How to set up and improve your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business name, address, phone number, hours, and reviews whenever someone searches for what you do nearby. It is the single most useful thing most local businesses can set up, and it costs nothing.

This guide walks through claiming it, verifying it, and filling it in properly. For how the map list actually decides who to show, see the complete guide to getting found on Google.

Claim your profile

Go to google.com/business and search for your business name and address. If a listing already exists (Google often creates a basic one automatically), claim it. If nothing comes up, create a new one.

You will need to choose one primary category, which is the type of business you are (for example "Plumber" or "Electrician"), and confirm whether customers visit your premises or you go to them. Get the primary category right. It is one of the strongest signals Google uses to decide which searches your business should appear for.

Verify it

Google needs to confirm the business is real and at the address given. Verification is usually done by postcard sent to your business address, though a phone or email option sometimes appears depending on your business type and history with Google. The postcard takes about a week and contains a code you enter back into the profile.

Do not skip this step or leave it half-done. An unverified profile will not appear on the map, however complete the rest of it is.

Set your service area properly

If you work at your own premises, a shop or a clinic, your address is shown as-is. If you travel to customers, a plumber, an electrician, a cleaner, set a service area instead. List the specific towns or postcodes you actually cover rather than a huge radius that includes places you rarely reach. A tighter, accurate area helps Google match you to the right nearby searches, and it sets honest expectations for customers.

Add every service you offer

Under the services section, list each thing you do individually rather than one vague summary. A bathroom fitter should list bathroom installation, tiling, and plumbing separately rather than writing "bathroom services". Add a short, plain description to each one. This is one of the few places where being specific pays off directly: it is how Google matches your profile to the exact words people type.

Fill in hours, and keep them accurate

Set your regular opening hours, and update them for bank holidays and any days you are closed. A profile that says "open" when you are not answers the phone is a fast way to lose a customer's trust before you have even spoken to them. If your hours change seasonally, put a reminder in your calendar to update them.

Add real photos

Upload photos of your actual work, your van or premises, and your team if you are comfortable with that. A cover photo and logo are the minimum. Profiles with more photos, and with photos added regularly rather than all at once when the profile was created, tend to get more attention from both Google and the people viewing them. Never use stock photos. Customers can tell, and it undermines the trust you are trying to build.

Write a clear business description

Google gives you space for a short description of the business. Use plain language: what you do, where you do it, and what makes you a sensible choice. Avoid stuffing it with a long list of everything you have ever done. One or two honest, well-written paragraphs beat a wall of text nobody reads.

Post updates

The Posts feature lets you share short updates directly on your profile: a recent job, a seasonal offer, a note about opening hours over a holiday. Posts do not need to be frequent to be worthwhile, but a profile that has not posted anything in a year looks abandoned next to one that is clearly active. Once a month is a reasonable minimum for most small businesses.

Turn on messaging and Q&A

If you are happy to field enquiries this way, turn on the messaging feature so people can ask a quick question before calling. Check the Q&A section for questions other people have asked or answered on your behalf, since anyone can post there, and correct anything inaccurate.

Keep it maintained

A profile is not a one-off job. Respond to reviews as they come in (covered in full in our guide on getting more Google reviews), update your hours around holidays, add a new photo now and then, and check every few months that your services and description still match what you actually offer. An active, accurate profile is one of the clearest signals you can send that your business is real, open, and worth choosing.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your profile, or help putting the rest of your presence in place, you can see how we help local businesses get found.