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For small businesses

How to get your business on Google Maps

It's free. Add your business at business.google.com/add, pick your category, give an address or the area you cover, then verify it. Google chooses how: a short video, a phone call or text, an email, a live video call or a postcard. Google's review then takes up to five working days.

We build and look after websites. We don't sell Google listings, and nobody honestly can: Google says there's no way to pay for a better local ranking.

Add your business, step by step

  1. Check whether you’re already there. Search Google Maps for your business name and town. There may already be an unverified listing for you. If there is, choose “Claim this business”, then “Manage now”.
  2. If not, add it. Go to business.google.com/add and choose “Add your business to Google”. You need a Google account. It costs nothing.
  3. Use your business’s real name. Type it as it appears on your van, signs and invoices. Google doesn't allow extra words in the name, so “Smith Plumbing” is fine and “Smith Plumbing Best Boiler Repairs Worthing” isn't.
  4. Pick the category that says what you do. “Plumber” or “Hair salon”, not a general one. It helps Google match you to the right searches.
  5. Give an address, or the area you cover. If customers come to you, add the address. If you go to them, set your service area instead. The next section explains how.
  6. Add your phone number, website and opening hours. Use the same name, number and hours as on your website, so customers and Google see one business.
  7. Verify it. Google picks the method. Its review then takes up to five working days.

Working from home, or from a van

You don't need a shop to be on Google Maps. If you go to your customers, Google calls you a service-area business: you set the towns or postcodes you cover, and you hide your address.

Google's own example is a plumber who runs the business from home. The advice is to clear the home address from the profile, so customers see your area but not your house.

  • One profile per business. Don't make a second one to cover another town.
  • A virtual office, or a PO box somewhere you don't work, isn't allowed as your address.
  • If you have premises and travel to customers too, the premises must be staffed during the hours you list.

How verification works

Google decides which method you're offered, from your type of business, your area and your hours. You can't pick a different one.

MethodWhat happens
Video recordingA short video you record, following Google’s steps. Google recommends it if you’re offered it.
Phone or textA code by call or text. An automated phone menu won’t receive the call, so use a number a person answers.
EmailAn email with steps to follow, sent to the address shown on the verification screen. Check you can open that inbox first.
Live video callA call with someone from Google, who asks you to show your premises and that the business is yours. Only during your opening hours, and not every business is offered it.
PostcardA code posted to your address. Most arrive within 14 days and work for 30. Don’t change your name, address or category while you wait, or the code stops working.

When you've finished, Google reviews it, which takes up to five working days. You get an email when it's done. If it doesn't go through, the “Get verified” button comes back, and you can try again or use another method you're offered.

Why your business might not show up

Google ranks local results on three things.

  • RelevanceHow well your profile matches what someone searched for.
  • DistanceHow far you are from the person searching.
  • ProminenceHow well known your business is.

You can't change where your customers are. What Google suggests you do:

  • Fill in every part of the profile, accurately. Complete profiles are more likely to show.
  • Verify it.
  • Keep your hours right, including bank holidays and the weeks you're away.
  • Reply to reviews.
  • Add photos of your work.

Your Google profile and your website do different jobs

Most small businesses need both. It helps to be clear what each one is for.

Your Google Business Profile

  • Puts you on Google Maps and in local results
  • Collects reviews that stay with you
  • Lets people call you or get directions in one tap
  • Free, and Google decides how it looks

Your own website

  • The page people open from your profile to check you out
  • Your work, your prices and your area, set out your way
  • On a domain in your name
  • Somewhere to send people who hear about you from a neighbour

A website for your profile to point to

Tell us about your business in a chat on our site or on WhatsApp: what you do, where, and how you price it. We write the words, make the photographs and draw two logo designs. You approve the site before it goes live on your own domain, and then you put its address in your Google profile.

After that, a change is a message. New hours, another postcode, a holiday week: send it, and we make the change and put it live.

£29 for the first page, paid once, or £74 for four pages. Hosting and changes are £29 a month after a free first month, with no contract. What a website costs sets out every option.

£29 a month, and it stays £29 for as long as you're with us. New customers from 1 April 2027 pay £39.

See my website price or ask us on WhatsApp ↗

Questions about Google Maps

Is it free to put my business on Google Maps?
Yes. Google says you can add or claim your business at no charge. Be careful with anyone offering to sell you a Google listing or a better Maps ranking: Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
How long does it take for my business to show on Google Maps?
Once you have finished the verification steps, Google’s review takes up to five working days, occasionally longer. If Google sends a postcard, most codes arrive within 14 days.
Can I be on Google Maps without a shop or office?
Yes. If you go to your customers, set a service area and hide your address. Google gives the example of a plumber who works from home: clear the address from the profile. Virtual offices and remote PO boxes are not allowed.
Why can’t I find my business on Google Maps?
Usually one of four things: the profile is not verified yet, the details are incomplete, the category does not match what people search for, or other businesses are closer to the person searching. Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence.
Do I need a website to be on Google Maps?
No. A profile works without one. But your profile has a place for your website, and people who find you on Maps often check you before they call: in a survey for CIPHE, 44% of homeowners said they look for photos of previous work online before hiring.

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