How to Get Clients from Google Maps: The Basics

And honestly, I get it. Things are tight. Most hustlers can’t afford a website, SEO services, or Google Ads.

But here’s the hard truth: your business still needs to be online.

The cost of not being visible today is simply too high. Because when people want to buy something, they almost always search online first.

If you’re not there, you’re invisible.

So what do you do when you can’t afford ads, a website, or a big SEO budget?

You use one of the most underrated tools for online visibility: Google Business Profile.

In this article, I’ll show you practical strategies you can start using today, without spending a single shilling, to get your business found on Google Maps when people search for the products or services you offer.

Ready? Twende kazi.

👉 Download the MESH App on Google Playstore. Ni 2MB

Acha tuanze na basics. And instead of giving you a random definition anyone can find online, wacha nikuonyeshe what a Google Business Profile looks like in action.

I’ll open Google then nisearch any product seller ama service.

For this example, acha tu-assume nadai kubuy perfume. So I’m going to search “perfume shops near me”.

Here are my results:

As you can see, Google imenipea a full page of results, but pale juu (the circled part) kuna businesses zina-appear kwanza.

Those listings are Google Business Profiles. Each represents a business selling what I searched for (perfumes).

Since Google inaona location yangu, imenipea options ziko karibu na mimi.

In simple terms, Google Business Profiles ukuletea customers who are ready to buy.

And if you know anything about marketing, you know that’s exactly when you want to meet your customers, not when they’re just browsing.

How does a Google Business Profile do that?

Let’s go back to my example.

If I wanted to buy a perfume, I’d likely buy from one of those top 3 ranking businesses ju ziko karibu na mimi, na zinauza what I’m looking for. To those businesses i’m not just browsing; I’m a customer who’s ready to buy.

That’s the value of having a Google Business Profile.

In simple terms, it’s your digital shopfront on Google. When someone searches for what you offer, this is the first thing they see, and it helps them decide which business to call or visit.

If I were to decide who to buy my perfume from, I’d click on each profile and do some digging. Usually, each profile shows the:

● Business name

● Location on the map

● Phone number

● Opening hours

● Photos of your shop or team

● Reviews from customers

Using these deets, naeza decide who to buy from depending on what’s most important to my buying decision.

If I want to buy from who’s closest to me, nitaangalia location kwa the map. If it’s opening hours ama reviews, I’ll look at those; you get the point.

Nataka tufanye a quick reality check ya kukushow what you’re missing out.

Fungua Google then u-search “(your product) sellers near me”. If you offer services, search “(name of your service) services near me.”

Unacheki izo biz zinatokea apo juu? They are your competition.

Na ka biz yako hai-show up kwa izo resutts, uko invisible to people actively looking for your products or services.

And guess what? Target customers wako wana-call your competitors whenever they wanna buy whatever you’re selling.

Every day you’re not optimizing your profile, you’re losing potential clients, which brings us to the next important bit: optimizing your business profile.

You get to the top of Google Search Results by understanding how Google ranks businesses on maps.

The good thing is, Google has always been generous with that info. Local rankings are based on three core factors:

1. Relevance: This simply means how aligned your business is with what the customer is looking for. In other words, kama customer ana-search “best perfumes store near me”, Google itamshow biz zinauza perfumes, and not something like hardware stores.

2. Proximity: This refers to how close you are to the searcher. This means msee ako kasarani aki-search for perfume stores, biz iko io area ita-rank higher than say, biz iko westlands. That’s because Google utaka kushow customers biz ziko closest to them.

3. Prominence: Google inadai kushow biz legit. So the more trusted and well-known your business appears online, the higher chances zako za ku-rank higher. Apa ndio vitu kama reviews na ratings u-come into play.

So ukitaka ku-rank, you must optimize your Google Business Profile to improve relevance, proximity, and prominence.

Everything you do on your profile should strengthen at least one of these factors.

For now, we’re going to make sure you’ve covered the basics:

Before ufkirie about any fancy tactics, let’s make sure umefanya the basics. And by that, I mean have a complete profile with:

● Correct business name (don’t try to force any keywords; just your name)

● Accurate address and pin location

● A working phone number

● Correct opening hours

● A business description (explain what you sell, to whom, where, and any other relevant info. Chat GPT can help with this.

● Website link (if you have one)

Hapa unafaa kua careful ju ukitumia wrong details zitakumess.

If possible, tumia the same details unatumia kwa your business page on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.

Your main business category is a big deal — it tells Google exactly what you do.

I’ve literally seen businesses jump up several spots on Google Maps just by changing this one thing to a more accurate category.

A lot of Kenyan businesses make the mistake of picking a category that’s too broad, thinking they’re “casting the net wide.”

But that actually works against you. Google’s goal is to show people exactly what they searched for — not something that’s just loosely related.

So, the more specific and accurate you are, the better your chances of showing up for the right customers.

Primary category ukua critical. It tells Google exactly what you do. I’ve literally seen businesses jump up several spots on Google Maps just by changing this one thing to a more accurate category.

Now here’s a mistake I don’t want to see you make: trying to choose a category that’s too broad, thinking ati you’re “casting your net wide.” In reality, that works against you.

Why? Because time Google ina decide which business to show first (i.e, rank higher), main goal ukua ku-show watu exactly what they’re searching for, not something that’s just loosely related.

For instance, ka unauza perfumes pekee, “Cosmetics store” would be too broad as a primary category. “Perfume store” would be a more appropriate category.

Ka unauza other cosmetic products but perfumes ndio main hustle, you can add “Beauty supply store” or something similar as your secondary category.

This is another area where many businesses mess up.

Your primary category is your core hustle. It tells Google: “This is what my business is, above everything else.”

Your secondary categories are for additional services you genuinely offer—not everything you could possibly do.

Primary ukua moja. Secondary unaeza eka 9, and this is one of the reasons biz owners make this all too common mistake: adding vaguely related secondary categories just to fill up those slots or target a wider range of search queries.

All this does is confuse Google about what you actually do, which causes your Google Business Profile to rank poorly.

Other common mistakes to avoid include:

● Being too general: Choosing “store” instead of “Pet food supply store” makes you miss high-intent searches.

● Mismatch with your website: Ka uko na website, your categories and website should tell the same story. If they don’t, your rankings suffer.

Here’s a simple rule to follow:

Before adding any secondary category, jiulize hivi:

“If someone searched for this category specifically, would they be happy landing on my business?”

If you had “Cosmetics store” as a category and someone landed on your Google Business profile expecting makeup or other beauty products, would they be happy? Of course not. They’d be disappointed, because you only sell perfumes.

So always ask yourself that question. If yes, add it. If not, skip it.

And if you get stuck, just describe your biz to ChatGPT and ask it to suggest relevant primary and secondary categories.

Itakupea very good options, especially ukianza prompt yako na kitu ka “You are an experienced local SEO specialist tasked with optimizing a Google Business Profile for (name of your business), a business that (continue explaining what your hustle sells, location, etc).”

What we’ve covered in this article are the basics, but don’t underestimate them.

Getting your profile details right and choosing the correct categories already puts you ahead of most small businesses in Kenya.

That said, this is only the beginning.

There are deeper optimizations that influence rankings, calls, and walk-ins, and we haven’t touched those yet.

For instance, we haven’t talked about what photos to use, how to get and use reviews to rank higher, posting, and a lot more.

In the next edition of this series, we’ll go beyond the basics and cover the factors that actually push businesses higher on Google Maps.

For now, take action. Fix your profile, clean up your categories, and stay tuned for part 2.

Or, if you don’t feel like figuring all this out yourself… I know a guy 😉