Getting found
Why your business isn't showing up on Google
June 17, 2026 · 6 min read
If you've searched for your own business on Google and come up short — or watched a competitor sit above you — it's almost never bad luck. A handful of specific, fixable things decide whether nearby customers find you. Here's what actually moves the needle.
1. Claim your Google Business Profile
For a local business, this free listing often matters more than your website for showing up in the map results and the panel on the right side of search. If you haven't claimed it, you're invisible in the place most local customers look first.
- Claim it at business.google.com
- Pick the most accurate category for what you do
- Add your service area, hours, and a few real photos
- Keep it active — post updates and reply to reviews
2. Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere
Google trusts businesses whose details match across the web. If your phone number or business name is written one way on Facebook, another on Yelp, and a third on your site, that inconsistency quietly works against you. Pick one exact format and use it everywhere — same spelling, same punctuation, same number.
3. Say what you do and where you do it — in plain words
Google can only rank you for what's actually written on your pages. A surprising number of sites never plainly state their service and their town. Spell it out:
- Put your service and location in page titles (e.g. “HVAC repair in Canonsburg, PA”)
- Write a real sentence describing each service you offer
- Give each main service or area its own page
4. Make sure the site is fast and works on a phone
More than half of local searches happen on a phone, and Google factors mobile speed into rankings directly. A slow, hard-to-tap site loses people before they read a word. Pull your site up on your own phone — if it's sluggish or you're pinching to zoom, that's costing you customers and ranking.
5. Earn a few honest reviews
Reviews influence both how you rank and whether someone chooses you over the next listing. You don't need hundreds. A steady trickle of genuine reviews — just ask happy customers, and make it easy with a direct link — does more than any trick or shortcut.
The short version
- Claim and fully fill out your Google Business Profile
- Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere online
- Put your service and town in plain words on the site
- Make sure it loads fast and works well on a phone
- Ask happy customers for honest reviews
None of this is magic — it's groundwork, done consistently. If you'd rather have it handled so you can get back to running your business, that's exactly what I do.