How does my business get found on Google in Kenya?
Updated
For a business with a shop or a service area, the free Google Business Profile matters more than anything on the website: it is what puts you on the map and in the three businesses Google shows first. The website then has to answer the question the customer searched, in words they would use, with prices where you can publish them.
1. Claim the Google Business Profile
It is free, at business.google.com. Google verifies that the business is really where it says — by phone, video or post — and only then shows it on Maps. Choose the primary category your best customer would search for, add the others as secondary categories, and set the hours you actually keep.
If you serve customers at their premises rather than at yours, set a service area and say which counties you cover. Do not invent a shopfront: a profile at an address with no business behind it is the quickest way to have it suspended.
2. Say your name, address and phone the same way everywhere
Google cross-checks the profile against your website, your social pages and business directories. “Ruiru”, “Ruiru, Kiambu” and “Nairobi” read to it as three different claims. Pick one exact form and use it everywhere it appears.
3. Make every page answer one question
A page called “Services” listing twelve things ranks for none of them. A page for each thing you sell — with what it is, what it costs, how long it takes and where you do it — ranks for the question someone actually typed.
- Put the price on the page where you can. Most competitors will not, and buyers search for it.
- Write the way customers ask: “laptop screen replacement price”, not “display solutions”.
- Make it fast on a phone over mobile data. Most Kenyan searches happen on one.
4. Ask every customer for a review
Reviews are among the strongest local ranking signals and the first thing a stranger reads. Send the review link by WhatsApp when the job is done, and reply to every review, including the bad ones, in a sentence that shows you read it.
5. Use real photographs
Photographs of your premises, your team and your finished work tell Google and a customer that the business is real. Stock photographs tell both the opposite.
Questions people ask
- Does a Google Business Profile cost money?
- No. Creating, verifying and running a profile is free. Google Ads is a separate, paid product and is not needed to appear on Maps.
- How long does it take to show up on Google?
- A verified profile usually appears on Maps within days. Website pages are typically indexed within days to weeks once Google has been told about them through Search Console; ranking well for competitive searches takes months.
- Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
- The profile gets you onto the map. A website is what answers the detailed questions — prices, specifications, how to order — and it is what ranks for searches that are not about a place.
