5 Google Maps Fixes in 1 Hour to Help Customers Find Your Door

Google guidance reviewed: 5 November 2026.

A customer can find your clinic on Google Maps, tap Directions, and still end up at the wrong mall entrance. Another might see the same listing and give up because they cannot tell where to park or whether the clinic is open. Both problems are worth fixing before you spend time chasing a higher ranking.

This one-hour check is for a storefront customers can visit. Keep your profile access, correct address and hours, and an up-to-date entrance photo handy. If you only have ten minutes, start with the public route.

1. Test the route customers actually get (10 minutes)

Open the public listing in Google Maps and tap Directions. Pick an approach a new customer would use, such as the main road, a metro exit, or the closest parking entrance. Look at the last few turns and the final point where Maps tells them to stop.

A clinic inside a Riyadh mall might have a correct address but a route that ends on the side of the building with no public entrance. Capture the route and the step that goes wrong. If the destination is accurate and a road or turn is wrong, use Google’s wrong-directions reporting workflow where available. Plan a physical test later if the map leaves any doubt.

2. Confirm the address and map pin (10 minutes)

Compare the public address and pin with the location customers actually visit. Check the building, unit, and floor information where applicable. A chain should verify the branch name and address before editing, especially when two branches have similar names.

Use Google’s business address guidance to correct the address or adjust the pin when appropriate. Reopen the public listing after the change is live. Keep a note of any submitted edit you need to verify.

3. Add an entrance photo customers can match in real life (15 minutes)

Choose a current photo taken from the approach customers are most likely to use. Show the actual door and enough of the surroundings to make it recognizable. For a shop inside a mall, a photo of the storefront from the public corridor is usually more useful for this task than a close-up of the logo.

Check the image on a phone before uploading. If it crops out the sign or door, take a wider shot. Google’s business photo guidance covers exterior photos and image requirements.

4. Make parking and access easy to check (10 minutes)

Think of the question your receptionist hears most often. Where can I park? Which entrance has step-free access? Do I need to go upstairs? Confirm the answer with the team, then update the applicable profile attributes and the directions section of your branch page. Use only details you can verify.

Ask a colleague who rarely visits the branch to find the answer on a phone. If they still have to call, improve the instructions on the branch page and ask them to try again.

5. Check the hours people will travel for (15 minutes)

Compare the public hours with the schedule customers can rely on. Include upcoming holidays, Ramadan hours where relevant, and any dates when the branch opens late or closes early. Confirm changes with the person responsible for opening the site. Use Google’s hours guidance for regular and special hours.

Set a reminder to check the public profile after the update. If several locations follow the same holiday schedule, group only the branches with matching hours and confirm local exceptions individually.

Run one final arrival test

Send a colleague the public listing and ask them to navigate without your help. Have them report the point where they first saw the entrance and anything they had to look up elsewhere. If the pin is correct but the last turn is wrong, record that as a route problem. If they reach the building but miss the door, fix the entrance guidance first.

How to check whether the fixes helped

Record the date of each change. Compare direction requests over similar periods and consider changes in demand, ads, and holidays. Google’s Business Profile performance guide explains how direction requests are counted. For an arrival check, use your own reception records, footfall data, or a simple tally of calls asking where the entrance is.

For one storefront, a note and a calendar reminder can be enough. If your team repeats these checks across branches, Sira’s listings management helps keep supported listing details current. Sira’s local SEO analytics brings Google-reported direction requests together by branch. Your team can use that view to decide where to test the route first.

Frequently asked questions