Local shops
Where the neighbourhood actually looks for you.
Hours, photos and directions. For a shop, the Google profile matters more than the website, and it is nearly always neglected.
The shop’s Google profile is created, verified and maintained with the right category, the real opening hours including bank holidays, photos of the premises and the products, and the reviews attended to.
Last reviewed:
The first question is always the opening hours
Nobody looks your shop up to read your history: they look up whether you are open now, where you are and whether you have what they need. All three are answered on the profile, and the first is the one that causes the most upset when it is wrong. Somebody arriving at half past five because the profile said you opened at five, and finding it shut, does not try again.
Bank holidays and campaigns
Everybody fills in the ordinary hours. Local bank holidays, Sunday opening during a campaign, the August hours and sale days are the ones nobody maintains, and they are exactly the days with the most trade. Special hours get scheduled in advance, and that is part of the maintenance.
Photos of the window, not catalogue shots
In retail a photo does one very specific job: making you recognisable as people pass. The front, the window and the interior are worth more than a stock photo of a product. And it is worth refreshing them by season, which the profile also appreciates.
Category and products
«Shop» says nothing. «Stationers», «children’s clothing shop» or «hardware shop» do. The primary category decides which searches you appear in, and Google’s guidelines also require the name to be the real one, with no keywords tacked on the end.
The same thing, explained in general: Google profile
What we do about it
Part of the maintenance: you never have to ask, and it is never billed apart.
- Creating or claiming the profile If somebody else made it, or Google generated it, we recover it.
- A well chosen category The one that describes your shop, plus the secondary ones that help.
- Hours, holidays and campaigns Scheduled before they arrive.
- Seasonal photos of the shop Front, window and interior, refreshed when the stock changes.
- Details matching the website Same name, same address and same phone.
- Reviews attended to Alerts on new ones and help with replying.
And this you change with one sentence
You write what you want changed and we publish it.
We are opening on campaign Sunday
Set as special hours on the profile and announced on the site.
Upload the photos of the Christmas window
Published on the profile and on the home page.
We are changing to summer hours
Changed on the profile, on the site and in the footer.
Frequently asked questions
I have a profile but do not know who controls it
It happens constantly. Ownership can be claimed, and it is the first thing we check.
Can I put products on the profile?
Yes, and it helps. What matters is that whatever you show there is also in your window and at the same price.
What if I have two shops?
One profile per premises, with its own address. You do not duplicate profiles for the same place.
Does the profile steal visits from my site?
It steals visits and brings customers to the door, which is what you want. The website still does what the profile cannot.
Where all this comes from
Every figure and every rule quoted above, linked to the official text.
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google Google Business Profile
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google Google Business Profile
The rest of what a website for local shops includes
A window for your products
What you sell, with photos and by category. Without running an online shop you then cannot staff.
WhatsApp to reserve
"Have you got it in a 40?" answered on the spot, and the item put aside.
Hours and campaigns
Bank holidays, sales and summer hours, changed with a sentence and never left stale.
Reviews worked on
We ask the happy customer for the review and warn you about bad ones in time to reply.
Neighbourhood SEO
So it is you who comes up when someone searches for what you sell near your street.
Your own domain and email
Your name on the internet, registered to you, and an address that is not a free account.
Legal and backups
Legal notice, privacy and cookies reviewed, and a daily copy of your whole site.
Are your profile hours right this week?
Look at it on a phone, the way a customer does. It is the cheapest fix with the fastest effect.
Write to us