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Google Business Profile optimisation: what moves you up the map, step by step
Michele Caddeo ·
Google Business Profile optimisation means filling in your free profile the way Google’s rules ask: the right primary category, your real business name, hours, photos, services and a steady flow of reviews you answer. Google says local results rest mainly on relevance, distance and how well known you are, and that there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So be wary of anyone who sells one.
Before creating a profile, search for your business on Google Maps. Often it already exists, even if you never opened it: a customer may have added it, or whoever built your website years ago.
What decides your place on the map?
Google says local results rest mainly on three things, and that the details stay confidential (Google).
Local ranking
Three factors, and how much is in your hands
Relevance
In your handsHow well your profile matches the search: category, services, description.
Distance
Little to doHow far you are from the person searching.
Prominence
Partly yoursHow well known you are: links to your website and your number of reviews count.
Paying for a spot
Not possibleGoogle: there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
How do you set it up, step by step?
- Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account. Note which one: whoever holds that account holds the profile.
- Search for your business. If it shows “Claim this business”, nobody has verified it yet.
- Use the name on your sign. Google’s guidelines forbid marketing taglines and extra words in the name, and profiles that break the guidelines can be suspended (guidelines).
- Pick one primary category, the most precise. It describes what your business is.
- Address or service area. If you go to customers, hide the address and set up to 20 service areas, within about 2 hours’ drive (service areas).
- Verify. Google offers a method: phone, email, a video call or a recorded video, sometimes a postcard. The review takes up to 5 business days (verification).
- Complete the profile, as below.
A complete profile
Five things Google can show
Hours
Including special hours for holidays, so you show as open when you are.
Description
Up to 750 characters: what you do, for whom and where. No links, no promotions.
Services or products
And the attributes Google offers you, such as wheelchair access.
Real photos
Of your place, your work and your team.
Your website
With the same name, address, phone and hours, word for word.
The description limit is in Google’s editing guide.
How do you fix hours changed by someone else?
Anyone on Maps can suggest an edit, and Google updates profiles with information from other sources. Information changed by Google shows in blue in the profile editor. You have 4 days to accept or reject a suggested edit; if you don’t respond, Google may publish it when other public information supports it, such as your website (Google updates).
So keep the right hours on your website too. If the site is out of date, it backs the wrong edit.
How do you get reviews, and answer them?
Google gives you a link and a QR code to share with customers. Offer nothing in return, not even a discount: Google calls that fake engagement and prohibits it (Google).
What customers read
Recent reviews, and enough of them
74%
of consumers only care about reviews written in the last three months
47%
won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews
Source: BrightLocal. In the same survey, slow or generic replies are increasingly seen as a red flag. Reply to every review in your own words, naming what the customer wrote. To criticism, reply calmly, apologise if you got it wrong and leave a phone number or email to put it right.
Should you do it yourself or pay a service?
You can do all of it yourself; it takes an afternoon and then a few minutes a week. A service is worth it if it fills in the profile well and keeps it current, with nothing you couldn’t check.
Be wary of a call from someone “working with Google” who asks for money for the profile. Google says it will never ask for payment information over the phone or guarantee you a special spot (Google).
If someone helps you, don’t give them your password. Add them as a manager: they can edit the profile and reply to reviews, but can’t remove people or delete it. New owners and managers wait 7 days before they can remove others or transfer primary ownership (owners and managers). Keep primary ownership yourself.
Does the profile bring you customers?
Open “Performance”: you see how many people viewed the profile, with which searches, and how many called, asked for directions or opened your website. The data is there only for verified profiles (performance).
The profile sends people to your website, and the site has to answer them. For a local business, a few pages are often enough: see the guide to the brochure website. If you want to see your home page before deciding, the fixed-price prototype costs €450, no VAT added, and comes off the quote in full if we go ahead within 60 days.
