When someone in Yerevan searches for "web studio near me" or "cafe near the Cascade", Google shows a map with three businesses before anything else. You do not need a website to appear there. You need a properly filled-in Google Business Profile.
Step 1. Create the profile
Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account that will stay yours long term. Do not use an employee's personal account — this is a common and painful mistake.
Enter the business name exactly as it appears on your sign and on your website. Do not stuff keywords into it. A name like "Creative Web — website development, SEO, Yerevan" breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended.
Step 2. Choose the category
The primary category is the strongest signal. Pick the most specific one, not the broadest. Add two to four secondary categories as well — but not for things you do not actually do.
Step 3. Get verified
Google needs to confirm the business exists. Verification comes by postcard (usually one to two weeks), phone call, email or video. Which options you get depends on your category and country.
Until verification is done the profile will not show on the map. This is the step where people stop and forget.
Step 4. Fill in every field
Complete profiles surface better. The ones that matter most:
- Address. Write it exactly as it appears on your site, word for word. "Vardanants St. 10" and "10 Vardanants Street" are different strings to Google.
- Phone. The same number as on the site.
- Opening hours. Including holidays — wrong hours earn bad reviews.
- Website link. To the home page in your language.
- Services. As a separate list, with descriptions.
Step 5. Add photographs
Profiles without photos barely get clicked. The minimum: a logo, the sign or entrance from outside, three or four interior shots, and a team photo. Real phone photographs work better than stock images.
Step 6. Work with reviews
Reviews are the strongest factor in local search. Two rules:
- Ask for them. Send a direct link when a project finishes. Most people are willing — they simply do not think of it.
- Reply to all of them. Including the negative ones, in a calm tone. The reply is not read by the complainant; it is read by your next client.
Do not buy reviews. Google detects them, and the penalty is losing the profile.
What people forget
A profile is not a one-off task. Publish a post once or twice a month, update your hours before holidays, and check whether anyone has suggested "edits" to your address. Google lets users edit your details, and those changes are sometimes applied automatically.
