Blog
What we learn measuring local listings, written plainly. No growth hacks, and no statistics we have not measured ourselves.
- 2 November 2026 · 4 min
Wrong opening hours on Google cost you calls you never hear about
Google shows “Closed” to a customer standing outside your open shop, and they walk to the next one. Bank holidays, seasonal hours, an edit you did not make: here is how it goes wrong and the five-minute fix.
Read → - 26 October 2026 · 5 min
Why Google Maps shows only three businesses, and what decides which three
The map pack is the three names Google shows before anything else. Most customers never scroll past it. Here is how it is built, and why you can be first on one street and missing on the next.
Read → - 19 October 2026 · 4 min
Photos on your Google listing: how many, of what, and how often
A listing with three photos from opening day looks closed. Here is what to upload, how many the businesses above you have, and the one rule that matters more than the count.
Read → - 12 October 2026 · 5 min
How to respond to a negative Google review (and why you must)
A one-star review with no reply sits there for years, telling every future customer that nobody is home. Here is what to write, what never to write, and how long you have.
Read → - 5 October 2026 · 5 min
How to get more Google reviews without begging or buying them
The business above you is probably not better. It probably asks. A link, a card on the counter, one sentence at the right moment, and you get more reviews this month than last year.
Read → - 28 September 2026 · 4 min
The one field on your Google listing that decides who finds you
Your primary category tells Google which searches you belong in. Pick the wrong one and you are invisible for the words your customers actually type. It takes two minutes to check.
Read → - 21 September 2026 · 6 min
How to rank higher on Google Maps, in the order that actually matters
Google weighs three things: how close you are, how well your listing matches the search, and how much it trusts you. You control two of them. Here is what to fix first, and what to leave alone.
Read → - 4 September 2026 · 4 min
Your rank changed today. You didn’t do anything.
One real listing lost 20 points in 18 hours. Nothing changed in the shop. Here is what actually moves your position on Google Maps, and why you are the last to know.
Read → - 4 September 2026 · 5 min
One check tells you nothing. The point is the line.
If the number moves every day, a single measurement is a coin flip. What decisions actually need is the shape over time, and that is the one thing you cannot get later.
Read → - 4 September 2026 · 5 min
You’re not in the top three. What to fix first.
The order matters more than the list. Five things, in the sequence that actually moves the number, starting with the one nobody checks.
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