When someone nearby searches for what you do, Google usually shows a map and a short list of businesses before it shows a single website. Getting into that list is free. It runs on your Google Business Profile, and here is how to set one up properly.
1. Check whether you already have one
Search Google Maps for your business name and street. If a listing comes up, someone may already have created a profile, sometimes years ago, sometimes a previous designer or a member of staff. Do not create a second one. Two profiles for one business confuse Google and your customers.
If a listing exists and nobody can sign in to it, open it and look for the option that says you own the business. Google asks the current owner to reply, and its help pages give them three days. If they do not, you may be able to claim it yourself.
2. Use a Google account the business owns
Set the profile up in a Google account that belongs to the business, not to whoever happens to be helping you. A dedicated Gmail address for the business is fine. Add other people as managers instead of sharing the password, so you can remove them later without losing the profile.
3. Fill in the basics accurately
At business.google.com, add your business name exactly as it appears on your sign, your main category, your address and your phone number. If you visit customers rather than having them come to you, you can show the area you serve and hide your address.
Keep the business name honest. Adding extra keywords to it, such as “Best Plumber Wolverhampton”, breaks Google’s guidelines and can get a profile suspended.
4. Get verified
Google checks that the business is real before the profile goes public. These days that is often a short video: the sign outside, the inside of the premises and something that shows you run the place. Depending on the business, Google may offer other ways instead. It can take a few days, and Google decides.
5. Finish everything, not just the minimum
This is where most profiles fall short. Fill in all of it:
- The right categories. The main one matters most, and you can add a few secondary ones.
- Opening hours, including bank holidays, so nobody turns up to a closed door.
- Services or a menu, with prices if you are happy to show them.
- A description of what you do and who for, in plain words.
- Real photos. The outside, so people can find you, the inside, your work or your food, and your team if they agree. Photos taken on a phone are fine. Stock photos are not.
6. Make reviews easy
Recent, genuine reviews are one of the biggest reasons one business shows up ahead of another. Get your review link from the profile, turn it into a QR code for the counter or your invoices, and ask every happy customer the same week.
Two rules here. Never write reviews yourself or ask friends to pretend to be customers, and never offer anything in return for a review. Both break Google’s rules, and fake reviews are against UK law.
7. Keep it current
A profile that changes looks like a business that is open and busy. Add new photos every month, post about offers and events, update your hours before holidays, and reply to reviews, the good ones and the bad.
Want it done for you?
We set up Google Business Profiles for £110, one off: claimed or created in your own Google account, completed in full, verified, and finished with a review link and QR code. If somebody else set yours up and nobody can get in, we handle that too. See how it works.