To get on Google Maps, create and verify a free Google Business Profile with your exact name, address and phone number. That puts you on the map. Getting into the Maps pack (the three businesses Google shows on a map for a local search) is a second job: a complete profile, consistent details across the web, genuine reviews, and a website that agrees with the listing. Verification can take a few days. The pack typically takes weeks to months.
This is the order I use from Hassocks. No keyword stuffing. No paid “Google registration”. The listing is free. If you just want to get the profile itself set up, follow our simple Google Business Profile setup guide first.
How do I claim and verify a Google Business Profile?
Go to Google Business Profile and sign in with a Google account you will still have in two years. Search for the business name. If a listing already exists, claim it. Duplicates are a mess. If nothing exists, create one.
Enter the name exactly as customers know it. Do not cram keywords into the title. That breaks Google’s rules and is a good way to get suspended. Pick the primary category that matches the work that pays the bills. Add the phone and website as they appear everywhere else. Set a real address if people visit you. If you travel to the customer and work from home, hide the address and list the towns you cover.
Then verify. Google often sends a postcard with a code, sometimes a phone call, email or video. Postcards take several days. Do not open a second listing while you wait. Until it is verified, treat the profile as unfinished.
The listing itself costs nothing. We set it up as part of SEO where it fits, from £99 as a one-off. There is no standalone Page Forge price for the profile.
If you want the long version of categories, photos and Q&A, use the Google Business Profile guide. If you want a tick list, use the local SEO checklist.
What should I fill in so the listing is actually complete?
A half-finished profile ranks like a half-finished profile. Fill every section you can:
- Name, as you trade. No keywords in the title.
- Primary category, plus secondary ones only if they are true.
- Address or service area. Shopfront: real pin. Mobile trade: towns you actually drive to, not the whole country.
- Phone and website. Point at a real, fast page. You can appear without a site. You will be less convincing.
- Hours, including bank holidays.
- Services and a short description. Name the trade and the towns.
- Photos of real work, the van or the shopfront. Stock images waste the slot.
A Hassocks electrician working from home hides the address and names the towns. A Burgess Hill bakery shows the pin. Oilfire in Uckfield is a heating engineer with a five-star Google rating: the listing was doing its job, the missing piece was a page. One listing will not pretend to be a Brighton firm and a Mid Sussex firm at the same time.
Revisit the profile when the business changes. A listing is not a form you submit and forget.
How does the Maps pack actually decide who to show?
Being on the map is not the same as being in the three-pack.
Google weighs three broad things:
- Relevance. How well the profile and website match the search. Category, services and on-page words matter here.
- Distance. How close you are to the searcher. You cannot move Hassocks to Brighton. A honest service area helps. A fake pin in a city you do not work from does not.
- Prominence. How well known and trusted you look: reviews, consistent listings, a solid website.
You control relevance and prominence. Distance is geography. That is why a complete Hassocks listing can move sooner than the same trade fighting Brighton, and why one page will not cover the whole of Sussex.
I will not invent pack positions for anyone I have built for. The timeline is weeks to months for the pack, not a weekend. Anyone who guarantees the top three in seven days is selling a story. Keep the profile alive after the first week. Hours change. Photos age. Recency is part of looking like a business people still use.
Why do reviews and matching details matter so much?
Reviews are one of the strongest levers you actually control. Ask at the end of the job. Text the direct review link. Do not buy reviews, write them yourself, or offer a discount for stars. Google suspends listings for that.
A trickle looks better than a burst. A profile that last had a review in 2023 looks dormant. Sindall in Haywards Heath already had more than 200 Checkatrade reviews before their site rebuild. That is unusual. Most trades will have far fewer. Use what is true. Reply to every review, including the awkward ones.
The other lever is consistency. Your name, address and phone should be identical on the profile, the website, Facebook and the main directories. “Street” versus “St” quietly undermines Google’s confidence. This is the NAP work in local SEO for small businesses. You need the important listings to agree, not a listing on every directory in the country.
Do I need a website to appear on Google Maps?
No. You can appear with a verified profile and no site. Plenty of trades have.
A website still earns its keep. Google cross-checks the listing against the page. A fast site that states what you do and where, with matching details, reinforces the listing. It is also where a cautious customer goes after they see you in the pack.
You do not need a 20-page brochure. A one-pager is enough for most local trades. Name the service, name the towns, put a tappable number at the top.
If you want the profile and the on-page work done together, SEO across Sussex starts at £99 as a one-off and includes Google Business Profile setup where it fits. The listing remains free. The fee is for the work around it.
How long does it take to get on Maps and into the pack?
Verification: usually a few days, longer if a postcard is involved. Appearing on the map: often shortly after that. Climbing into the Maps pack: weeks to months. Competitors already in the three slots do not step aside because you filled in your hours. Hassocks-shaped towns can move sooner. Brighton is slower. A service area that covers half the county will not make one listing win all of it.
What you should not expect: a guaranteed number one, a pack slot that never moves, or a ranking for “Sussex” from a single shopfront. Listings rise and fall. The work is to be the obvious, consistent choice so you spend more weeks in the picture than out of it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Business Profile really free?
Yes. Google does not charge to list, verify or manage the profile. Anyone asking for payment to “register you on Google” is selling something you can do yourself. If you want us to do the setup as part of SEO, that work starts at £99 as a one-off. The listing is still free.
Why am I on Google Maps but not in the top three?
The map pin is the easy part. The pack is decided by relevance, distance and prominence. The usual gaps are an incomplete profile, few or old reviews, mismatched details, or a weak website. Improving those takes weeks to months, not overnight.
Do I need a website to be on Google Maps?
No. A verified profile is enough to appear. A website strongly improves your chances of ranking in the pack and gives the searcher somewhere to check you. They work best as a pair with matching details.
Should I hide my address if I work from home?
Usually yes. Use a service-area listing and name the towns you cover. Shopfronts should show the real address. Do not drop a pin in a town you do not work from to “win” that pack. Distance still matters, and a dishonest pin can get the listing into trouble.
How many reviews do I need before I can enter the Maps pack?
There is no official number. Recency and a steady trickle matter more than a target someone invented. Ask every happy customer, send the direct link, and reply to what comes in. Never buy them.
Can I create a second listing to cover another town?
No. One business, one listing. A second profile “just in case” is how you get duplicates and suspensions. If you genuinely serve a second town, say so on the service area and on the website. One listing will not cover a whole county.