How to Show Up on Google: A Contractor's Guide to Local Search Visibility

When someone in your area searches for "HVAC repair near me" or "best roofing contractor," does your business show up? If not, you're missing out on customers who are actively looking for your services.

Here's how to start appearing in local search results.

Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile

This is step one. Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is what appears in the map pack—those three local business results that show up before the regular search results.

What to do:

• Claim your profile at business.google.com if you haven't already
• Fill out every field completely: business name, address, phone, hours, service area
• Add high-quality photos of your work, team, and vehicles
• Choose the right categories for your services
• Write a clear business description with your main services and service areas

Make Sure Your Website Mentions Your Service Areas

Google needs to understand where you work. If your website never mentions your city, neighborhoods, or service areas, Google has less information to work with.

What to do:

• Create a service areas page or section listing the cities and neighborhoods you serve
• Mention your location naturally throughout your content
• Include your city in page titles and meta descriptions where it makes sense

Get Your NAP Consistent Everywhere

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Google cross-references your information across the internet. If your business name, address, or phone number is different on your website, Google profile, Yelp, and other directories, it creates confusion.

What to do:

• Audit your listings on major directories (Yelp, Facebook, Angi, HomeAdvisor, etc.)
• Make sure your business name, address, and phone number match exactly everywhere
• Use the same format consistently (don't use "Street" in one place and "St." in another)

Build Your Review Count

Reviews matter for local search rankings. Businesses with more positive reviews tend to rank higher in the map pack.

What to do:

• Ask satisfied customers for reviews after completing jobs
• Make it easy by sending a direct link to your Google review page
• Respond to reviews (both positive and negative) professionally
• Don't buy fake reviews—Google can detect patterns and penalize you

Make Sure Your Website Loads Fast

Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Slow websites rank lower and provide a poor user experience.

What to do:

• Test your site speed with Google PageSpeed Insights
• Optimize images so they're not too large
• Reduce the number of plugins and third-party scripts
• Consider better hosting if your current setup is slow

Ensure Your Website Works Well on Mobile

Most local searches happen on mobile devices. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in search results.

What to do:

• Test your site on your phone—is it easy to navigate?
• Make sure text is readable without zooming
• Ensure buttons and links are easy to tap
• Check that your phone number is clickable

Create Content That Answers Questions

Blog posts and service pages that answer questions people actually search for can help you rank for more keywords.

What to do:

• Think about what customers ask you most often
• Create pages or posts that answer those questions
• Write naturally, focusing on being helpful rather than stuffing keywords

The Long Game

SEO isn't instant. It takes time to build authority and improve rankings. But the contractors who invest in these fundamentals consistently see their visibility improve over months.

Start with your Google Business Profile—it's often the fastest path to showing up in local searches. Then work through the other items systematically.

The goal isn't to game the algorithm. It's to make it easy for Google to understand what you do, where you work, and why customers should trust you.