Setting up your Google Business Profile properly

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Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a new customer sees: before your website, before your shop front, sometimes before they've even decided to visit. A complete, accurate profile helps people find you, trust you and get to your door. This guide walks through setting one up properly.

Google changes the Business Profile screens fairly often, so the exact buttons may look different. The principles stay the same.

Claim or create your profile

Start by searching for your business on Google Maps. There are two possibilities:

• Your business already appears. Someone (a customer, or Google itself) may have created a listing. Choose the option to claim or manage it.
• It doesn't appear. Create a new profile with your business name, category and location.

Use your real business name

Enter the name customers see on your signboard, receipts and website. Don't add extra keywords or locations to the name, such as "Best Salon in Pune". Google's guidelines don't allow it, and it can lead to the profile being suspended.

Verify the business

Google needs to confirm that you really run the business before your edits go live and before you can reply to reviews as the owner. Depending on your business, Google may offer verification by phone, email, video recording, a postcard sent to your address, or another method. Follow the instructions it shows you. Verification can take some time, so start early.

Choose the right categories

Your primary category is one of the most important settings on the profile. It tells Google what kind of business you are and affects which searches you appear in.

1. Pick the most specific primary category that describes your main business, for example "Hair salon" rather than "Beauty".
2. Add a few secondary categories only if they genuinely apply.
3. Don't add categories for services you don't offer.

Fill in the essentials

A complete profile answers the questions customers would otherwise call you about.

Address or service area

If customers visit you, enter your exact address and check the pin on the map. If you visit customers instead (for example, a home tutor or an appliance repair service), set a service area and hide your address.

Hours

Add your regular opening hours, and update special hours for festivals and holidays. Few things annoy a customer more than arriving at a closed shop that Google said was open.

Phone number and website

Use a number that someone actually answers during business hours. If you have a website, link to it; if you take bookings online, add the booking link.

Description and attributes

Write a short, plain description of what you offer and who you serve. Add relevant attributes, such as wheelchair accessibility, payment options or whether you offer appointments. Keep it factual and avoid promotional language.

Add good photos

Photos help customers recognise your place and get a feel for it. Useful ones include:

• The outside of the building, so people can find the entrance.
• The inside, showing the space customers will use.
• Your team at work.
• Your products, dishes or results, where appropriate.

Use real photos taken in good light. Avoid stock images, and replace photos when your space changes.

A profile that looks cared for suggests a business that cares for its customers.

Make it easy to leave reviews

Once your profile is verified, Google gives you a link that opens the review box directly. Share it with customers in ways that fit your business: on a QR code at the counter, on a card your staff can hand over, or in a follow-up message after an appointment. Remember to make it available to every customer, not only the ones you expect to be happy.

Reply to reviews

Replying shows that someone is listening. Thank people for positive reviews, and respond calmly and helpfully to negative ones. Keep personal details out of your replies.

Keep it up to date

A profile isn't a one-time job. Set a reminder to review it every month or two:

• Are the hours, phone number and photos still correct?
• Have you added special hours for upcoming holidays?
• Are there unanswered reviews or questions?

The takeaway

Claim and verify your profile, choose an accurate primary category, fill in every essential detail, add real photos and keep everything current. It's an afternoon's work that keeps paying back every time a customer searches for you.