When someone types “horse boarding near me” or “farrier Stephenville,” Google often shows a map with a few nearby businesses, then a list of websites. Getting into those results isn’t a trick. It’s mostly doing the basics, doing them all the way, and keeping them current.
This guide is those basics, in order. None of them cost much. And anyone who promises you the top spot is guessing: Google’s own advice is that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google1.
The checklist
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What’s the first step to showing up on Google?
Short answer
Set up your Google Business Profile, or claim it if one already exists for your business. It’s free, and it’s what puts your business on Google Maps and in the map results for searches near you.
Search for your business on Google’s Business Profile page, then claim it or add it. Google says you can add or claim your business at no charge2. It will ask you to verify that the business is really yours.
Then fill in everything: your category, hours, phone, website, a short description and photos. Keep the hours right, including holidays and show weekends.
If you go to your clients, like farriers, equine dentists, bodyworkers and mobile trainers do, Google calls you a service-area business. Google says that if you don’t serve customers at your address, you should remove it from your profile and set the towns or ZIP codes you serve instead3.
How does Google decide which businesses show up?
Short answer
Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and how well known a business is. It also says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
You can’t change distance. You can work on the other two. Relevance comes from a complete profile and a website that says plainly what you do. How well known you are, Google says, is based partly on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have4.
Ads are a separate thing. Paid ads are marked as sponsored, and they stop when you stop paying.
Do I need my own domain name to show up on Google?
Short answer
No, but it’s worth having. A domain on its own won’t move you up in Google. It makes your business easy to find again and easy to say out loud, and it stays yours if you ever change website companies.
Pick something short and easy to spell, close to your business name. If the .com is open, take it. Then use it everywhere: your Google profile, Facebook, directory listings, your trailer and your invoices.
Through WWC, a .com is $10.88 a year, the first year and every year after, with no markup5. See domain prices.
With WWC: Domains are sold at cost and registered in your name. Privacy, a registrar lock and an SSL certificate are included. Already own one? Connecting it is free.
What should my website say so Google knows what I do and where?
Short answer
Name your services in the words people search, and name the towns you serve. “Performance farrier in Stephenville, Texas” tells Google and a horse owner far more than “Welcome to our family.”
Give each main service its own page or section: boarding, lessons, training, trims and shoeing. Use the plain words a horse owner would type, not only your own names for things. Mention your town and the towns around it where it fits, like your route days or “15 minutes north of town.”
Each page also has an SEO title and an SEO description. Google often uses them for the headline and short summary of your page in its results. Write the title like a sign, saying what it is and where, and keep the description to a sentence or two about what’s on the page.
On the design: The Services page on the Gate Crew Farrier Co. design has the SEO title “Services | Gate Crew Farrier Co.” and the description “Routine trims, front shoes, full sets, performance shoeing, and veterinarian-directed hoof care in the Stephenville area.”
With WWC: Open a page’s settings in the editor and click SEO Controls to edit its SEO title and description. WWC also lists your published pages in a sitemap, which helps search engines find each one.
Do photos help me get found on Google?
Short answer
They help people choose you once they find you. Google says photos and videos let you show customers what you offer and tell your business’s story, so add real ones to your Business Profile and your website.
Google’s tips for local ranking suggest adding photos and videos to your profile4. Use your own: the barn from the road, the aisle, stalls, turnout, the arena, your rig, finished feet, horses with their ears up. Stock photos don’t tell anyone what your place looks like.
Add a few new ones each season. Fresh photos show you’re open and busy.
With WWC: Click any photo on your website to upload your own, then resize and crop it.
How do I get more Google reviews?
Short answer
Ask. Right after a good visit, send happy clients the review link from your Business Profile. Then reply to every review, good or bad, calmly and briefly.
Google says you can ask customers to visit a link or scan a QR code to leave a review6. A text with the link, sent the same day, is easier for a client than “find us on Google sometime.” A QR code on the tack room door or your invoice works too.
Don’t trade anything for reviews. Google’s review tips say offering incentives, like free or discounted services, in exchange for reviews is strictly prohibited6.
When a review is unfair, reply once, politely, with the facts. The next person reading it is the one you’re really writing for.
Should I list my business in directories?
Short answer
Yes, in the ones horse people actually use. Each listing is one more place someone can find you, and Google says how many websites link to your business is part of how well known it is.
Google lists links from other websites as one of the things that show how well known a business is4. Start with the ones that matter in the horse world: your trade or breed association’s member list if it has one, your state or local horse council, and the Western Web Co. Directory. You don’t need to be on every site that emails you an offer.
Fill in each listing the same way: the same name, phone and website, with your services and towns.
The Western Web Co. Directory is free for equine businesses. A listing shows your business details, contact information, services, up to ten photos and a link to your website. If your business is already in it, you can claim your listing.
With WWC: Your directory listing can link to your WWC website, and it stays free even if you cancel your plan.
Does my website need to be fast and work on a phone?
Short answer
Yes. Lots of people look up a barn or a farrier on their phone, from the truck or the barn aisle. If the page is slow or hard to read on a small screen, many will move on to the next result.
Open your site on your own phone. Can you read the prices without zooming? Is your phone number real text you can tap? Can you find the booking button without hunting for it?
With WWC: Every page has a phone layout, and the editor has a phone view so you can check each page as you go. Hosting and SSL security are included.
Why should my name, address and phone match everywhere?
Short answer
So people, and Google, can tell it’s the same business. Pick one version of your name and one phone number, and use them on your website, your Google profile, Facebook and every directory.
“Juniper Hollow Stables” in one place and “Juniper Hollow Farm” in another looks like two businesses. An old number on a directory sends calls to nobody.
When you move or change numbers, update every place in the same week. Keep a short list of where you’re listed so you don’t miss one. If you go to your clients and keep your address off your Google profile, keep it off the rest too.
More questions
Can I pay to be first on Google?
Not in the regular results. Google says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. You can buy Google ads, which are marked as sponsored and stop when you stop paying.
Should I hire someone to do my SEO?
Do the basics in this guide first. If you hire help later, be careful with anyone who guarantees a ranking. Google’s own advice is that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
How long does it take to show up on Google?
There’s no set time. A new profile or website can take a while to appear, and where you show up keeps changing as you add reviews, photos and pages. Keep at the basics.
Does Western Web Co. do SEO for me?
WWC gives every page an SEO title and description you can edit, lists your published pages in a sitemap, gives every page a phone layout and includes SSL. Your free directory listing links to your website. We can’t promise rankings, and no one honestly can.
Does my Facebook page help?
It’s one more place people can find you. Keep the same name and phone on it, and link it to your website.
Written by the Western Web Co. team. We’re family owned and build WWC in Cave Creek, Arizona.