If you’ve created or claimed a Google Business Profile, you’ve probably already added core information about your business: name, address, hours, phone number and website. For someone who isn’t familiar with your business, this profile might be their first introduction to your brand. It’s important to make that impression count. If your profile only includes the essentials, you’re missing opportunities to give potential customers a better sense of your business.
Companies can add photos, describe their services, provide additional information about their business and share updates with customers. Some of these details may have been left out when you first created your profile, while others may no longer be accurate. Even a profile that was fully complete can become outdated as your business changes. Keeping your Google Business Profile accurate, complete and up to date is an ongoing process, not a one-time task.
Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
The different elements of a profile give you opportunities to present your brand, provide useful information, manage your reputation and make it easier for potential customers to take action.
Business Information
Your business name, address, phone number, website and hours are some of the first details you’ll add to a Google Business Profile, and it’s a pretty straightforward process. What’s important is ensuring that your information is accurate and adheres to Google’s guidelines.
Business Name
The business name on your profile should match what your company features on storefront signage, your website or other customer-facing materials. A legally registered DBA can be used if it’s the name you use to represent the business.
Google does not permit companies to pad their business names with extra information to improve visibility. Google may also require real-world evidence that a name is being used as represented. Violating these rules can lead to profile suspensions.
Categories
Categories help Google understand what your business does and can affect how relevant your profile is considered for related local searches. Every profile must have a primary category that best describes the business as a whole. Profile managers can optionally add up to nine secondary categories to describe other parts of the business.
Google specifically recommends using as few categories as necessary and choosing only categories that accurately describe the business. Categories shouldn’t be treated as a list of keywords or a way to describe features your business has.
Address/Service Area
Businesses with a location that customers visit must use their physical addresses; P.O. boxes or remote mailboxes are not acceptable. If your company operates from multiple locations, each location must have its own Business Profile.
Service-area businesses work differently. If customers don’t visit your business at its address, you should hide the address on your profile and instead specify the areas you serve. You can include specific cities, ZIP codes or other geographic areas. A business that serves customers at its location and also travels to them can display its address while also setting a service area.
Contact Details
Including your phone number and website is pretty straightforward, but it is easy to forget about these small details over time, especially if/when they change. Make sure the phone number connects customers with the business and that the website URL leads to your current website.
Business Description
Filling out the business description on your profile provides more context about your company, what it offers and what makes it different from the competition. Use this space to describe your business in a way that gives potential customers a better understanding of what they can expect from you.
Business Hours
Few things are more frustrating for potential or current customers than checking Google before making a call or driving somewhere, only to discover that the business isn’t actually open when they said they would be online.
Your regular business hours should reflect when customers can actually visit or reach your business. Make a note to update these hours as they change, just like contact details.
Google also allows profile managers to set special hours when your normal schedule changes temporarily. These edits do not affect your standard business hours, making them very useful for holidays, special events or other exceptional circumstances.
Reviews and Visual Content
Reviews, photos and videos give profile viewers a sense of what it’s like to do business with you. Unlike your basic information, a lot of this content comes directly from your customers; what they show or say about you online shapes your reputation (for better or worse).
Reviews and Ratings
When reviews come in, make a point of responding to them. Thanking customers for praise and positive feedback demonstrates your appreciation while reinforcing the parts of the customer experience you want people to associate with your business.
Negative reviews demand attention. Rather than ignoring criticism or becoming defensive, acknowledge the customer’s concerns professionally. If a situation calls for more discussion or involves private information, invite the customer to continue the conversation offline. A measured, thoughtful response probably won’t change the review, but it at least shows readers that you take criticism seriously.
Photos and Videos
Profile managers and visitors alike can add photos and videos. Businesses can use their own uploads to show off their location, products, services, staff, facilities or other aspects of the customer experience.
Because customers can post reviews, photos and videos to your profile, you don’t have complete control over what appears on it. You can’t simply remove these contributions because you disagree with something or don’t like how it represents your business.
If you believe something a customer posted violates Google’s policies, you can report it for review. However, Google ultimately makes the final decision about whether reported content gets removed or not.
Additional Profile Features
Depending on what your company offers, you can use additional features to showcase products and services, share timely information, highlight useful details and make it easier for customers to book or order.
Products or Services
Service businesses can use this space to highlight specific services, while businesses that sell products can showcase individual offerings. Adding these details gives searchers a clearer idea of what your business provides, as well as whether your business is the right fit for what a customer is looking for. Make sure that these listings are accurate; if they’re not, remove or update anything you no longer offer.
Updates
This section provides a place to share timely information. You can use Updates to announce events, highlight promotions, share news or draw attention to something new at your business. By using this section, you put current information in front of people who find your business on Google rather than waiting for them to navigate to your website or another channel for the latest information.
Attributes
Attributes let businesses highlight specific characteristics, amenities or services that may be useful to customers. These can include details about accessibility, parking, payment options, amenities and other features of a business. For some customers, these details matter and may factor into deciding whether or not a business meets their needs.
Booking and Ordering Links
If you accept appointments, reservations or orders, you can add links to your profile that enable customers to take those actions more directly. These links can make it easier for someone who has already found the business to move directly from researching it to taking the next step.
