Insights
Local SEO checklist for Ann Arbor businesses
The groundwork that helps people nearby find you in Google Maps and local search results, in the order we would tackle it for a business in Ann Arbor.
When someone searches for a coffee shop near Kerrytown or a plumber in Ann Arbor, Google usually shows a map with a handful of businesses before the ordinary results. Getting into that group is not a mystery, and it does not require a big budget. It does require doing a set of unglamorous things properly and keeping them up to date. This checklist is the order we work through them.
How Google chooses local results
Google explains its approach in its guide to improving your local ranking. Local results are based mainly on three things:
- Relevance: how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: how far each business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known a business is.
You cannot change where a searcher is standing, so the work below is about relevance and prominence. Google is also clear that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
1. Claim, verify and complete your Google Business Profile
Your Business Profile is the listing that appears in Maps and in the local results. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search, so treat every field as worth filling in.
Verify it
Verification proves you are authorized to manage the business. Google decides which methods you are offered, such as a phone call, text, email, video or postcard. Until you verify, you cannot reply to reviews, and performance data is not available.
Name, address and service area
Use your real-world business name, exactly as it appears on your storefront, signage and paperwork. Google's guidelines for representing your business say that adding unnecessary information to the name is not permitted and can get a profile suspended. "Smith Plumbing" is fine. "Smith Plumbing Ann Arbor Emergency 24/7" is not.
If customers come to you, use your precise street address. If you travel to customers and do not receive them at your address, remove the address and set service areas instead. Google allows up to 20, and says the overall area should not extend more than about two hours' drive from where you are based. A mobile dog groomer based in Ann Arbor might list Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Saline, Dexter and Chelsea.
Categories
Your primary category should describe your business as a whole, because it tells both Google and customers what you are. Choose the most specific option that is accurate. Add a few secondary categories only for genuine departments or services, not one for every product you sell.
Services, hours and description
- Services: for service businesses, Google offers a services list where you can pick suggested services, add custom ones, and include a description and price.
- Hours: keep regular hours accurate, and set special hours for holidays and temporary changes so nobody turns up to a locked door.
- Description: you have up to 750 characters, with no URLs or HTML. Say plainly what you do, who for and where.
Photos
Google's photo tips suggest at least three photos each of your exterior, interior, products, services in action and team, as relevant. They should be in focus, well lit, and free of heavy filters or AI alterations. On a busy stretch like State Street or Main Street, an exterior shot from the sidewalk helps first-time visitors find your entrance.
Posts and messaging
Posts let you share updates, offers and events on Search and Maps. Google archives posts older than six months unless you set a date range, so an occasional post keeps the profile looking current.
Interactive features change over time. Google turned off Business Profile chat on July 31, 2024, and now lets eligible businesses add a WhatsApp or text messaging option, which it says is available only in select regions. Check what your own profile offers rather than following an older guide.
2. Make your name, address and phone number consistent
Your name, address and phone number (often shortened to NAP) appear in many places beyond Google: your website, social profiles, Bing Places for Business, Apple Maps, industry directories and local listings. Google asks businesses to represent themselves as they are consistently known in the real world, and customers get confused when the details disagree.
- Write down one master version of your name, address (including any suite number), phone number and website.
- Search for your business name and old phone numbers to find existing listings.
- Claim the important ones and correct any that show an old address or number.
- Use the same details in your website footer and on your contact page.
Consistency matters more than volume. A few accurate listings on sites your customers use beat dozens of half-finished ones.
3. Earn reviews the right way
Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help a business's local ranking. Reviews also do much of the selling for you.
How to ask
Google's tips for getting reviews recommend reminding customers, and you can create a review link or QR code from your profile to put on receipts, thank-you emails or a sign by the register. Ask soon after the job is finished or the purchase is made, while the experience is fresh. Ask every customer, not only the ones you expect to be happy.
What not to do
Google's content policy for Maps prohibits businesses from offering incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods and services, in exchange for posting any review. It also prohibits discouraging negative reviews, selectively asking only happy customers, and reviews written with a conflict of interest, such as by employees.
Two sets of rules. The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews and incentives that require a particular sentiment. Google's policy goes further and bans incentives for any review on its platform. Follow the stricter one: no discounts, no prize draws, no review gating.
How to respond
Replies are public and appear under the review, and the reviewer is notified. Keep replies short, polite and specific rather than pasting the same thank-you everywhere. For a negative review, respond promptly, apologize where warranted, and never share private details about the customer.
4. Build useful service and location pages
Your profile links to your website, and that is where many customers decide whether to get in touch. Give each main service its own page that explains what is included, who it is for, how pricing works and how to get started.
If you serve several areas, a page for an area can help, but only when it says something genuinely useful about your work there. A contractor working across the Old West Side, Burns Park and Ypsilanti could show real projects from each area and explain how they schedule visits. Copying one page and swapping the town name is a different matter: Google's spam policies name "pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page" as an example of doorway abuse.
If customers visit you, give your contact page the full address, phone number, hours, directions and a note on parking.
5. Add LocalBusiness structured data
Structured data is a small block of code that describes your business in a machine-readable format. Google's LocalBusiness documentation lists name and address as required, and recommends properties such as telephone, url, openingHoursSpecification, geo and priceRange. It also recommends using the most specific LocalBusiness subtype that fits, such as Restaurant or Dentist.
Make sure the details match your Business Profile exactly, then validate the code with Google's Rich Results Test. Keep expectations realistic: Google says it does not guarantee that features using structured data will appear in results. Treat it as a way to describe your business precisely, not as a ranking switch.
6. Earn local links and mentions
Google says prominence is partly based on how many websites link to your business. For a local business, the best links usually come from real relationships:
- Membership listings with your local chamber of commerce, business district association or trade body.
- Suppliers, manufacturers or partners who list where to buy or who to hire.
- Local teams, charities and community events you sponsor or support.
- Local news and neighborhood publications covering something newsworthy you have done.
A sponsorship is worth doing for the goodwill and exposure, but if the link exists because you paid for it, Google expects it to be marked as sponsored or nofollow. Buying links for ranking purposes breaks Google's link spam policy. Choose sponsorships because the audience is right, not for the link.
7. Track calls, direction requests and website visits
Verified profiles get performance data: views, the search terms people used, calls, direction requests, website clicks and bookings. Note what each one measures. Calls, for example, counts taps on the call button, not answered calls.
- Tag your website link. Add UTM parameters to the website address in your profile, for example
?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=business-profile, so you can tell profile visits apart from other Google traffic in your analytics. - Ask new customers. "How did you hear about us?" on forms and at the counter fills gaps that no dashboard can.
- Review monthly. Look at the trend in calls, direction requests and inquiries, not single days.
Want help with local search?
Most of this list is about care and consistency rather than technical skill. If you would rather hand it over, or you have done the basics and want to know what comes next, our search engine optimization work covers local SEO from the profile to the website. Get in touch and tell us where you are starting from.
