text or email

For customers you didn't ask in person, send one short message the same day or the next:

"Hi [name], thanks again for choosing us for [job]. If you have a minute, an honest Google review would really help: [link]. Thank you!"

Keep it short, put the link on its own line, and don't follow up more than once. Send it to every customer, not only the ones you think will be happy.

Step 4: make it a system, not a mood

Reviews come from habits, not campaigns. A burst of twenty reviews in one week followed by nothing for a year looks odd to customers and does less than a steady trickle.

• Add the review request to your end-of-job checklist.
• Put the QR card wherever customers wait or pay.
• Add the link to your invoice or receipt emails.
• Track your count monthly, and compare it with the businesses ranking above you.

Step 5: reply to every review

Replies show future customers that a real person runs the business and cares about the outcome.

For good reviews: thank them by name and mention something specific about the job. "Thanks, Sarah! That bathroom tile was a fun one, enjoy the new floor." A specific reply reads as genuine; a copy-pasted one doesn't.

For bad reviews: don't argue, don't reveal private details, and don't reply when you're angry. Acknowledge the experience, state the facts briefly, and offer to sort it out:

"Hi Mark, I'm sorry the job didn't meet your expectations. That's not the experience we want anyone to have. I'd like to understand what happened and make it right. Please call me directly at [number]."

People reading your reviews judge you more on how you handle the bad one than on the bad one itself.

What about reviews that break the rules?

If a review is spam, from someone who was never a customer, off-topic, or contains hateful or personal content, you can report it to Google. You can't remove reviews simply because they're negative.

A realistic target

There's no magic number. A useful benchmark: look at the three businesses that show up first on the map for your main service, and aim to steadily close the gap in recent reviews. If they each get a few new reviews a month, you need to be doing at least that.

If you'd like this set up for you, including the QR card, an automatic review request after each job, and reply templates in your voice, that's what our Review Growth service does.

Here's a search behaviour that has changed quickly: instead of typing "plumber Kanata" into Google and scrolling, more people ask an AI assistant. "Who's a good plumber in Kanata who can come today?" The assistant answers with two or three names.

If you're one of those names, you get the call. If you're not, the customer may never see a list where you could have competed.

The honest starting point: nobody can guarantee an AI will recommend you, and the companies behind these assistants don't publish exactly how they choose. But the assistants that search the web build their answers from what they can find and cross-check. That means there's a lot you can do to be easy to find, easy to understand and easy to trust.

How AI assistants decide who to mention

When you ask a question about local businesses, assistants with web access typically search, read what comes back, and summarize. They tend to favour businesses where:

• several sources agree on the same name, location, services and phone number
• the information is specific: what the business does, where, when it's open
• there's evidence of reputation: reviews, mentions on local sites, lists and articles

Think of it like a careful new employee asked to recommend a contractor. They'd check a few sources, prefer the business whose details line up everywhere, and mention the one with the strongest track record. Your job is to make that research easy.

1. Get your Google Business Profile complete and accurate

Google's AI answers lean on Google's own information, and your profile is the most complete record Google has of your business. Fill in every section: categories, services, service area, hours, description, photos. Keep it current. Our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps covers this in detail.

2. Be listed consistently beyond Google

Different assistants draw on different sources. Make sure your business appears, with identical details, on:

• Bing Places for Business (Microsoft's assistants draw on Bing)
• Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps and Siri)
• Yelp and the directories that matter in your industry
• Your local business association or chamber of commerce

Inconsistency is what makes an assistant hedge or skip you. One old phone number on a forgotten directory can be enough to create doubt.

3. Answer customers' questions on your website, plainly

Assistants quote specifics. A vague homepage ("quality solutions for all your needs") gives them nothing. Clear answers give them something to use:

• Which services you offer, each on its own page
• Which areas you serve, by name
• Your hours, including emergencies or weekends
• What a typical job involves and how long it takes
• What you don't do

A frequently asked questions page written in your customers' words is one of the most useful things you can add.

