Getting your business on Google is relatively easy. Getting your business discovered is the harder part.
1. Create a Google Business Profile
This is free and takes about 20 minutes. Fill in every field properly:
- Business name (exactly as customers know it)
- Category — pick the most specific one that fits
- Address or service area
- Phone number
- Website link
- Opening hours
- Real photos of your products, space, or work
- A clear description of what you do
This one step is often the single biggest difference between showing up when someone searches your business type in your city, and not existing in that search at all.
2. Build a website Google can understand
A Google Business Profile isn't your entire online presence. A website gives Google far more information about what you do, where you operate, what services or products you offer, and how credible your business actually is. Google trusts businesses with a real website more than ones that only have a listing.
Need one built properly? See how I approach it as a web developer in Ibadan.
3. Make your website locally relevant
Google pays attention to location signals — not by stuffing a city name everywhere, but by using it naturally where it belongs:
- Mention your location and service area clearly
- Have dedicated service pages if you offer more than one thing
- Use natural local language, not keyword-stuffed phrases
- Keep contact information visible and consistent
- Have a real About page
- Show local proof — projects, clients, or work tied to where you operate
Instead of "We build websites," say something like "We build websites for businesses in Ibadan and across Nigeria." Natural, specific, and still exactly what it needs to be for Google.
4. Get genuine reviews
Reviews matter for both trust and local visibility — real customers, real experiences, left naturally over time. Don't buy or fake reviews; Google actively detects patterns like that, and it can cost you the listing entirely.
5. Create useful content
This is the exact strategy behind this article and the others on this blog: if customers repeatedly ask a question, answer it publicly. Questions like:
- How much does a website cost in Nigeria?
- How can I automate WhatsApp orders?
- How do I get my business on Google?
That becomes a simple loop: Question → Search → Article → Business discovery. Every genuine question you answer publicly is a door someone can walk through to find you.
6. Connect everything
None of these pieces work well in isolation. They reinforce each other:
Everything should point back to the same business identity — same name, same details, same story — so Google (and your customers) trust what they're seeing.
Being on Google isn't the same as being visible on Google
A business can technically have a Google listing and still be difficult to discover. Presence means you exist somewhere Google can find — a listing, a page, a profile. Visibility means you actually show up when a real customer runs a real search for what you offer, in your city, right now.
A lot of businesses stop at presence and assume the job is done. It isn't — visibility is the part that actually brings customers in.
Get a free Business Visibility AuditA simple Google visibility checklist
Go through this honestly. How many can you check off?
- Google Business Profile claimed
- Correct business information
- Website connected
- Mobile-friendly website
- Relevant service pages
- Location information
- Genuine customer reviews
- Useful content
- Search Console configured
- Consistent business information across the web
Not sure why your business isn't showing up?
That's a different problem from simply "needing SEO." I help businesses diagnose where they're losing visibility online and determine what needs to be fixed first.
Get a Business Visibility Assessment