An owner may already have a Maps profile but be unsure what belongs on a website. Or they may be planning a website and assume every company can have a profile. First check the business model, then agree content and who will keep it current.
This is a website planning guide, not a way around Google’s verification. General search readiness and contact page content are covered separately. Having both platforms does not guarantee rankings or orders.
Check whether the business is eligible
Google’s eligibility rules generally require in-person customer contact; online-only businesses are not eligible. Check the current guidance for exceptions and specific categories.
Describe how you work: receive customers at a location, visit them or work only remotely. A website may be useful in any of these cases, but does not itself make the business eligible for a profile. Do not invent an address to obtain a desired Maps presence.
Give the profile and website different jobs
Use the profile to represent the business accurately in Google’s services. Use your website’s own structure to explain who a service suits, what is included, limitations and how to agree an order. Do not repeat the profile’s short description in every section.
| Customer question | Profile’s role | What the website explains |
|---|---|---|
| What business is this? | Basic business information | Offer, people and real examples |
| Do they serve my area? | Accurate location or service area | Visit conditions and how to check availability |
| What does the service include? | A short introduction | Scope, exclusions, preparation and assessment |
| How do I enquire? | Working contact links | Details needed and the team’s next action |
Align the name, service area and contacts
Under Google’s representation guidelines the name should reflect the real business. A service-area business without customer visits hides its profile address; a virtual office is not an eligible substitute.
On the website, distinguish the area served from a visiting location. Explain appointments, where visitors may come and how to check a visit to their premises. Consistency does not require identical copy: the website can explain more, provided it does not contradict the profile.
- One checked name and working contact details.
- Hours labelled for the relevant channel or location.
- Actual service area and meeting arrangements.
- An owner for changes on both platforms.
Prepare useful service pages
Start with services the business actually provides and can describe. For each, record the outcome, scope, geography and questions people ask before ordering. One well-explained page gives a developer more to work with than a list of names without supporting material.
The service page structure guide helps develop one offer. If examples are needed, use your own materials with accurate captions. An educational diagram is not evidence of a completed client job.
Avoid duplicating pages for city names
A separate city page should explain a real difference: travel arrangements, available work, a visiting location or relevant examples. If only the city name changes, first describe the service area on a shared page. This is an editorial way to decide whether a new URL has a purpose.
Google describes doorway abuse as pages targeting similar queries and leading to the same destination. Do not build networks of nearly identical pages for search visits.
Follow the profile-to-enquiry journey
Open the published website link and check whether it represents the intended business, explains the offer and leads to contact. For several real branches, agree which page represents each one. Do not alter someone else’s profile or create a new one as an educational test.
On a phone, check the contact link and page language. Agree any actual test enquiry with the recipient. Tapping a number or opening a form does not prove receipt.
Testing scenarios are in the mobile journey guide; after launch, use the first-month plan.
What to agree before development
- How the business operates and checking profile eligibility.
- An existing profile, its owner and authorised access without sharing passwords.
- Services, area, materials and the pages needed.
- Contacts, reply arrangements and an owner for updates.
- Initial observations and a way to check actual enquiries.
Google’s local ranking guidance names relevance, distance and prominence; better local ranking cannot be purchased. Assess website development against agreed content and working behaviour, rather than a promised Maps position.
Discuss a business website structure · Send a task description
Frequently asked questions
Does a profile replace a website?
It may answer some short questions. If detailed services, conditions and examples are needed, agree these tasks for a website. Do not add pages without a distinct purpose.
Does an online-only business need a website?
Decide from customers’ tasks. Ineligibility for a profile does not prevent having a website or automatically make one necessary.
Do I need a page for every city?
A city name alone is insufficient. First collect actual differences and useful local information.
Does a new website guarantee a local search position?
No. Publication, indexing, rankings and enquiries are separate outcomes to verify independently.