4. Add structured data to your website

Structured data (also called schema markup) is a small block of code that states your business facts in a format machines read reliably: your name, address or service area, phone, hours, services and website. Search engines use it, and it removes guesswork for anything reading your site.

You don't need to be a developer. Our free local business schema generator builds the code for you to paste into your site.

5. Build reviews and real mentions

Reputation signals matter here as much as on Google Maps. A steady flow of genuine reviews helps (see how to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules), and so do mentions on trusted local sites: a local news story, an association member spotlight, a sponsorship page, a genuine "best of" roundup for your area.

These are the pages an assistant is likely to find when it researches your category in your city.

6. Test it yourself, every month

Ask the assistants the questions your customers ask. Try ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI results:

• "Who's the best [service] in [your area]?"
• "I need a [service] in [area] this weekend, who should I call?"
• "Which [service] in [area] has good reviews?"

Write down whether you're named, which competitors are, and what the assistant says about them. Then look at what those competitors have that you don't: more reviews, a clearer website, mentions on local sites. That's your to-do list.

What doesn't work

• Stuffing your website with keywords or "AI-optimized" filler text. Assistants summarize content; filler gives them nothing useful.
• Fake reviews or fake listings. Beyond breaking Google's rules, inconsistent and suspicious signals are exactly what makes an assistant leave you out.
• Paying anyone who promises guaranteed AI placement. Nobody can deliver that.

The good news

Almost everything that helps AI assistants recommend you also helps you on Google Maps and in regular search. It's the same foundation: accurate information, consistent everywhere, a clear website and a strong reputation. You're not paying twice; you're building one asset that works in all three places.

If you want to know what ChatGPT and Gemini currently say about your business and your competitors, our free visibility audit includes that check, along with your map position and reviews. Our AI Search Optimization service does the work for you.

There's a lot of guesswork online about how Google Maps rankings work. You don't need most of it, because Google publishes the basics itself. Its help page, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, says local results are based mainly on three things:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searched for
• Distance: how far your business is from the searcher, or from the location in their search
• Prominence: how well-known your business is

It also says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So the work comes down to improving the two factors you can influence, and being smart about the one you can't.

Relevance: make it obvious what you do

Relevance is Google deciding whether you're a good answer to the search. You influence it with the information in your profile and on your website.

Choose the right primary category. This is the single biggest relevance decision. Pick the most specific category for your main business: "Plumber", not "Contractor"; "Physiotherapist", not "Health". Add secondary categories only for things you genuinely do.

List your services. Add each service you offer to your profile, using the words customers use. If people search "furnace repair", say "furnace repair", not "heating system restoration solutions".

Write a plain description. What you do, where you do it, and what makes you the right choice. No keyword lists.

Back it up on your website. Give each main service its own page that says what it is and where you offer it. Google reads your website too, and a page about "drain cleaning in Kanata" is a clearer signal than one line on a general services page.

Distance: you can't move, but you can be accurate

Distance is the factor owners worry about most and can change least. A business closer to the searcher has a natural advantage.

What you can do:

• Make sure your address or service area is correct. If you're a service-area business, list the areas you actually serve. Google's service area guidance says the area generally shouldn't extend beyond about two hours of driving from where you're based.
• Don't create fake locations. Virtual offices and addresses where you don't actually work break Google's guidelines and can get every listing suspended.
• Win the searches where you're close. You'll rank more easily in your own neighbourhood first. That's where to start collecting reviews and building a reputation.

Prominence: become the business people know

Prominence is where most of the ranking gap between you and the top three usually is. Google describes it as how well-known a business is, based on information from across the web: links, articles, directories, and your reviews.

Reviews come first. Google's help page says review count and score factor into local ranking, and that more reviews and positive ratings can improve it. A steady flow of recent, genuine reviews beats a burst of twenty from two years ago. Ask every customer, make it easy with a direct link or a QR code, and reply to every review. Our guide to getting more Google reviews without breaking the rules covers how.

Get mentioned where it counts. Local business associations, chambers of commerce, sponsorships, local news and genuine "best of" lists in your area all build prominence. One link from your local business association is worth more than dozens from directories nobody visits.

