01 · GBPCRITICAL
One profile for 27 stations
Every swap station sat under a single Westlands listing, so Maps showed one pin for the whole city. 24 stations had no profile at all.
Kibo MotoELECTRIC MOTORBIKE DEALER & BATTERY-SWAP NETWORK · NAIROBI
How a Nairobi e-boda dealer put every battery-swap station on the map
+240%
direction requests
Local · 9 months · Nairobi, Kenya
★ Google Business Profile★ Station location pages★ Swahili content★ Review velocity★ 9 months★ Nairobi★ Route 27★ Kituo cha betri
The challenge
Riders could not find swap stations on Maps, which made switching to electric look risky.
Kibo Moto sells electric boda-bodas in Nairobi and runs 27 battery-swap cabinets across the city. For a rider, the bike only works if a charged battery is a short ride away. That is the whole pitch.
But open Google Maps and search “battery swap near me” and you found petrol stations. Only three stops showed up in any map pack. Riders thinking about switching saw a network that looked like it wasn’t there, so switching felt like a gamble with their daily income.
The job: make every station findable, in the language riders search in, with enough fresh reviews that a first-time rider trusts it.
Inspection sheet
Six faults found at the depot
02 · NAPCRITICAL
Addresses riders could not use
Stations were described as "near Total, Thika Rd" with no plus codes. Three listings on directories pointed to closed kiosks.
03 · CategoryHIGH
Wrong primary category
"Motorcycle dealer" only. No "Battery swap station" or "Electric vehicle charging station" category, so swap-intent searches never matched.
04 · SiteHIGH
No station pages
The website had one "Locations" PDF. Nothing for Google to connect to each listing, and no opening hours or live-stock signal.
05 · LanguageHIGH
English-only content
Many riders search in Swahili or Sheng ("kituo cha betri", "kubadilisha betri"). Kibo Moto had zero Swahili copy.
06 · ReviewsMEDIUM
61 reviews, 14 months old
Reviews trickled in at about 2 a month, almost all about the showroom. Competing petrol stations had hundreds.
The strategy
Four routes, one network
Built on our Local plan.
01
Google Business Profile
A verified profile for every swap station.
- 27 new profiles, verified one by one with on-site video
- Primary category: battery swap station; dealer category only on the showroom
- Plus codes, hours, swap price and photos of the actual cabinet
- Weekly posts on stock levels and new stations
02
Station location pages
One fast, crawlable page per stop.
- /stations/<area> pages with map embed swapped for a static SVG pin and plus code
- LocalBusiness schema linked to each profile
- Landmarks, matatu stages and boda stages nearby
- Internal links from a route-style station index
03
Swahili content
Speak the way riders search.
- Swahili versions of every station page, with hreflang sw-KE
- Profile descriptions and posts in both languages
- Plain-language guide: bei, range and how a swap works
- Sheng terms used where riders actually use them
04
Review velocity
Fresh reviews at every swap.
- QR sticker on each cabinet linking to that station's review form
- SMS receipt after a swap with a one-tap review link
- Replies within 48 hours, in the reviewer's language
- From ~2 to ~55 new reviews a month, never incentivised
Fare stages · 9 months
The route, month by month
M1
Inspection
Audit of listings, citations and site. Station data sheet built: coordinates, plus codes, hours, photos.
4/27 LIT
M2
Profiles live
First 12 station profiles verified. Categories corrected on the showroom listing.
6/27 LIT
M3
Station pages
27 station pages launched with schema. Locations PDF retired and redirected.
9/27 LIT
M4
Swahili route
Swahili pages and bilingual profile copy. Remaining 15 profiles verified.
12/27 LIT
M5
Review stickers
QR stickers on all cabinets, SMS receipt links switched on.
16/27 LIT
M6
Citations
Directory listings cleaned up, closed kiosks removed, duplicate pins merged.
19/27 LIT
M7
Content stops
Guides for boda riders: swap cost vs petrol, range per battery, financing.
22/27 LIT
M8
East side push
Extra photos, posts and reviews for Embakasi, Kayole and Buruburu.
25/27 LIT
M9
Full route
All 27 stations in the map pack for their area's primary swap query.
27/27 LIT
The route lights up
Every stop, on the map
ROUTE 27 · FARE STAGE MONTH 9
27 / 27 stops lit
- Direction requests
- 3,060
- Test rides booked
- 130
- Google reviews
- 496
Station-level direction requests total 2,804 a month at month 9; the other 256 go to the Kibo Moto showroom listing.
Results
End of the line: +240% direction requests
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
STATIONS RANKING IN MAP PACK
3 → 27
DIRECTION REQUESTS / MONTH
900 → 3,060
TEST-RIDE BOOKINGS / MONTH
40 → 130
40
44
52
63
75
88
100
112
122
130
| QUERY | LANG | KICKOFF | MONTH 9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| battery swap station near me | EN | Not in pack | Pack #1 in 19 areas |
| kituo cha kubadilisha betri karibu | SW | Not ranking | Pack #1 in 14 areas |
| electric boda boda Nairobi | EN | #14 | #2 |
| pikipiki ya umeme bei | SW | Not ranking | #3 |
| e-boda test ride Nairobi | EN | #9 | #1 |
| battery swap Eastleigh | EN | Not in pack | Pack #1 |
| kubadilisha betri Githurai | SW | Not ranking | Pack #2 |
| electric motorbike dealer Kenya | EN | #11 | #4 |
Same search, before and after
KICKOFF · MAPS
kubadilisha betri Eastleigh
Petrol station, 1st Ave
3.9 ★ (812) · Petrol station
Motorbike spares, Eastleigh
4.1 ★ (96) · Motorcycle parts store
Boda stage repairs
3.8 ★ (22) · Motorcycle repair shop
MONTH 9 · MAPS
kubadilisha betri Eastleigh
Kibo Moto Swap · Eastleigh
4.7 ★ (63) · Battery swap station · Open 24 hours
Kibo Moto Swap · Juja Rd
4.6 ★ (41) · Battery swap station · Open until 22:00
Petrol station, 1st Ave
3.9 ★ (812) · Petrol station
Get a plan like this
Many locations, one brand, customers who need to find the nearest one. We map the route and light every stop.