Red Isle WebIn another post I wrote about what SEO and AEO actually are, and why being a great business isn't enough if nobody can find you. This one is the practical follow-up. Say you're sold on the idea and you just want to know: what do I actually do so that when someone in my town pulls out their phone and searches, my name comes up? A short list of things gets you there, and they work together.
Think about how this actually happens. Someone in Stratford wakes up to a leak under the sink. They don't have a plumber's number saved. They grab their phone and type "plumber near me" or "plumber Charlottetown." Whatever comes up in the next few seconds is who gets the call. Nearly half of all Google searches are people looking for something local like this, and "near me" searches have exploded over the last few years. Better still, these are ready-to-buy people: about three quarters of folks who run a "near me" search visit a business within a day. Your job is to be one of the names they see. Here's how, in the order I'd tackle it.
1. Claim and fill out your Google Business Profile
This is the free one, and it's the single most important thing on the list. Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up in the little map with the pins, off to the side or up top, when someone searches for what you do. It's what puts you on the map, literally. If you've never claimed yours, go to google.com/business and set it up. It's free, and it takes an afternoon.
Then actually fill the thing out. Not just your name and a phone number. Your exact category (plumber, café, physiotherapist), your address or service area, your real hours, a short description, and photos. Lots of profiles sit half-empty, and a half-empty profile gets passed over. A complete one gets found.
And a huge share of the business a profile brings in never touches your website at all. Roughly two in five of the actions people take from a Google Business Profile, the calls, the tap for directions, are done right from that listing. They see your pin, your reviews, your hours, and they call. That's why this comes first. Even before we talk about your website, a good profile is already sending you customers.
2. Put a real website behind it
So if the listing already brings in calls, why bother with a website? Because the two do different jobs, and they do them for different people at different moments.
The listing is the quick decision, the person who just wants a number and a good star rating. The website is for everyone who wants to look a little closer before they trust you with their kitchen, their body, or their afternoon. They tap through to see your work, read what you actually offer, get a feel for whether you're the right fit. A listing with nothing behind it is a dead end for that person. A listing that leads to a clean, real website turns them into a booking.
And there's a second reason, the one I got into in the other post. Google and the AI answer engines figure out what you do and whether you're legitimate by reading your website. Your profile helps you show up on the map; your site is a big part of what decides where you land and whether an AI ever names you when someone asks it for a good café in Summerside. The listing and the site aren't competing. They're a pair. The profile gets you seen, the website closes the deal and tells Google you're the real thing.
3. Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere
Google is trying to be confident it's pointing people at a real, findable business. One of the ways it checks is by seeing the same details in the same form all over the place: on your Google Business Profile, on your website, on your Facebook page, in the old directory listing you forgot about.
When those don't match, an abbreviated street on one, an old phone number on another, "Cornwall PE" here and "Cornwall, P.E.I." there, it quietly chips away at how sure Google is about you. And unsure means lower down. So pick one exact way of writing your business name, address, and phone number, and make every place you appear online say it the same way. It's an hour of tidying that pays off for years.
4. Get reviews, and reply to them
Reviews do two jobs at once, which is why they're worth the small effort. They're one of the real ingredients Google weighs when it decides who to show near the top for a local search. And they're the thing a human actually reads before deciding to call. Five solid reviews on a plumber in Cornwall will beat a stranger with none, every time.
The good news is getting them is simple: just ask. A happy customer will almost always leave a review if you send them the link and ask nicely right after the job. And reply to the ones you get, the good and the occasional bad. A short, gracious reply shows Google the profile is active and shows the next customer reading along that there's a real person who cares behind the name. You don't need a hundred reviews. A steady trickle of honest ones, answered, does the work.
How it all fits together
These four work as a set. The profile puts you on the map and pulls in the quick calls. The website behind it earns the trust of the people who look closer, and tells Google and the AI engines you're a legitimate business worth recommending. Consistent details make Google sure enough about you to rank you. Reviews push you up and win the human over at the last second. Do the four together and you go from invisible to the name that comes up when someone in Charlottetown, Stratford, or Summerside needs exactly what you do.
If that sounds like more than you want to sort out on your own, that's a lot of what I do. I build the website, and I set up the Google Business Profile and get the details lined up so the whole thing points the same direction. Have a look at some of my work, or send me a note. I'm always happy to take a look at what you've got and tell you honestly what's worth doing first.