How to get your Hobart cafe on Google Maps

If you’ve been wondering how to get your cafe on Google Maps, the good news is it’s mostly an afternoon’s work and a cup of something warm. Most of it happens through a free Google Business Profile, and the order you do things in matters more than any clever trick.

Here’s the way we’d tackle it if we were standing behind your counter in Moonah or North Hobart this week.

Check if your cafe is already listed

Before you create anything, search for your cafe’s name on Google Maps, both on your phone and on a computer. You might be surprised. Google often creates listings on its own from public information, and keen customers sometimes add a place they’ve visited.

You’ll land in one of three spots:

• No listing at all. Easy, you’ll create a fresh one.
• A listing with no owner. You’ll see an option like “Own this business?” on it. That’s the one to claim.
• A listing someone else manages. This happens a lot when a cafe changes hands. Use the request access option and Google will contact the current manager for you.

Also look out for doubles. If the previous owner traded under a different name, or someone added your cafe with a slightly wrong spelling, you could have two pins sitting on the same corner. Don’t create a third. Claim the best one and use the suggest an edit option to report the duplicate.

Claim and verify the listing

Head to the Google Business Profile site, sign in with a Google account you’ll keep for the long haul (a shared business account is better than a staff member’s personal one) and follow the prompts to add or claim your cafe.

Then comes verification. Google might ask for a short video showing your signage, your counter and something that proves you run the place, like the coffee machine or your kitchen. It might offer a phone call, a text or an email instead. Postcards are less common now but do still turn up. Whatever it asks for, do it straight away, because an unverified listing won’t show your updates properly.

A tip from experience: film the verification video in daylight, start outside so the street and your sign are clearly visible, then walk in. Rushed, dark videos are the usual reason they get knocked back.

Fill in the details coffee lovers check

Once you’re verified, this is where your cafe starts to look like a real option rather than just a pin. Think about what you check before trying somewhere new. That’s exactly what your customers are looking at too.

• Primary category. Choose Cafe or Coffee shop, whichever fits you best. If you’re really a bakery that also does coffee, pick Bakery first and add the other as a secondary category.
• Hours, including holidays. Nothing loses a customer faster than turning up to a locked door. Add special hours for public holidays and any winter closures.
• Menu. Add a link to your menu, or upload photos of it. Keep it current when the specials board changes for the season.
• Service options. Tick dine-in, takeaway and delivery as they apply, plus attributes like outdoor seating or dog friendly.
• Photos. The front of the cafe, the inside, your best dishes and a good coffee shot. Real ones from your phone are fine, just make them bright.
• Description. A few honest sentences about what you do and what makes you you. Skip the keyword list.

Say you run a little brunch spot in Battery Point that’s busy with walkers on weekends. Mentioning your weekend brunch and a good cup of filter in your description, then showing those plates in your photos, tells both Google and a hungry visitor what they’re in for.

What helps a cafe get found on Google Maps

Being listed and being found aren’t quite the same thing. Google’s own guidance says local results mainly come down to three things: how relevant your profile is to what someone searched, how close you are to them, and how well known your business is. You can’t move your cafe closer to people, but you can work on the other two.

Relevance comes from a complete, accurate profile and a website that says the same things. Your name, address and phone number should match everywhere, from your site to social media. If you’d like a hand making your website pull its weight too, we’ve put together some thoughts on SEO for Hobart cafes that’s worth a look.

Prominence builds slowly. Reviews matter here, so ask happy regulars to leave one (a small card by the register works nicely) and reply to every review, the grumpy ones included, kindly and briefly. Post a fresh photo or update now and then, especially before the summer visitors arrive or when your winter menu goes up. Small, steady steps beat a burst of effort you can’t keep up.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on your listing every month or so. Anyone can suggest edits to a profile, and occasionally a well-meaning person changes your hours or moves your pin. Google usually emails you about it, but it’s easy to miss. If you’d rather have someone else watch the bigger picture, a Hobart SEO team can help with that.

In short

Check for an existing listing, claim and verify it, then fill in your category, hours, menu, service options and photos properly. After that, gather reviews and keep things current, and your cafe will be in good shape for both locals and visitors searching nearby.