You search for what you do in your own area and your business is nowhere. Before you pay anyone to fix it, work out which of three problems you have. Each one has a different cause, and the checks below take less than an hour.
First: search the right way
Google shows different results to different people, based on where they are and what they have searched before. Your own phone is the worst place to check, because it already knows you. Use a private browser window, and remember that results in Cypress will not match results downtown.
Then run two searches and note what you see:
- Your business name. If you do not show up for your own name, it is a technical problem. Start with the next section.
- Your service and your area, for example “roof repair Tomball”. If you show up for your name but not for this, it is a content and trust problem. Skip ahead.
Problem 1: Google does not have your site at all
Search for site:yourdomain.com, with your own address in place of yourdomain.com. Google lists every page it has kept from your site. If the list is empty or very short, Google either cannot reach the site or has been told to stay away.
The usual causes:
- A setting left on from when the site was built. Website builders have a switch that hides a site from search engines while it is being made. WordPress calls it “Discourage search engines”. Squarespace and Wix have similar visibility settings. It is easy to forget to turn it off.
- A password or “coming soon” page still in front of the site.
- A move to a new address without redirects. If the site moved, the old address should send visitors and Google to the new one.
- A brand new site. Google can take days to weeks to find a new site on its own.
The fix for all four starts in Google Search Console, which is free. Add your site, submit your sitemap, and use URL Inspection on your home page. It tells you in plain words whether the page is on Google, and if not, why.
Problem 2: you show up for your name, but not for your service
Google has your site but does not see it as the best answer for that search. Check these in order:
Is there a page about that service?
If your home page lists ten services in one paragraph, Google has little reason to show it for any one of them. Each service you want to be found for needs its own page that explains what you do, who it is for, and the area you serve.
Does the page title say it?
The title is the blue link in search results. “Home” or just your business name tells Google nothing. A title like “Roof Repair in Tomball and Cypress” says exactly what the page answers. Say it once, plainly. Repeating the same words over and over makes things worse, not better.
Does anyone else vouch for you?
Google trusts a business more when other sites mention it: local business groups, suppliers, trade associations, local news. A few real mentions from local organizations are worth more than any number of paid directory listings. Never buy links. Google treats that as spam.
Does your information match everywhere?
Your business name, phone number and website should be the same everywhere they appear online. Different phone numbers on different listings make Google less sure they are all you.
Problem 3: you are not in the map results
The three businesses shown with a map come from Google Business Profiles, not from websites. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. In plain words: does the profile match the search, how close is the business to the person searching, and how well known is it.
- No profile, or not verified. Without one you cannot appear in the map at all.
- The wrong main category. Your main category tells Google what you are. Choose the closest true one.
- Too few reviews, or old ones. Ask every customer, not only the happy ones. Paying or trading for reviews breaks Google's rules.
- Distance. This one you cannot fix. A business 20 miles away will rarely show in the map for someone searching across town, however good it is. That is normal, and it is why your website still matters for the regular results below the map.
How long it takes
A technical fix can show up within days of Google crawling the site again. Content and trust build over months. Change one thing at a time and watch Search Console's Performance report, so you know what worked. Rising impressions come first. Clicks come later.
Where we come in
This is the work behind local SEO: the technical checks, a clear page for each service you sell, and a plain monthly report on where you show up and how many people called. If your site itself is the problem, our article on websites that get visits but no calls is the next thing to read.