Getting found locally
When someone searches for “bakery Ghent” or “plumber near me”, Google first shows a map with local businesses. That information doesn’t come from your website, but from your Google Business Profile.
Google Business Profile
Section titled “Google Business Profile”A free profile on Google with your address, opening hours, phone number, photos and reviews. It appears in Google Search and Google Maps.
- Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google account.
- Search for your business (the profile may already exist) or create it.
- Confirm that it’s your business. Google sends you a code to do so, for example by post, phone or email.
- Fill everything in completely: category, opening hours, link to your website, photos.
- The same details everywhere. Use exactly the same business name, address and phone number on your website, your Business Profile and other listings (Facebook, Golden Pages, …).
- Keep opening hours up to date, including during holidays and bank holidays.
- Ask happy customers for a review, and respond to reviews, including negative ones, in a friendly and professional way.
- Mention your area on your website: “We work in Ghent, Merelbeke and the surrounding area”.
- Show your address and phone number clearly on your contact page and in the website’s footer.
- Working in more than one language region? Make sure the contact page and the pages about your area are translated into each language. In your Business Profile you can fill in one description: choose the language of most of your customers.