Google Business Profile optimisation: a checklist for this week

Google Business Profile optimisation means making your free Google listing complete, accurate and active: the right primary category, your services, current hours, good photos and a steady stream of reviews you reply to. Do that and you give Google what it says it uses to match your business to local searches, though nobody can promise a position.

The profile is the box with your name, map pin, phone number and reviews that appears when someone searches for a business like yours nearby. Many people, and older guides, still call it Google My Business. The checklist below can be done in an afternoon, then kept up in minutes a month.

What Google says it looks at

Google’s help page on improving your local ranking says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the searcher. Prominence is how well known you are, and Google cites links from other websites and your number of reviews.

The page also says that complete, accurate information helps Google match you to the right searches, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So optimisation is about the things you control: relevance and prominence. Distance is outside your hands.

Step 1: Claim and verify the profile

Search for your business name on Google. If a profile already exists, you can claim it. If not, you can create one. Google says verifying tells it you are authorised to represent the business, which makes the listing more likely to appear in results.

Check who else has access. Use a business email you control, and make sure an owner or manager role sits with someone in your business, not only with the person who built your website. Our guide on who owns your website covers why.

Step 2: Use your real name, address and service area

Google’s guidelines for representing your business say your name should reflect the real-world name used on your signage, website and stationery. Adding unnecessary information, such as marketing taglines, service descriptions, phone numbers or location details, is not permitted and can lead to suspension.

So “Smith Plumbing” is right, and “Smith Plumbing Emergency Plumber Perth 24/7 Cheap” is not. Keyword stuffing in the name is a quick way to lose the listing.

Be precise on location, too. Google says to use an accurate address and/or service area, and that PO boxes and mailboxes at remote locations are not acceptable. A business should have one profile, and a rented mailing address where you do not operate is not eligible. If you travel to customers, describe the area you serve rather than inventing a shopfront.

Step 3: Choose categories carefully

Google’s help page on editing business information says to select the category that best matches what your business does, to choose a specific primary category, and to avoid using categories as keywords. Your primary category matters most, so choose the one that describes your main income, not a general one like “Business” if a trade or profession fits.

Then check the competitors who appear on top for your main search. Look at which categories they show, and add any that genuinely describe a real part of your work. If you do not offer a service, do not add the category.

Step 4: Fill in services, description and attributes

The same help page covers the other fields:

• Services. List each service you offer, with accurate prices if you show prices. Use customers’ words, such as “blocked drain repair”, instead of internal jargon.
• Description. It appears in the “From the business” section. Google says to avoid URLs or HTML, keep it under 750 characters and focus on the business itself rather than promotions or prices. Write two or three plain sentences on what you do, who for and where.
• Attributes. These tell customers more about your business, such as outdoor seating. You can edit factual ones, but some depend on user opinions.
• Hours. Set main hours, and special hours for public holidays and closures. Customers act on these, so check them this week.

Google reviews changes before they go live, so check your listing again a day or two later.

Step 5: Add real photos

Google’s local ranking page says you can show customers what you offer, and tell the story of your business, with photos and videos. Use your own, not stock images:

• Your logo and a clear photo of the front of the premises, or your van and uniform for a mobile business.
• Your team, so customers know who will turn up.
• Finished work, and the inside of the space for a shop, clinic or gym.
• Your products or menu, where relevant.

Add a few each month and remove anything out of date. Get permission before you show customers or their homes.

Step 6: Earn reviews and reply to them

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and that replying to reviews shows you value feedback. The reliable method is to ask every customer who is pleased with your work, soon after the job, with a direct link to your review form. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews has a method that works for any local business. Do not write reviews yourself, and read Google’s review policies before offering anything in return.

Reply to every review. Thank people briefly and use their first name if shown. For a complaint, acknowledge the problem, say what you will do and offer a phone number. Keep it civil, because future customers read the replies too.

Step 7: Posts and questions

Depending on your account and country, your dashboard may let you add posts, such as a current offer or an update, and may show questions from customers. Google changes which features are available, so check what yours offers rather than relying on an old article. If a questions feature appears on your listing, answer them promptly and accurately, and put the answers to common ones on your website as well.

What to avoid

• Creating a second profile for the same business, or one for an address where you do not operate.
• Changing the name to include services or suburbs.
• Choosing categories for services you do not provide.
• Leaving old photos, closed hours and unanswered reviews on the listing for months.

Google’s guidelines say that not following them can lead to changes to your information or, in some cases, removal of your business information from Google.

Keep the profile and the website in step

Your profile points to your website, so make sure the page it lands on is the right one. Link to a page about your main service or your contact page, and avoid a slow or confusing one. The name, phone number, address and hours should be the same on both. Schema markup can label those details on your site, and our guide to local SEO for a small business shows how the profile fits with pages and links. For trades specifically, there is more in Google Business Profile for tradies.

Your Google Business Profile optimisation checklist for this week

1. Search for your business and confirm you can log in as an owner.
2. Check the name matches your signage exactly, with nothing added.
3. Confirm the address or service area, and the phone number.
4. Pick the most specific primary category, then add genuine extras.
5. List every service you offer, in your customers’ words.
6. Write a description under 750 characters with no web addresses.
7. Set regular and holiday hours.
8. Upload ten real photos.
9. Ask your last ten happy customers for a review, and reply to every existing one.
10. Put a reminder in your diary once a month to check hours, photos and new reviews.

If you would rather have this handled, CentriWeb’s marketing work includes setting up and maintaining the profile alongside reviews and reporting, for local service businesses and others.