How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile the Right Way

Why Does Your Google Business Profile Matter?

When someone nearby searches for a business like yours, Google often shows a map with a short list of local businesses before the regular results. Your Google Business Profile is what appears there: your name, hours, reviews, photos and a button to call or get directions.

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that complete, accurate information helps. You can read more in Google's guide to improving your local ranking.

Step 1: Does Your Business Already Have a Profile?

Search your business name on Google Maps first. Google sometimes creates a basic listing from public information. If you find one, claim it instead of creating a new one, so you don't end up with duplicates.

Step 2: How Do You Create the Profile?

1. Go to Google Business Profile and sign in with a Google account you'll keep for the business.
2. Enter your business name exactly as customers see it on your sign, card and website.
3. Choose your primary category, the one that best describes what you do. You can add more categories later.
4. Add your location. If customers visit you, add your address. If you travel to customers, choose a service-area business and list the cities you serve. You can hide your home address.
5. Add your phone number and website.

Step 3: How Does Verification Work?

Google needs to confirm your business is real before your profile fully goes live. The options Google offers depend on your business, and can include a phone call or text, email, a short video of your business, or a postcard by mail. Follow the steps in Google Business Profile Help, and have your signage, tools or storefront ready if you're asked for a video.

Step 4: What Should You Fill In After That?

• Hours. Regular hours plus holiday hours, so customers don't show up to a locked door.
• Services or products. List what you actually offer, in plain words customers search for.
• Description. A short, honest summary of what you do and who you serve.
• Photos. Your storefront, inside your space, your team and your work. Real photos beat logos and stock images.
• Attributes. Details like accessibility or online booking, where they apply.

What Are the Most Common Mistakes?

• Adding keywords to your business name. "Joe's Plumbing" is right. "Joe's Plumbing Best Walnut Creek Plumber" adds extra information to the name, which breaks Google's guidelines for representing your business and can get your profile suspended.
• Using a P.O. box or virtual office. Use a real address, or set up as a service-area business.
• Wrong or missing hours. Update them before holidays and any time they change.
• Duplicate listings. One business, one profile.
• Setting it and forgetting it. A profile with old photos and no recent activity looks closed.

How Do You Keep Your Profile Fresh?

Add new photos every month or two, post updates about specials or events, keep hours current and reply to every review. Then, ask happy customers for reviews in a steady, natural way. If you'd rather not do it yourself, this is exactly what Porchlight's Google and Maps service covers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help
• Guidelines for Representing Your Business on Google
• Tips to Improve Your Local Ranking on Google

This guide is general information for small business owners. Prices and platform rules change, so check the linked sources for the latest details.