Keep your details identical everywhere. Same name, address or service area, and phone number on your website, Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and industry directories.

Keep your website strong. Google says your position in regular web results also counts toward prominence. A fast, clear website with real content about your services helps your map ranking too.

A realistic weekly routine

You don't need hours a week. You need consistency:

1. Every job: ask for a review, with a direct link or QR code.
2. Every review: reply within a few days, good or bad, calmly and specifically.
3. Every week: add a few real photos and a short post about recent work.
4. Every month: check your hours, services and details are still right, and search your main service from a private window to see where you stand.

What not to do

Some tactics promise fast results and can get your profile suspended instead:

• Keywords in your business name
• Fake addresses or extra listings for the same business
• Buying reviews, or offering discounts and gifts for reviews
• Asking only happy customers for reviews (Google calls this selectively soliciting positive reviews, and it's prohibited)

They can work for a while, which is why competitors use them. When they stop working, they usually stop all at once.

Where to start

If you only do three things this month: check your primary category, complete every section of your profile, and start asking every customer for a review. Those three cover the parts of relevance and prominence you control most directly.

Want to know exactly where you stand? Our free visibility audit checks your map position for your main service, compares your reviews with the top three, and lists what we'd fix first.

Plumbers, electricians, cleaners, mobile groomers, landscapers, contractors, and anyone else who works at the customer's place often run their business from home. Putting your home address on Google Maps for everyone to see isn't appealing, and for most of these businesses, it isn't required either.

Google has a specific setup for this: the service-area business.

Who can hide their address

Google's address guidance is clear: you should only hide your address if you're a service-area business, meaning you visit or deliver to customers but don't serve customers at your business address.

A hybrid example: an auto repair shop with a garage that also offers roadside service shows its address and sets a service area.

How to hide your address

In your Business Profile, open the option to edit your profile, go to Location, and turn off showing the business address to customers. Then make sure you've set a service area. Google's service area help page walks through the steps, and the labels may change slightly over time.

You'll still need a real address for verification. Google uses it to confirm your business exists; it just won't show it publicly.

How to set your service area well

Your service area tells Google, and customers, where you work.

• List the cities, towns or neighbourhoods you actually serve. For an Ottawa-area business, that might be Kanata, Stittsville, Nepean, Barrhaven and Orléans rather than just "Ottawa".
• Keep it realistic. Google's guidance says the area generally shouldn't extend beyond about two hours of driving from your base. Listing places you'd never go doesn't help.
• Remember that distance still matters. Google still knows where you're based. You'll usually rank more easily close to home and need more reviews and reputation to compete further away.

Mistakes that cause trouble

Using a virtual office or a mailbox as your address. Google's guidelines don't allow addresses where you aren't actually located. Profiles set up this way are a common target for suspension.

Creating several profiles for one business to cover different towns. A service-area business gets one profile for the whole area it serves.

Showing your address while saying customers can't visit. If customers can't come to you, the address shouldn't be shown.

How to stay findable without an address

Hiding your address doesn't make you invisible, but you need to give Google other clear signals:

• A complete profile: the right primary category, every service you offer, hours and real photos of your work.
• A website with service-area pages: a page for each main area you serve, with real content about the work you do there, not copy-pasted text with the town name swapped.
• Reviews that mention the job and the place, naturally. You can't tell customers what to write, but reviews from across your area help show where you work.

Want to see how you show up across the neighbourhoods you serve? Our free visibility audit checks your map position for your main service and shows what's holding you back.

You search for what you do, in your own neighbourhood, and three competitors appear on the map. You don't. It's one of the most frustrating things a local business owner can see, and it's one of the most common questions I get.

The good news: there's almost always a specific reason, and most of them can be fixed without spending money. Here are the nine I see most often, in the order I'd check them.

