Showing up on Google and on maps

The Sunday that did not exist

Mr Amaral's bakery in Ponta Delgada is closed on Sundays. But the Google listing said "open on Sundays". One Sunday in August, two families of tourists went there in the morning, found the door shut and left a one-star review each. The bakery is good. What was wrong was one line that nobody had corrected in years.

When someone searches for your business on their phone, the first thing they see is almost always the listing, before the website. This lesson is about putting that listing in order and helping Google find your website.

The business listing on Google

The business listing (Google calls it Google Business Profile, at business.google.com) is free. One may already exist for your business, created by someone else or by Google itself. If it exists, you claim it; if not, you create one.

This is how it looks on 16 October 2026; if your screen is different, look for the button with the same name.

Then you have to verify that the business is yours. Google usually asks for one of several things: a code by phone, a letter with a code sent to the address, or a short video of the premises. Follow the instructions on screen, because the method can differ from one business to another.

Once it is verified, get the essentials right:

Main category: the one that best describes what you do ("Bakery", not "Food shop"). It weighs the most.
Normal opening hours and holidays. Mr Amaral's mistake. There is a field for special hours: use it before Christmas, Easter and your local holidays.
Phone and website. The phone must be one you answer. The website is the one on your domain (the domain lesson).
About 10 real photos: the front, the inside, the products, you at work. Your own photos, in natural light.
A short description and the list of products or services, written the way you talk.

Tip

If you have a booking system or an address for quote requests, look on the listing for a button with a name like "book" or "reserve" and put the link there. It is where the customer already is.

Google is not the only map. Apple has a tool for businesses (Apple Business Connect) that feeds Apple Maps, and Microsoft has Bing Places. Both are free and take an afternoon, using the same details as your listing. Start with Google, because that is where most people search.

Reviews: ask, reply, never invent

A business with 40 reviews and a 4.6 average convinces more than one with two. How to get them without cheating:

Ask people who were happy, at the right moment. A small card with a QR code for your listing, handed over with the change, and a sentence at the counter: "If you liked it, a review helps us a lot."
Reply to all of them. To the good ones, with a two-line thank you. To the bad ones, calmly, within 24 hours, without arguing: "We are sorry. We have already corrected the opening hours. If you would like to talk to us, the phone number is this one." Whoever decides whether to visit you is the person reading the reply, not the one who wrote the complaint.
Never buy or invent reviews.

Watch out

Buying reviews, asking friends to write them without having been customers, or writing one yourself in someone else's name is an unfair commercial practice. On top of that, Google detects many of these cases and may remove the review or the whole listing. You end up worse off than if you had nothing. This is not legal advice: if in doubt, check with your accountant or a lawyer.

Your website on Google

Even with the listing ready, Google needs to know your website. That is what Google Search Console is for, also free.

You sign in with a Google account and give the address of the website.
You prove the website is yours. The most common method is to add a line of text (a TXT record) to your domain's DNS, as in the domain lesson; the alternative is uploading a file to the website. If you use a builder, it usually has an option for this.
You submit the sitemap, the list of your pages. Many builders create it automatically; look for an address like yoursite.com/sitemap.xml.

After a while, Search Console shows which searches bring people to you and whether any pages have problems. It is not instant: it can take days before anything shows up.

SEO in three sentences

SEO sounds like something for specialists, but the essentials fit in three sentences:

Each page has a title that says what it is and where: "Amaral Bakery — Ponta Delgada", "Cuts and colour — Marta's Hair Salon, Calheta".
The text answers the questions people ask: "What time do you open?", "Do you have gluten-free cakes?", "How do I get there?"
Other websites point to yours: the parish council, the local association, the local paper, a partner. Ask them for a link.

Tip

No tricks: repeating the same word twenty times, buying links, hiding text. Google notices, and so do readers.

Exercise

Claim or create your Google business listing and ask for verification.
Fix the main category, the opening hours (including this year's holidays), the phone and the website.
Upload 10 real photos of your business.
Ask 3 real customers for a review, in person or with a card.
Add your website to Search Console and submit the sitemap.

How I know it worked a verified listing with the right hours and 10 photos, at least 1 new review and the website accepted in Search Console.

If it didn't work

Is Google not verifying the listing? Follow the method it offers, with the address exactly as it is on the listing. If it asked for a code by letter, it can take a few days.
Does a listing from someone else already exist? Look for the option to claim it, or to ask the current owner for access. Do not create a second one.
Does Search Console not accept the website? Check that you typed the exact address, with https://, and that the TXT line is in the right DNS. It can take hours to work.
Is nobody leaving a review? Ask right after a compliment, in the moment, and hand over the card with the QR code in person.

What you take from this level

Online presence: six pieces (domain, website, email, listing, social media, WhatsApp), an inventory and two priorities.
The domain: in the business owner's name, with automatic renewal and a warning email outside the domain itself.
Professional email: mailboxes by function and the three stamps (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) on PASS.
The website: the five pages that are enough, chosen by criteria, with HTTPS and easy to read on a phone.
Google and maps: a verified listing with the right hours, real reviews and the website proven in Search Console.

What comes next

Level 2 is for growing what you have built and for complying with the law: social media and WhatsApp, bookings and appointments, payments, the legal obligations in Portugal and upkeep. Open Level 2.