The Setup
Most advice for getting found on Google Maps starts and ends with the same instruction: claim your Google Business Profile, fill it out, and wait. For a lot of local businesses, that's where the guidance stops — and where the results stall.
Carson Demny, who runs Demny Web Agency, works with local businesses on websites, SEO, and Maps visibility. We asked three questions about the search a newcomer would type when they need what he does. His answers focus on a single case and a pattern he sees repeatedly.
When the Usual Advice Doesn't Work
Asked about a time a business came to him after standard Maps advice had already failed, Demny pointed to a current client.
He said "I'm currently working with a handyman in California. He had already done the basic steps people usually recommend, like setting up his Google Business Profile, but he still wasn't showing up near the top of Maps when people nearby searched for handyman services."
The profile existed. The problem was everything around it. As Demny put it, "The profile was there, but the rest of his online presence wasn't backing it up. Google didn't have strong, consistent signals about what he does, where he works, or why he's trustworthy."
The fix isn't a single task. Demny described treating it as one connected system: "a better website, a cleaned-up profile, and a steady flow of reviews." He was direct about the timeline — "It's still early" — and about the takeaway: "'just set up your profile' usually isn't enough."
What the Ranking Pages Leave Out
Demny's second answer was about the gap between published guides and actual work. Most how-to-rank guides, he said, "stop at listing basic profile steps." What he keeps running into is alignment across three surfaces.
- The business name, services, and service area should be the same everywhere.
- The site needs to actually work and load fast.
- Reviews need to keep coming in, not arrive in one burst.
For a handyman specifically, the service-signal problem is sharper. Demny noted that because the client "does a lot of different jobs," Google "needs clear signals about which services he offers and where." A profile listing a broad trade doesn't tell the platform which specific jobs to surface for which searches.
The other omission is time. Demny said the guides "skip the fact that this takes steady monthly work. It isn't a one-time setup." That framing matters for anyone budgeting local SEO as a project rather than an ongoing process.
What Owners Decide Too Quickly
Demny listed four recurring mistakes owners make when they're in that stuck position:
- They pay for a cheap one-time website and assume rankings will follow.
- They give up on Google after a month or two because they don't see results right away.
- They judge their ranking by searching their own business name, which tells them nothing about how strangers find them.
- They treat reviews as optional instead of building a simple habit of asking every happy customer.
Each one is a timing or measurement error as much as a tactics error. A one-time website purchase assumes rankings are a deliverable rather than an outcome. A two-month window assumes Maps visibility moves on the same schedule as a paid ad. Searching your own business name measures brand recall, not discovery. And sporadic reviews create the burst pattern Demny flagged earlier as a weak signal.
The Practical Takeaway
Demny's answers point to a consistent position: the profile is one input among several, and the inputs have to agree with each other over time. For a local business owner, that translates into a short checklist — keep name, services, and service area identical across your site and profile; make sure the site loads and functions; ask every satisfied customer for a review as a routine rather than a campaign; and measure visibility using the searches strangers actually type, not your own brand name.
Demny offered to expand on any of the three answers, but the core of his position is already clear: the setup step is the beginning of the work, not the end of it.