How to show up on Google Maps: a step-by-step guide for New Jersey businesses

When someone nearby searches "bakery near me" or "dog groomer Morristown", Google shows a map with three businesses at the top. Getting into that list is free, and it's one of the best things a local business can do. Here's how, step by step.

How Google decides who shows up

Google says local results are based on three things:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searched. A complete, accurate profile helps Google match you.
• Distance: how far you are from the person searching, or from the town they typed.
• Prominence: how well-known your business is, including your reviews and how often you're mentioned around the web.

Google is also clear that you can't pay for a better local ranking. You can't change your distance, but you can do a lot about relevance and prominence.

Step 1: Set up your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the new name for what used to be called Google My Business. Same free listing, same place on the map.

1. Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google account you'll keep (ideally your business email, not a personal one you might lose).
2. Search for your business name. If it's already listed, claim it. If not, add it.
3. Choose your main category carefully: "Dog trainer", "Nail salon", "House cleaning service", "Tailor". This is one of the most important choices you make.
4. Work from home or travel to customers? Choose to hide your address and set a service area instead: the towns or counties you cover.
5. Verify your business. Google will tell you how: often a video, a phone call, a text or a postcard.

Step 2: Fill in every part of it

• Hours, including holiday hours. Wrong hours lose customers and annoy people.
• Phone number and website. The same number you use everywhere else.
• Services and prices. Add your main services with a short description and a starting price.
• Photos. Real photos of your work, your shop or van, and you. Add new ones regularly.
• Description. Say plainly what you do and where, in your own words.
• Extra categories that genuinely apply, like "Pet groomer" plus "Pet supply store" if you sell products.

Step 3: Get (and answer) reviews

Reviews are a big part of prominence, and they're what customers read before choosing you.

• Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. A good moment is right after you finish the job. Your profile has a "Get more reviews" link you can text or email. Google doesn't allow asking only customers you expect to be happy.
• Make it easy: put the link on your website, your receipts and a small card at the counter.
• Answer every review, good and bad. A calm, helpful reply to a bad review often impresses future customers more than the five-stars.
• Never buy reviews or offer rewards for them, like a discount for a five-star review. It's against Google's rules and can get reviews removed or your profile restricted.

Step 4: Connect it to a website

Your profile links to your website, and that link matters. People who tap it want to see prices, more photos and a way to book. A clear website also helps Google understand what you do and where. Make sure your name, address or service area and phone number are exactly the same on your website and your profile.

No website yet? Read why Instagram alone isn't enough and what a website costs in New Jersey, or see what we build. Rather have someone handle it? Here's what a Google My Business service includes and costs.

Mistakes to avoid

• Stuffing keywords into your business name, like "Rosa's Nails Best Nail Salon Hoboken NJ". It's against Google's guidelines and can get your profile suspended. Use your real name.
• Using a virtual office address you don't actually work from.
• Different phone numbers or names on different sites.
• Setting it up and forgetting it. Update hours, add photos and answer reviews regularly.

Questions