Two Small Details That Could Be Making Your Business Harder to Find
Kirsten Johnson, Founder of Reverie
When business owners think about online visibility, they usually focus on the bigger pieces: their website design, Google rankings, social media, reviews, or advertising.
Those things matter. But sometimes, a business is harder to understand—and therefore harder to choose—because of two much smaller details:
The SEO title on its website
The description on its Google Business Profile
These fields are easy to overlook. They are also two of the places where your business has an opportunity to clearly explain what you do, who you help, and where you work.
They aren’t magic ranking switches, and changing them doesn’t guarantee that your business will suddenly appear at the top of Google. But when they are vague, incomplete, or outdated, they can make it more difficult for potential customers to understand whether your business is relevant to what they need.
What Is an SEO Title?
Your SEO title—sometimes called a title tag or meta title—is the title associated with an individual page of your website.
On Squarespace, this may appear as the SEO title within the settings for a page, blog post, product, or other collection item.
It can help search engines understand what the page is about and may appear as the clickable title people see in search results. Google also considers headings and other prominent page content when determining what title to display, which is why your SEO title and visible page heading should communicate a consistent message.
A homepage SEO title that only says:
Home | Your Business Name
doesn’t tell a prospective customer very much.
They may already see your business name elsewhere in the search result. What they still need to understand is:
What does this business do?
Is this service relevant to me?
Does this business serve my area?
Why should I click on this result?
A clearer title might follow a structure such as:
Primary Service in City, State | Business Name
Or:
Service One and Service Two | Business Name
The right format depends on the page. A homepage may need to communicate the overall business, while a service page should focus on the specific service discussed on that page.
Squarespace recommends giving each page a unique SEO title and incorporating relevant keywords naturally.
A Strong SEO Title Should Be Specific
One of the most common SEO mistakes is trying to fit every possible keyword into one title.
A title such as:
Best Affordable Professional Local Company for Service One, Service Two, Service Three and More
isn’t clearer. It is crowded, unnatural, and difficult to read.
A stronger title prioritizes the most important idea on the page.
For example:
Emergency Plumbing in Gilbert, AZ | Company Name
is more useful than:
Company Name | Home
The goal isn’t to force as many search phrases as possible into the field. The goal is to accurately describe the page using language your customers would recognize.
Google’s own guidance recommends using the words people would use to find your content in prominent places such as the page title and main heading. It also emphasizes helpful, people-first content rather than content written primarily to manipulate search rankings.
What Is Your Google Business Profile Description?
Your Google Business Profile description is the section that allows you to explain your business in your own words.
It may help prospective customers understand:
What your business offers
Who you serve
Where you provide services
What makes your approach different
Whether you are a good fit for what they need
Google currently allows up to 750 characters in this field and recommends focusing on information about the business rather than promotions, prices, or sales.
That space should not be treated as an afterthought.
A description such as:
We provide excellent service and care about our customers. Contact us today!
could apply to almost any business.
It doesn’t explain what the company actually does, where it works, or why someone should choose it.
A stronger description might read:
[Business Name] provides [primary services] for [type of customer] in [primary service area]. Our team specializes in [specific areas of expertise] and helps clients [meaningful customer outcome]. We are committed to clear communication, dependable service, and recommendations based on each customer’s needs.
The final description should sound like the business—not like a list of disconnected keywords.
Your Description Should Answer Four Questions
A useful Google Business Profile description should quickly answer four basic questions.
What do you do?
Name the primary services or products customers are most likely to need.
Avoid broad phrases such as “full-service solutions” unless you immediately explain what those solutions include.
Who do you help?
Be clear about the people or businesses you serve.
That might include homeowners, families, local businesses, patients, nonprofit organizations, property managers, or another specific audience.
Where do you work?
Include your primary city, region, or service area when location is relevant to the customer’s decision.
This is especially important for local service businesses.
What should someone understand about your approach?
This is where your actual differentiators belong.
Instead of making unsupported claims such as “the best company in Arizona,” explain something meaningful:
Do you provide straightforward recommendations?
Do clients work directly with the owner?
Do you specialize in a particular service?
Do you offer virtual appointments?
Do you have experience with a specific type of project?
Is your process designed to be simpler or more transparent?
Specific information is more credible than generic praise.
Consistency Matters Across Your Online Presence
Your SEO title and Google Business Profile description shouldn’t exist in isolation.
They should reinforce the same core message that appears across your:
Website copy
Service pages
Google Business Profile
Online directories
Social profiles
Reviews
Advertising
Educational content
This doesn’t mean repeating the exact same sentence everywhere. It means presenting a consistent explanation of what your business does and whom it serves.
As people discover businesses through Google Search, Google Maps, social platforms, and AI-assisted search tools, clear and consistent information becomes even more important. Squarespace now specifically recommends maintaining strong site structure, relevant content, and ongoing measurement as search behavior expands across traditional and AI-powered platforms.
When your website describes your business one way, your Google profile describes it another way, and your directory listings use outdated information, the overall picture becomes less clear.
Clarity helps both people and digital systems connect the dots.
Why These Details Are Often Missed
Many business owners didn’t write their current SEO titles or Google Business Profile descriptions.
The fields may have been:
Automatically generated when the website was built
Written several years ago
Copied from another section of the website
Completed before the business added new services
Left blank because no one knew what to write
Filled with generic language that no longer reflects the company
The business may have changed significantly since then.
You may serve new locations, offer different services, specialize in a more focused area, or want to attract a different type of customer. Your online messaging should evolve with the business.
Start With a Simple Review
Look at the SEO title for your homepage and ask:
Would someone understand what we do before clicking?
Then read your Google Business Profile description and ask:
Does this accurately explain our business today?
You don’t need to make the language complicated. You also don’t need to fill every available character or include every service you have ever offered.
You need the right words in the right places.
That means clear language, an accurate description of the business, relevant service and location information, and a message that helps the right customer recognize that they are in the right place.
Better Words Create a Clearer Path
Your website and Google Business Profile are often part of a customer’s first impression of your business.
When the small details are vague, potential customers have to work harder to understand what you offer. When those details are clear, they can make a more confident decision about whether to take the next step.
At Reverie Creative Agency, we help businesses review the full picture of their online presence—from website structure and search visibility to Google Business Profiles, content, reviews, and advertising.
Because better visibility doesn’t begin with adding more noise.
It begins with making your business easier to understand.
Better words. Better visibility.
Reverie is an Arizona website design, SEO, and Google Ads agency helping small businesses grow online in Gilbert, Queen Creek, Mesa, Chandler, and the East Valley.