First, test it the right way

Before you diagnose anything, make sure you're actually missing. Owners often test in a way that gives a misleading result:

• Searching your business name only tells you the profile exists. Customers don't search your name; they search your service.
• Searching from your own location skews the result. Maps results depend heavily on where the searcher is.
• Searching while signed in to the account that manages the profile can show you things customers don't see.

Instead, open a private window on your phone and search the way a customer would: "[your service] near me" and "[your service] [your area]". Note where you appear, if at all.

1. Your profile isn't verified, or verification is pending

Google needs to confirm that your business is real and that you're the one managing it. Unverified profiles often don't appear in search, or appear with limited information.

How to check: Sign in to your Business Profile. If it says verification is needed or pending, that's your first job. Follow the steps Google offers; methods vary by business and can include a video recording or a phone call.

2. Your profile has been suspended or restricted

Google can suspend or restrict profiles that break its guidelines for representing your business. Sometimes this happens after an edit triggers a review.

How to check: Look for a notice at the top of your profile dashboard. If there is one, read exactly what it says before you change anything else. Repeated edits during a review can make things worse.

3. Your business name is stuffed with keywords

"Ottawa Best Plumber 24/7 Emergency Drain Cleaning Kanata" is not a business name. Google's guidelines say your name should match your real-world name, the one on your sign, your invoices and your registration.

Keyword-stuffed names are one of the most common reasons for suspensions, and competitors can report them. Use your real name and put the keywords where they belong: your categories, your services and your description.

4. You have duplicate listings

An old profile from a previous address, one a former employee created, a listing from before you rebranded. Duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google about which one is real, and Google may hide one or both.

How to check: Search your business name and phone number on Google Maps. If you find a duplicate you can claim, claim it and ask Google to merge or remove it rather than leaving it to compete with you.

5. Your primary category is wrong or too broad

Your primary category is one of the strongest signals for which searches you appear in. A roofer listed as "Contractor" competes for everything and wins nothing. A dental clinic listed only as "Health" won't show up for "dentist near me".

The fix: Choose the most specific primary category that describes your main business, then add secondary categories for other real services. Look at which categories the businesses ranking above you use; you can see a competitor's primary category on their profile.

6. Your profile is incomplete

Google's own tips to improve your local ranking start with entering complete and accurate information. Thin profiles struggle.

Fill in everything that applies: services, service areas, hours (including holiday hours), a description that says what you do and where, a website link, attributes, and real photos of your work, your team and your vehicle or storefront.

7. Your name, address and phone don't match across the web

Google cross-checks your business details against your website and other listings. If your website says one phone number, your Google profile another, and an old directory a third, Google becomes less confident in all of them.

The fix: Pick one exact version of your name, address (or service area) and phone number, and make it identical on your website, Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp and any industry directories you're listed in.

8. You're too far from the searcher, or competitors are simply stronger

Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Distance is the one you can't change: if someone searches from Orléans and you're in Stittsville, closer businesses have an advantage.

Prominence is the one you can change. It reflects how well-known your business is, including your reviews and the links and mentions you have across the web. If you're relevant and reasonably close but still missing, this is usually where the gap is: competitors with more recent reviews and a stronger web presence.

9. Your changes are too recent

If you just created, verified or heavily edited your profile, give it time. Edits can take days to appear, and ranking movement after real improvements usually takes weeks, not hours. Make your fixes, note the date, and check again in two to four weeks rather than every morning.

What to do next

Work through the list in order. The first four are about whether Google shows you at all; the last five are about how well you rank once it does.

If you'd rather have someone look for you, our free visibility audit checks where you appear on the map for your main service, how your reviews compare with the businesses above you, and what we'd fix first.

Usted busca su servicio en su propia zona, por ejemplo "electricista en Kanata", y aparecen tres negocios en el mapa. El suyo no. Es una de las preguntas que más me hacen los dueños de negocios latinos aquí en Ottawa, y casi siempre tiene solución.

Esta guía explica, en español y sin tecnicismos, cómo decide Google quién aparece primero y qué puede hacer usted esta misma semana.

