Local SEO for Thai Businesses: Getting Found on Google Maps
How to make your shop or branch show up when people search nearby: complete your Google Business Profile, manage reviews and keep your details consistent everywhere.
Picture yourself hungry, typing “chicken rice near me” into Google. You choose from the first three places on the map, look at the photos and ratings, and tap for directions. A better restaurant that does not appear on the map never gets a chance at that customer. Local SEO is about making your business one of the places people see in moments like this.
What local SEO is
Local SEO means optimising the online information of a business with a physical location or a local service area so it appears in location-based results such as Google Maps and the map box in search results. It suits restaurants, clinics, repair shops, gyms, tutoring schools, and companies serving one province.
Google Business Profile Help says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance to the search, distance from the searcher, and prominence. It also states there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. You cannot change distance, but you can work on the other two.
Complete your Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile is the business listing shown on Google Search and Maps, and it is the most important starting point for local SEO.
What to do
- Verify ownership following Google's process
- Choose an accurate primary category, such as “coffee shop” rather than just “restaurant”, then add relevant secondary categories
- Complete, correct basics: your real business name, address, phone number and opening hours, including public holidays
- A business description saying what you sell, what you are known for and which area you are in, written for people, not stuffed with keywords
- Real photos of the storefront, entrance, parking, menu and atmosphere, which help customers find you and decide
Common mistakes
- Adding keywords to the business name, such as “ABC Coffee Fresh Coffee Delicious Near BTS”, which goes against Google's guidelines
- Inaccurate opening hours. A customer who arrives to a closed shop becomes a bad review
- A misplaced pin, especially for shops inside malls or down a soi
Reviews: ask systematically, answer every one
Google's help page says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, and it recommends responding to reviews.
- Ask real customers at a moment when they are happy, for example with a QR code at the counter or a link sent after service
- Never buy reviews, have staff write them, or offer discounts in exchange for good reviews
- Thank people for good reviews specifically. Reply to bad reviews politely, admit what went wrong and say what you have fixed
Example reply to a bad review: “Thank you for telling us about the long wait at Saturday lunchtime. We have added staff for that period. If you visit again, please say hello at the counter.”
Good local SEO starts with the basics: accurate details, real photos, and real reviews you answer every time.
Keep your details consistent everywhere
Your name, address and phone number (often called NAP) should be written the same way on every channel: website, Facebook page, LINE OA, delivery apps and review sites. If you change number or move, update them all. Conflicting details confuse customers.
A web page for each branch
If you have a website, create a separate page for each branch with its address, map, hours, directions and branch-specific services, then link each page from that branch's Google Business Profile. Links from other websites, such as local media or trade associations, also help prominence. Read more in What backlinks are and why they matter.
How to start this week
- Search for your business on Google Maps, check whether a profile exists, and verify ownership
- Fill in every field, and check the category, pin and opening hours
- Upload real photos, at least the storefront, entrance and main products
- Create a review QR code and reply to all outstanding reviews
- Check that your name, address and phone number match on every channel
If you want to build this into a career skill, read SEO basics for people who want to work in it, and browse digital marketing courses from our partners on the courses page.