When someone searches for “decorator near me”, the results they see first are often a map and a short list of businesses. Getting on that list has less to do with your website than most people think, and more to do with a free Google listing many small businesses never finish setting up.
The short version
- A Business Profile lets customers find you on Search and Maps, and lets you control your information.1
- Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence.2
- You can improve relevance and prominence, but you cannot change how far you are from the person searching.2
- Your business name must be your real-world name, and virtual offices are not eligible.3
How Google decides
Google’s help page explains three factors:2
| Factor | What it means | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well your profile matches what someone searched for | Give complete, detailed business information |
| Distance | How far you are from the person searching | Very little, apart from setting your service area accurately |
| Prominence | How well known your business is | Earn links and genuine reviews |
Google’s help page also says prominence is based partly on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.2
Distance deserves an honest word. No SEO provider can move your business closer to every customer. Anyone promising you the top spot across a whole city, whatever the distance, is promising something Google’s own explanation says they cannot control.
Setting it up properly
Start by adding or claiming your profile. Once you have verified it, you can control how your information appears on Google, though only eligible businesses can do this.1 These are the parts that matter most.
Your name
Your name should be your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery and as known to customers.3 Adding keywords or locations to your name, such as “Best Cheap Decorators London”, can get your profile into trouble. Put those details in the sections meant for them.3
Your address or service area
If you serve customers at their location, Google treats you as a service-area business. You should have one profile for your central office or location, with a designated service area.3
Google also says that a location you rent as a mailing address, but do not operate from, known as a virtual office, is not eligible. Service-area businesses cannot list a virtual office unless it is staffed during business hours.3
If you work from home, this is worth planning carefully, so check Google’s guidelines before you decide what to display.
Your details
Add your hours, category and services, and keep them accurate. Google’s guidance on relevance is simple: provide complete and detailed business info.2 Our suggestion is to make your name, contact details and hours the same everywhere they appear, including on your website.
Reviews
Google lists responding to reviews among its tips, saying that when you reply, it shows you value customers’ feedback.2 Our advice is to ask every customer after a finished job, not just the happy ones, and to reply to all reviews, including the bad ones.
There are two firm lines not to cross:
- Google says a review should reflect an actual experience with the business, and it works to remove fake or biased content and rating manipulation.4
- UK consumer law now also deals specifically with fake reviews, and the Competition and Markets Authority has published guidance on it.5
Never buy reviews, never write your own, and take care with any incentive for leaving one.
Do not build pages for every town
Once your profile is working, you may be tempted to create pages for every nearby town with only the place name changed. Google’s spam policies specifically describe doorway abuse, where pages are created to rank for specific, similar search queries.6 A few useful pages based on real work in the area are worth more than dozens of copies.
What to do next
Our suggested order is:
- Add or claim your profile and verify it.
- Fill in every section accurately.
- Add real photos of your work.
- Ask your last 10 customers for an honest review.
- Make sure your website matches, and links to it.
- Reply to every enquiry quickly. Being found is only useful if you answer, as we explain in how fast to reply to a lead.
Your profile and your website work together. See what Google needs from a small business website, or look at how we build websites that bring in enquiries. Once enquiries start arriving, our lead generation software can keep them all in one list.
Sources
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Google, Add or claim your Business Profile, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2
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Google, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6
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Google, Guidelines for representing your business on Google, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Google, Prohibited and restricted content: Maps user generated content policy, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩
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Competition and Markets Authority, Fake reviews guidance, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩
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Google, Spam policies for Google web search, accessed 7 November 2026. ↩
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