Cómo decide Google quién aparece primero

Google lo explica en su propia página de ayuda, Sugerencias para mejorar tu posición en la Búsqueda local. Los resultados locales dependen principalmente de tres cosas:

• Relevancia: qué tan bien coincide su perfil con lo que la persona buscó.
• Distancia: qué tan lejos está su negocio de quien busca.
• Prominencia: qué tan conocido y confiable es su negocio, incluyendo sus reseñas.

La distancia no la puede cambiar. Las otras dos, sí.

1. Verifique y complete su perfil

Si su Perfil de Empresa en Google no está verificado, es posible que no aparezca. Entre a su perfil y confirme que está verificado. Después llene todo:

• la categoría principal más específica posible ("Plomero", no "Contratista")
• todos sus servicios, con las palabras que usan sus clientes
• horario, incluyendo días festivos
• una descripción clara de qué hace y en qué zonas
• fotos reales de su trabajo, su equipo y su vehículo

Un consejo que casi nadie aprovecha: mencione en su descripción que atiende en español. Hay muchas familias latinas en Ottawa que prefieren llamar a alguien que hable su idioma, y muy pocos negocios lo dicen.

2. Use su nombre real, sin palabras clave

"Ottawa Mejor Plomero 24 Horas Barato" no es un nombre de negocio. Las reglas de Google piden usar el nombre real, el mismo de su letrero y su registro. Rellenar el nombre con palabras clave es una de las causas más comunes de suspensión.

3. Consiga reseñas de forma constante (y legal)

Las reseñas ayudan a aparecer más arriba y son lo que lee un cliente antes de llamarle. La página de ayuda de Google dice que más reseñas y mejores calificaciones pueden mejorar su posición local.

Lo que sí puede hacer:

• pedirle una reseña honesta a todos sus clientes
• mandarles el enlace directo por mensaje o WhatsApp
• poner un código QR en su mostrador, su camioneta o su factura

Lo que no puede hacer, según las políticas de Google:

• ofrecer descuentos, regalos o pagos a cambio de reseñas
• pedirle reseñas solo a los clientes contentos
• publicar reseñas falsas o de familiares que no fueron clientes

Puede crear una tarjeta con su código QR de reseñas en nuestra herramienta gratuita.

Y conteste todas las reseñas, buenas y malas, con calma y de forma breve. Los clientes se fijan mucho en cómo responde a una mala reseña.

4. Mantenga sus datos iguales en todas partes

El nombre, la dirección (o zona de servicio) y el teléfono deben ser exactamente iguales en Google, su página web, Facebook, Bing, Apple Maps y cualquier directorio. Si cada lugar dice algo distinto, Google confía menos en su negocio.

5. Si trabaja desde casa, oculte su dirección

Si usted va a la casa de sus clientes y ellos nunca van a la suya, puede ocultar su dirección y mostrar solo las zonas donde trabaja. Google sigue necesitando una dirección real para verificar el negocio, pero no la muestra. Lo explicamos en detalle (en inglés) en nuestra guía sobre ocultar su dirección en Google.

6. Tenga una página web sencilla

No es obligatorio para empezar, pero ayuda mucho: le da a Google más información sobre sus servicios y zonas, y los asistentes de inteligencia artificial como ChatGPT la leen cuando alguien pregunta a quién llamar. Una página bilingüe le permite llegar a clientes en inglés y en español.

Lo que no debe hacer

• usar direcciones falsas u oficinas virtuales
• crear varios perfiles para el mismo negocio
• comprar reseñas
• pagarle a alguien que le "garantice" el primer lugar: nadie puede garantizarlo

¿Quiere saber dónde aparece hoy?

Le hacemos una auditoría de visibilidad gratuita, en español: dónde aparece en Google Maps para su servicio principal, cómo se comparan sus reseñas con las de los primeros tres, y las tres cosas que arreglaríamos primero. Puede verla en nuestra página en español o pedirla desde cualquier página del sitio.

A website can look completely fine and still not bring in any work. Most of the reasons are boring and fixable, and you can find them yourself in about ten minutes. Open your site on your phone and go through this list.

