- Search for an existing listing and claim it before creating a new one.
- Use your exact real-world business name with no added keywords.
- Your primary category has the biggest effect on which searches you show up for.
- Service-area businesses that do not serve customers at their address should hide it.
- Check the profile often, since Google and the public can change it.
Check whether you already have a profile
Before creating anything, search Google and Google Maps for your business name and phone number. Google sometimes creates listings on its own from public information, and a past employee, an old marketing company or a previous owner may have made one years ago.
If a listing exists, claim it instead of making a new one. If someone else already controls it, you can request access through Google, and the current owner is given time to respond. Duplicate listings for the same business at the same place confuse customers and break Google's guidelines.
Use a Google account the business owns, ideally tied to a business email address, not your web designer's or a marketing company's account. You can add managers later. Owners should stay owners.
Use your real business name, exactly
Enter your business name the way it appears on your signage, trucks, invoices and website. Nothing extra. Google's guidelines do not allow adding keywords, cities or taglines that are not part of your real-world business name.
This is the most common way new profiles get into trouble. Smith Plumbing turned into Smith Plumbing 24/7 Emergency Plumber Tulsa might look like it would help, but it is exactly what Google watches for, and keyword-stuffed names are a well-known reason profiles get suspended. Competitors and the public can also suggest an edit to correct your name, and Google may accept it.
If a word really is part of your name, on your signs, paperwork and license, it belongs on the profile. If it is not, leave it off.
Choose your primary category carefully
Your primary category tells Google what kind of business you are, and it matters more than any other setting on the profile for which searches you show up for. Pick the most specific category that describes your core business. A plumbing company is usually "Plumber", a roofing company "Roofing contractor", a general dental office "Dentist".
The primary category also shapes what the profile can do. Depending on the category, Google may offer preset services, a menu, booking options or other features, so the right choice pays off in more than one way.
You can add additional categories for other major parts of the business, but keep them to what you really are. Google's guidance is to use as few categories as needed to describe your core business. Categories describe what the business is, not every job it does. Individual services go in the Services section.
Set your address or service area correctly
This choice trips up a lot of trades. If customers come to you, at a shop, office or clinic that is staffed during your business hours, show your address.
If you go to customers, like most plumbers, cleaners, roofers and mobile services, you are a service-area business. Google's guidelines say businesses that do not serve customers at their address should hide it and list the cities or areas they serve instead. You still need a real address to verify, and it simply does not show publicly. Hiding the address does not remove you from map results. Keep the service area realistic and centered on where you are actually based.
Some businesses do both, such as a contractor with a showroom. In that case, show the address and add a service area as well.
Do not use a P.O. box, a virtual office or a rented mailbox as your address. They are not eligible, and they are a common reason profiles get suspended.
Get the profile verified
Google has to confirm you are a real business at the place you say. Google decides which verification options you are offered, and those options change over time. Often it is a short video showing your signage or work vehicle, your workspace or tools, and proof that you manage the business, such as opening up the shop or showing business paperwork. Other options can include a phone call, text, email or postcard.
If you get the video option, record it in one continuous take, in good light, with the business name visible if you can. Hold off on big edits to the profile while verification is in review, since changes can slow things down or prompt another look.
If verification fails, read the reason Google gives, fix it and try again. Creating a second profile to get around a failed verification only adds a duplicate to clean up later.
Fill in everything a customer would look for
Once you are verified, finish the profile. A complete profile answers customer questions without a click and gives Google more information to match against searches.
- Hours, including special hours for holidays.
- A phone number that reaches a person during business hours.
- A website link to your home page or the most relevant page.
- Services, with short descriptions. Some categories offer preset services, and you can add your own where they do not fit.
- A business description in plain language about what you do and where. Keep links and sales promotions out of it, since offers belong in posts.
- Photos: your logo, a cover photo, your exterior so people can find you, your team, your vehicles and real jobs.
- Attributes that apply, such as wheelchair accessibility or online appointments.
- A booking link if you take appointments online.
Keep it accurate after setup
A profile is never really finished. Anyone can suggest edits to your listing, and Google sometimes applies them or updates details on its own. Sign in regularly, review any Google updates waiting for you and correct anything that is wrong.
Reply to reviews, add new photos as you finish jobs, post updates and keep hours current, especially around holidays. Make sure your name, address and phone match your website and the major directories you are listed in.
A simple monthly routine covers most of it: check the hours and any upcoming holidays, look for suggested edits, answer every new review and add a few new photos. Fifteen minutes a month keeps most profiles in good shape.
If you would rather hand this off, Northward's Google Business Profile Management service covers posts, photos, services and hours, review requests and replies, and keeping your listing consistent everywhere you are listed.
