Someone searched "yoga near me" in your town tonight and didn't find you
You've been spending hours figuring out what to post on Instagram, while your Google Business Profile hasn't been touched in two years. For local studios and independent instructors, that's the wrong order.
Let's say you spent three hours this week working on Instagram content. Choosing what to post to your story, rewriting a caption, wondering whether to post a reel or a carousel. Meanwhile, your Google Business Profile: the free listing that controls whether you appear when someone searches "yoga near me" or "bachata classes [your town]", has your old phone number, the wrong opening hours, and a single category you chose two years ago and never revisited.
This isn't an argument against Instagram. It's an argument for getting your priorities right. Google is your best chance to reach the people who are actively looking for exactly what you offer, right now. And for most yoga, dance and movement studios, the Google Business Profile is the thing that decides whether those people find you or the studio down the road.
What happens when someone searches "dance classes near me" or "hot yoga [your town]"? Google shows three local businesses at the very top of the results, before any website links, before any ads, before anything else. This is called the Map Pack. Those three spots receive the vast majority of clicks and your Google Business Profile is the primary signal Google uses to decide who appears in those three spots. And unlike the Instagram algorithm — which rewards posting frequency, entertainment value and consistency — the GBP algorithm rewards accuracy, completeness and relevance. Things you can fix once and leave working for months.
"Fifteen years in business. A studio full of loyal students. Outranked by a studio that opened six months ago."
That gap between the studio that's been there for years and the one Google thinks is more relevant almost always comes down to the same handful of things. None of them are complicated. None require a marketing budget. They require about 15 minutes and knowing what to do.
Most studios chose a category when they first set up their profile and have never looked at it since. Your primary category tells Google what type of business you are. It determines which searches you appear in. If your profile says "Fitness Centre" instead of "Yoga Studio", Google doesn't know what you are and won't show you to people specifically searching for yoga.
The less obvious part: you can add up to nine secondary categories. A studio that offers yoga, pilates and barre, but only has one category listed is invisible to everyone searching for the other two. Each category is a separate set of search queries you can appear in.
Under your categories, you can list individual services. Most studios either skip this entirely or write "Yoga classes" as a single entry. Here's what that costs you: if someone searches "Yin yoga near me" and you haven't listed Yin yoga as a service, Google doesn't know you offer it.
The fix is specific: list every style, every format, every class as a separate entry. Vinyasa, Yin, Hatha, Restorative - each one separately. The more specific you are, the more searches you appear in.
This is the thing most studios don't pay enough attention to and it's one of the highest-impact changes you can make.
Google uses activity signals to assess whether a business is still operating. A profile with recent photos, updated hours and regular posts tells the algorithm this studio is live and worth showing. A profile that hasn't changed since the day it was set up does not.
Opening hours are the most frequently outdated element. If your schedule changed after a term break or a studio move and you didn't update your profile, Google may already be flagging your listing as unreliable.
- Check your hours and add special dates for closures and holiday schedules
- Refresh your photos every few months
- Publish short posts directly to your profile — they appear in search results. An upcoming workshop, a new class on the schedule, a term starting. Studios that post monthly consistently rank above otherwise identical profiles that don't
Reviews are a ranking signal, not just social proof. Google weighs four things: total volume, recency, overall star rating, and whether the owner responds. A recent stream of reviews with replies consistently outperforms a large old batch that's been sitting untouched for three years.
The studios that stay visible treat reviews as part of how they run the business, not something that happens passively. That doesn't mean a campaign or a system. It means asking one student today and sending them a direct link. Go to your profile, click "Ask for reviews", copy the link. One tap and they're on the review screen. That's the whole process.
Search your business name on Google right now. If you see "Own this business?" instead of a small tick or the word "Claimed" it means your profile is unclaimed, and it can be removed by Google without notice.
Verification is done through your Google account at business.google.com, usually by video verification: a short clip showing your workspace or the area you serve. It takes a few minutes and Google confirms within a day or two.
None of this is complicated. The studios consistently showing up in local search aren't doing more marketing than you. They're just doing this part correctly.
The full framework, including: how to set up your google business profile if you don't have a fixed address, a complete audit checklist, and the quarterly maintenance routine that keeps you ranking once you're there is inside the VIP section of Amber Club, built specifically for yoga, dance and movement studios.
Join Amber VIP Club today, to access all the tools and guides, and get access to a group chat where you can ask all your marketing and business questions.