When someone searches “electrician near me” or “roofer High Wycombe”, Google shows three businesses on a map before any normal website results. That map pack gets the majority of clicks — and calls. If you’re not in it, your competitors are taking jobs that should be yours.
Google ranks map results on three things: relevance (does your profile match the search?), distance (how close are you to the searcher?), and prominence (does Google trust you?). You can’t move your business premises, but you can influence the other two heavily. Here’s what works, in order of impact.
1. Pick the right categories
Your primary category is the single biggest ranking lever you control. “Roofing contractor” and “Roofer” perform differently. Set the primary category to the service you most want to win, then add every secondary category that genuinely applies. Businesses regularly jump into the 3-pack from nowhere just by fixing this.
2. Get reviews consistently — not in bursts
Google rewards a steady flow of reviews more than a big one-off push. Ten reviews a month for six months beats sixty reviews in one week. Build asking into how you finish every job: text the customer a direct review link while you’re still in the driveway. And reply to every review — Google has confirmed that responding to reviews improves local ranking.
3. Get keywords into your reviews (the honest way)
Reviews that mention your service and town — “fitted a new boiler for us in Amersham” — act as ranking signals for those exact searches. You can’t write reviews, but you can shape them: ask “would you mind mentioning it was a boiler installation?” Most happy customers are glad to.
4. Complete every field on your profile
Services with descriptions and prices, opening hours, attributes, the works. Google’s own guidance says complete profiles rank better, and half-finished profiles are everywhere — it’s an easy edge. If a field exists, fill it in.
5. Add photos every week
Profiles with recent photos get more clicks, and activity itself is a signal Google notices. Real job photos beat stock every time: before-and-afters, your van, the team. Two or three a week is plenty. Five minutes on a Friday.
6. Match your name, address and phone number everywhere
Google cross-references your details across the web. If your website says “07932 065 904” and your Yell listing says “01234 567890”, that inconsistency erodes trust. Pick one format for your name, address and phone number and use it identically on your website, socials and every directory.
7. Link your profile to a proper website
Profiles backed by a real website outrank profiles that link to a Facebook page or nothing at all. The website confirms your services and location to Google — a page for each core service, your towns named in the copy, and local business schema markup behind the scenes. It also catches everyone who clicks through wanting more detail before they call.
8. Use Google Posts
Weekly posts (a recent job, an offer, a tip) keep the profile active. The direct ranking effect is modest, but posts show up on your profile and give searchers a reason to pick you over the listing above. Consistency matters more than polish.
9. Never buy reviews. Ever.
Fake reviews are the fastest way to get a profile suspended, and Google’s detection has got aggressive. A suspended profile means vanishing from Maps entirely — often for weeks while appeals crawl through. No shortcut is worth that.
The honest timeline
Category and profile fixes can move rankings within days. Reviews, photos and citation consistency compound over two to four months. Local SEO is a habit, not a one-off task — which is exactly why most of your competitors won’t keep it up. That’s the opportunity.
If you’d rather someone did the weekly work for you, that’s exactly what our Google Business Profile management covers — posts, review handling, photos and reporting, every week.