The short answerA Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business in Google Maps and in the local results beside a search. Claim it, verify it, choose the right primary category, set your service area and hours, add real photos, and keep the name, address and phone number identical to your website. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and a complete, accurate profile is the part of that you control.
What it is and why it matters
When somebody searches for a trade and a place, Google often shows a map with a few businesses before the ordinary website results. Those entries come from Google Business Profiles, not from websites. A business with no profile, or an unclaimed one, is at a disadvantage in that box however good its site is.
The profile is free. You manage it from Google Search or Maps while signed in to the Google account that owns it.
Claim it and verify it
Search for your business name on Google Maps. If a listing already exists, there will be an option to claim it. If not, create one. Google will ask you to verify that the business is real and yours, by a method it chooses, which may be a phone call, a text, an email, a postcard or a short video.
Use a Google account that belongs to the business owner. Add employees or agencies as managers. Listings set up on a former employee's personal account are a common and avoidable headache.
The fields that matter most
Fill in everything, but spend your care on these.
- Business name: your real name as it appears on your truck and paperwork. Adding extra keywords or town names to it is against Google's guidelines and can get a listing suspended.
- Primary category: the single best description of what you are, such as Roofing contractor or Plumber. Add secondary categories for other real lines of work.
- Service area: if you go to customers, list the towns or areas you serve. If customers do not come to your address, you can hide the address.
- Hours: keep them accurate, and set special hours for holidays.
- Phone and website: the same number and address you show on your site.
- Services: list them individually, with short descriptions.
Photos, posts and reviews
Add photos of finished work, your vehicles, your team and your premises if you have them. Real ones. Add a few more whenever you finish a job worth showing. A profile with recent photos looks like a business that is trading.
Posts are short updates that appear on the profile. They are optional. An occasional post about a seasonal service or a recent job is plenty.
Your Google reviews are attached to this profile. Find your review link in the profile tools, save it, and send it to customers after a job. Reply to reviews, good and bad, from the same place.
Google's policies prohibit offering anything in exchange for a review and prohibit asking only happy customers. Ask everybody, the same way.
How Google says it ranks local results
Google's own help pages name three factors. Relevance is how well your profile matches what was searched. Distance is how far you are from the searcher or the place they named. Prominence is how well known the business is, which Google says draws on things like links, articles, directories, and review count and rating.
You cannot change distance. You can make relevance clear with accurate categories and services, and you can build prominence slowly by doing good work and asking for reviews.
Common mistakes
Most profile problems I see are one of these.
- A duplicate listing from an old address or phone number.
- A phone number on the profile that differs from the one on the website.
- Hours that were never updated.
- A virtual office or mailbox used as an address, which Google's guidelines do not allow.
- Nobody knowing which Google account owns the listing.
A ten-minute check once a month
A profile is not a thing you set up once. Google and members of the public can suggest edits to it, and some of those edits go live. Put ten minutes in your calendar each month and run down this list.
- Search for your business name and your trade on your phone and look at the listing as a customer sees it.
- Check the phone number, the hours and the website link are still yours and still right.
- Read any new reviews and reply to them.
- Look for questions people have asked on the profile and answer them yourself.
- Add one or two photos from this month's jobs.
- Check the list of people with access and remove anybody who no longer works with you.
If somebody else holds your listing
If your business is already claimed by an account you do not control, start with the person. A former employee or an old marketing company can add you as an owner in a minute if they are willing. Ask in writing.
If you cannot reach them, begin to claim the listing and Google will offer a way to request access from the current owner. If they do not respond, Google has a process for the real business to verify and take it over. It takes patience. Do not create a second listing to get around it, because duplicates cause problems of their own.
Where I come in
Every Novyx website is linked to the owner's Google Business Profile with matching details.
Questions people ask
Does a Google Business Profile cost anything?
No. Creating and managing a profile is free. Be wary of calls claiming to be from Google that ask for payment to keep your listing.
Can I have a profile without a shop or office?
Yes. A business that travels to its customers can list as a service-area business and hide its street address, showing the areas it serves instead.
Can I add my town or services to my business name?
Only if that is your real business name. Google's guidelines say the name should match what you use in the real world, and stuffed names risk suspension.
How often should I update it?
Whenever something changes, and otherwise a look once a month. Check the hours, add a photo or two, and reply to any new reviews.