Most IT companies skip the map. They figure the map is for pizza places and plumbers, and they sell to businesses. Then an office manager types “IT support near me” on her phone, Google shows three companies on a map, and she calls one of them. If you are not on that map, that call was never yours.
That map box is run by one thing: your Google Business Profile, the free listing that shows on Google Maps. Not your website. Your listing. Here is how to finish it.
1. Use a real address, even if clients never visit
Google wants to know where you are. If you have an office, use it. If you work from home, you can use that address and hide it from the public. You still show up on the map for your area. What you cannot do is use a virtual office or a P.O. box. Google removes those, and losing your listing is worse than never having one.
2. Pick the categories that match the searches
Your primary category should be Computer support and services or IT support and services, whichever fits the searches you want most. Add Computer security service and Computer consultant if you really do that work. Do not add “software company” or “electronics store” to look bigger. It tells Google you are not a specialist, and specialists win the map.
3. Fill in the service areas
This is the field IT companies get wrong most. You can list the towns and counties you serve, and Google uses them. If you roll a truck to Brandon, Clearwater and Lakeland, say so. The listing then has a chance to show for searches in each of those places, not just the one where your desk sits.
4. List services the way owners say them
The services section should use the words a business owner would type, not your sales deck. “IT support,” “managed IT services,” “cybersecurity,” “Microsoft 365 setup,” “data backup,” “network setup,” “VoIP phones.” One line of description for each. The keywords guide explains which of these are the money searches.
5. Photos, even though you do not have a storefront
Google rewards listings with real photos, and an IT company has more to show than it thinks. Your team at a client's office. A clean server rack you built. Your van, if you have one. Your actual office. A screenshot of your help desk with the client name blurred. One or two a month, with a short caption. Stock photos of people in headsets do nothing.
6. Reviews from business clients
Reviews are the biggest single factor in the map box, and IT companies have fewer than they should, because nobody asks at the right moment. There is a whole guide to getting reviews from business clients. Reply to every one. Google watches that too.
7. Post once a week
The listing has a posts feature almost nobody uses. A photo and two sentences: a security tip, a client onboarding you finished, a reminder about a software update. It keeps the listing alive in Google's eyes and shows an owner that someone is home.
8. Match everything to your website
Your company name, address and phone number must be identical on the listing, your website and every directory that mentions you. An old suite number or a second phone number splits your trust in two. Boring, and it matters.
9. Answer the questions before they are asked
Your listing has a questions-and-answers section that anyone can post in. If nobody has, post the questions yourself and answer them. “Do you support Macs?” “Do you work with offices under ten people?” “Do you answer after hours?” An owner scanning three listings on a phone picks the one that already answered what she was about to ask.
How to check your progress
Once a week, search “IT support” plus your city on your phone from a couple of different places. See who is in the three pins. If it is not you, go through the nine steps above and find what is missing. Usually it is reviews or service areas.
Want this done for you?
The Google listing is the first thing I fix for any IT company, because it is the fastest way to more calls. If you want me to look at yours, the audit is free.