A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in the local results of a Google search: your name, address, opening hours, phone number, photos and reviews. For a local business it is often the first thing a customer sees, before your website, and it is free to set up.
Why does it matter so much?
When someone searches for a type of business near them, Google usually shows a map with a few places before the ordinary results. Those places come from Business Profiles. Many people never scroll further: they call, ask for directions or tap through to the website straight from the profile.
When I look up local businesses before I visit them, the same three problems keep coming back: opening hours on Google Maps that no longer match the door, reviews that nobody has answered, and profiles controlled by someone who no longer works there. All three are easy to fix, and all three cost customers until they are.
Google says it ranks these local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is make your profile complete, accurate and active. The guide to SEO explains how this fits with your website.
How do I claim or create my profile?
- Use a Google account that belongs to you. Not an employee’s, not your web designer’s. Give it a recovery phone number. Whoever owns this account controls the profile.
- Search for your business on Google Maps first. A profile may already exist, created by Google from public data or by someone who worked for you. If it exists, claim it instead of creating a second one.
- Go to the Google Business Profile site and follow the steps to add or claim the business: name, category, address or service area, phone and website.
- Verify the business. Google decides how: by video, phone, text message, email or post. Google expects the owner to verify, from the business address and on their own device. Someone can sit beside you while you do it, but should not do it for you.
If a former employee or an old agency created the profile and you cannot reach them, Google has an ownership request process. Start it early: it can take a while.
What should I fill in?
Fill in every field that applies to you. Going through this list once properly does most of the work:
- Primary category. The one that describes you best (“Barber shop”, “Bed & breakfast”, “Bakery”), plus one or two secondary categories. More is not better.
- Business name. Exactly your trading name, as it appears on your door. Adding keywords or a town to the name breaks Google’s rules and can get the profile suspended.
- Address and map pin. Check that the pin is on your door, not in the middle of the street. If you visit customers instead, set a service area.
- Opening hours, and special hours. Add holiday closures before the holidays, not after.
- Phone number. The same number, written the same way, as on your website.
- Website link. Your own site, not a social media page.
- Menu, services or booking link. Whichever fits your business.
- Photos. At least ten of your own: the outside, so people recognise it, the inside, your team, your products, your logo. No stock photos.
- Description. Up to 750 characters, in your customers’ main language, about what you do and for whom. No links, no promotions.
- Attributes. Payment methods such as Bancontact, wheelchair access, terrace, parking: whatever is true for you.
How should I handle reviews?
Reviews are one of the few things on your profile that keep changing, and Google mentions them directly as a ranking factor. A routine that works:
- Reply to every review within a week, in the language the reviewer used.
- Keep it to two sentences. Thank them first, then add one specific line.
- Never argue in public. For a negative review, acknowledge it, and offer to sort it out by phone or email.
- Ask for reviews when a customer is clearly happy. A card at the till or a line in your confirmation email is enough.
- Never buy reviews, offer rewards for them or write your own. It breaks Google’s policies, and Google removes fake reviews and can restrict the profile.
How do I keep it right over time?
Set yourself a short monthly check:
- Are the hours still right? Any closures coming up?
- Did a new review come in that needs an answer?
- Are there questions or edits suggested by the public? Anyone can suggest a change to your profile, so check that nothing has been changed without you.
- Add one or two new photos when something changes: a new dish, a refurbished room.
Can someone help me without taking it over?
Yes, and this is how it should work. In the profile settings you can add people as managers. They can update the profile, but you stay the primary owner. Never hand over ownership of the profile itself, and never share your Google password. If you change agencies or developers, you remove their access in the same place, and nothing else has to move.
How does Ovrick handle this?
On Orbit, I set up your Google Business Profile with you, or review the one you have, using the list above. I am added as a manager, you stay the owner, and the verification is yours. It also links to your site, which helps Google connect the two. The pricing page shows what each plan includes. The demo sites show what a site for a hairdresser, a café or a B&B looks like.