1. Can a stranger tell what you do in three seconds?

Not your industry. The actual thing. "Ottawa plumber, same-day service" beats "Excellence in residential solutions" every time.

Read your homepage headline out loud. If it could belong to any company in your industry, it isn't doing anything. The first line should say what you do, where you do it, and why someone should pick you.

2. Is your phone number visible without scrolling?

On a phone, right at the top, and tappable. A surprising number of small business sites hide the one piece of information most visitors came for.

Count the taps it takes to start a call. One is the goal. Three is how you lose the customer who was standing in a flooded basement.

3. How long does it take to load on mobile data?

Turn Wi-Fi off and load your site. If you're still waiting after a few seconds, you're losing people who will never know they were about to be your customer.

Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool will tell you what's slowing it down. Oversized photos are the most common culprit and the easiest to fix.

4. Is there any evidence you're real?

A photo of you or your van, the town you're in, a couple of reviews, a licence number. People are checking whether you're a real business before they call. Give them the answer.

Real photos taken on your phone do more than polished stock images. Visitors can tell the difference instantly.

5. Does anything on it give away how old it is?

A copyright date from three years ago, a promotion that ended, a team member who left, holiday hours from last December. Small things, but they make a visitor wonder what else is out of date, including whether you're still in business.

Fix these before you spend money on anything else

None of this needs a designer. If you fix these five yourself and the phone rings more, that's a good outcome and you've spent nothing.

Want the longer version? Our free 10-point website checklist has a quick test for each point and gives you a score out of 10.

This question comes up on nearly every first call, so here's the plain answer.

What a landing page is for

A landing page is one page with one offer and one action. No navigation, nowhere to wander. You use it when you're sending paid traffic somewhere: an ad campaign, a seasonal promotion, one specific service you're pushing.

Because there's nothing else to click, a much higher share of that traffic does the thing you wanted: call, book or request a quote.

What a full website is for

A website is what people find when they look you up. It has to work for many different visitors: someone who got your name from a neighbour, someone searching at 11pm, someone comparing you with two competitors.

It needs to cover what you do, where you work, proof that you're good, and how to reach you. It's also what Google and AI assistants read to understand your business, so it's what helps you show up in search for each of your services.

The rule of thumb

If you're buying the traffic, build a landing page for it. If you're earning the traffic through search, referrals, your Google profile or the sign on your truck, you need the website.

The most common expensive mistake

Spending money on ads and pointing them at your homepage. The homepage has to serve everyone, so it serves the ad visitor poorly. They arrive expecting the offer from the ad and find a menu with eight options instead.

It's also one of the cheapest mistakes to fix: one focused page that matches the ad, with one clear button.

Let's be honest about what a "free audit" usually is: a lead magnet. You get an automated report with a score out of 100 and forty red items, most of which don't matter, and then someone calls you.

Here's what ours is instead.

What you tell us

Three things: your business, the main service you want more calls for, and the areas you serve. That's the whole intake. You can request it from any page on our site.

What we check, by hand

Google Maps. We search for your main service in your area the way a customer would, and note where you appear: in the top three on the map, further down, or not at all.

Reviews. How many you have, how recent they are, and how that compares with the businesses ranking above you. The gap is often the whole story.

Your Google Business Profile. Categories, services, hours, photos, description, website link, and whether it's been updated recently.

Your website, on a phone. Whether the top of the page says what you do and where, whether calling you is one tap away, and whether it loads quickly on mobile data.

AI assistants. We ask ChatGPT and Gemini who they'd recommend for your service in your area, and note whether you're named and who is.

What you get back

A short email in plain English: where you stand, and the two or three things we'd fix first, in order, with the reason for each. No slide deck and no score out of 100.

Sometimes the honest answer is that your site is fine and the problem is somewhere else, usually your Google profile or your reviews. In that case we'll say so, and you'll have saved yourself a redesign.

What happens next

If you want us to do the work, we'll offer a short call to walk through options and exact prices. If you don't, the list is yours to use however you like. We'd rather be useful to ten people and hired by two than pester all ten.