How to appear on Google Maps: a local SEO guide for businesses

When someone searches for “plumber in Barcelona”, “restaurant near me” or “accountant in Sabadell”, Google usually shows a map with a handful of businesses first. Being there can bring you more calls than any ad. Here’s what it takes.

1. Create or claim your Google Business Profile

It all starts with your business profile on Google (formerly “Google My Business”). Search for your business on Google Maps: if it’s already there, claim it; if not, create it from Google Business Profile.

Google will ask you to verify that the business is yours. Without verification, the profile carries very little weight.

2. Choose the right primary category

It’s one of the most important factors and one of the most neglected. The primary category should describe what you do as specifically as possible: “Dental clinic” rather than “Doctor”, “Bicycle shop” rather than “Shop”.

You can then add secondary categories for other services you offer.

3. Complete the profile as if it were your shop window

• Name: your business’s real name, without adding keywords.
• Address or service area: if you visit customers, list the towns where you work.
• Phone and website: the same ones shown on your website.
• Opening hours: including public holidays and seasonal hours. Few things erode trust faster than arriving at a closed business that Google said was open.
• Services or products: with a short description and, if you can, an indicative price.
• Photos: of the premises, the team, your work. Real photos, not stock images.

4. The same details everywhere

Google compares the information on your profile with your website and other directories. Your name, address and phone number should match exactly everywhere. If you’ve moved or changed number, update it everywhere.

5. Reviews: ask for them and reply

Reviews influence your ranking and, above all, the customer’s decision. A few ideas:

• Ask for a review right after a good service, with a direct link.
• Reply to all of them, including negative ones, calmly and offering a solution.
• Don’t buy reviews or offer discounts in exchange: Google may penalise you.

6. A website that backs up the profile

Your profile and your website reinforce each other. For local SEO, your website should have:

• A clear page for each service and, if you work in several towns, a genuinely useful page for each area, with its own content rather than the same text with the city name swapped.
• Local business structured data, which helps Google understand who you are and where you are.
• Speed and a good mobile experience, since most local searches happen on phones.
• Content in your customers’ language. In Catalonia many searches are made in Catalan or Spanish, and in Barcelona often in English too: each language you cover widens the searches you can appear in.

7. Post and measure

Profile posts (news, offers, events) keep your profile active. And the statistics in the profile itself and in Google Search Console tell you which searches find you and how many calls or visits they generate.

How long until you see results?

It depends on your competition and the current state of your profile. Completing and verifying the profile properly usually shows results sooner; gaining positions in very competitive areas takes more time and consistency.

If you’d rather we handle it, every website we build launches with the local SEO basics and we help you with your profile. And if you want to go further, we offer monthly SEO plans from €790 / month, with no lock-in. You can also see how we approach local SEO in Barcelona or across our other areas.