Type your trade and town into Google. Did you find yourself?

Do the test now, before you read the rest. Open Google in a private browser window and type your trade and your town. “Electrician Poreč.” “Hairdresser Pula.” “Accountant Rovinj.”

Did you find yourself? If not — someone else did. And that someone gets the call.

When a pipe bursts on a Sunday evening, nobody calls the neighbours for a recommendation. They pick up the phone, type, and call the first number they see. Not the best one. The one they found.

Where Google can show you at all

On the results page for “your trade + town” there are three places:

• Ads at the top — marked “Sponsored”. You’re there while you pay.
• The map with three businesses — this comes from Google Business Profiles. Free, and on a phone often the first thing people see.
• Ordinary results below the map — websites. Free, and this is where it’s decided who looks serious.

If you’re in none of the three, here’s why — from the most common reason to the least.

Seven reasons you’re not there

1. You don’t have a Google Business Profile — or it isn’t verified. Without it you’re not on the map. This is the most common reason and the easiest to fix: the profile is free. We explain how to set it up inGoogle Business Profile or a website.

2. The profile says the wrong thing. The wrong primary category (“Service” instead of “Plumber”), no service area, no opening hours. Google shows the businesses it’s sure do exactly that, exactly there.

3. You don’t have a website. A profile without a site is an advert without an address. Google trusts a business more when it has a site with the same name, address and number as the profile — and so do people, when they tap “Website” and find nothing.

4. The site exists but doesn’t say what you do and where. A “Welcome” headline and a sunset photo. Google doesn’t guess. If the words “electrician” and “Poreč” appear nowhere on your site, you’re not there for “electrician Poreč”.

5. It doesn’t say everywhere you work. Based in Poreč but you also work in Vrsar, Funtana and Tar? A customer in Vrsar types “Vrsar”. If your site doesn’t say it, Google doesn’t know.

6. The site is slow or hard to use on a phone. Most of these searches happen on phones. A site that takes five seconds to load loses people before they see your number — and Google notices.

7. You have no reviews. On the map, between three businesses, people pick the one with reviews. Five genuine reviews from happy customers are worth more than any design.

What you can do this week, for free

• Create or claim your Google Business Profile and verify it.
• Set the right primary category, your service area and your opening hours.
• Add a dozen real photos of your work.
• Ask five or six happy customers for a review and send them the link.
• Check that your name, address and number are identical on the profile, on Facebook and everywhere else.

In a small town, this alone can put you on the map.

What a website adds

The profile puts you on the map. The site is where people decide — where they see exactly what you do, where you go, real photos and how to call you in one tap. And it’s what Google reads when it decides who to show for “your trade + town”.

If you’re foreign-run, there’s an extra edge: a site in English and German shows you to the expats, holiday-home owners and visitors who search in those languages — searches your Croatian-only competitors never appear for.

See what that looks like for your town — Pula,Poreč, Rovinj,Umag, Pazin,Labin — or for your business, on ourweb design in Istria page.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take for a new website to appear on Google?

For Google to see it at all — usually a few days to a couple of weeks. For it to climb to good positions for your trade and town — typically a few months. That’s why it’s best to build the site before the season, not in the middle of it.

Can anyone guarantee me first place on Google?

No. Google decides the order, not the web designer. Anyone guaranteeing you first place is either not telling the truth or talking about paid ads. What can be done is to give Google every reason to show you — and in small towns that is often enough for the top.

Isn’t a Facebook page enough?

For people who already know you — maybe. For people who type “plumber” and the name of a town, rarely: Facebook pages almost never show up on the first page of results for searches like that.

Should I pay for Google Ads?

Not necessarily. Ads bring calls while you pay and stop when you stop. A Google Business Profile and a website work for free, all year. Ads make sense as an extra, not as a replacement.