A Google Business Profile checklist for local visibility.
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Maps. This checklist covers the details to complete, how verification works, what to add over time, how to handle reviews and the monthly habits that keep a profile accurate.
- Complete every field with accurate, consistent information, then verify the profile.
- Add real photos, your services and regular updates, and answer reviews politely.
- Check it monthly, because wrong hours or a wrong phone number cost customers quietly.
6 min readPublished By Domeq Solutions
What is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is a free listing that controls how your business appears when people search for you on Google, and when they look for a service near them on Google Maps. It can show your name, address or service area, opening hours, phone number, website, photos, services and reviews.
For a business that serves customers in a place, it is often the first thing a customer sees, before the website. A complete, accurate profile makes a business easy to find and easy to trust. An incomplete or outdated one sends customers to a competitor.
The name Google uses and the exact features it offers change from time to time. Treat the labels below as a guide and follow what you see on screen.
For local searches, your profile is often the first page a customer meets.
Which details should you complete first?
Start with the facts customers need to reach you. Accuracy matters more than anything else: a wrong phone number or closing time creates a bad first experience before you have spoken to anyone.
Eight details to complete.
- The business name exactly as customers know it, without extra keywords added
- The right primary category, plus a few accurate secondary ones
- Your address, or your service area if customers do not visit you
- Phone number and website address that work
- Opening hours, including holiday changes
- A short description that says what you do and who you help
- The services or products you offer, with short descriptions
- Attributes that apply to you, such as online appointments or accessibility features
Keep the name, address and phone number the same here, on your website and on every other listing.
How does verification work?
Google asks businesses to verify that they are real and that they are the owner before most changes show publicly. The method varies by business and location, and may be a code sent by post, a call, a text message, an email or a short video.
Verify with an account that the business controls, and not with a personal account of someone who may leave. Add a second owner or manager so that the profile is never locked behind one person.
Do not create duplicate profiles for the same location, and do not list a place you do not really operate from. Both break Google's rules and can lead to suspension.
What should you add after the basics?
Once the profile is verified, the details that set it apart are photographs, updates and the questions people ask. They show the business is active.
Five things to add over the first month.
Real photographs
Add your premises, team, products and work. Photos of the real business are more trusted than stock images.
Services and products
List each one with a plain description. Customers search by what they need.
A logo and a cover image
Use sharp images that match the brand on your website and social profiles.
Posts and updates
Share offers, news and events regularly. A profile with recent posts looks alive.
Links to the right pages
Point the website link, and any booking or enquiry link, at the page that helps most, and tag them with the UTM link builder to see what they bring.
How should you handle reviews?
Reviews are among the strongest signals on a profile, because they are other customers speaking. Ask happy customers to leave one, make it easy with a link, and never offer a reward for a positive review or write reviews yourself. Both break Google's rules and damage trust when discovered.
Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and briefly. A calm, specific answer to a complaint shows future customers how you treat people when something goes wrong.
Five review mistakes.
Buying or writing reviews
Fake reviews break the rules and can be removed, along with the profile's standing.
Ignoring negative reviews
An unanswered complaint reads as indifference. Reply, apologise where it is fair and offer to resolve it offline.
Arguing in public
Keep replies short and factual. The audience is the next customer, not the reviewer.
Only asking happy customers by hand
Build asking into the routine, so that reviews arrive steadily instead of in bursts.
Never saying thank you
A short thanks to positive reviewers shows the business is engaged.
What should you check every month?
A profile is not finished once it is verified. Hours change, services change and customers ask questions. A short monthly pass keeps it accurate.
A five-minute monthly check.
- Confirm opening hours, including any special days coming up
- Check the phone number, address and website still work
- Add one or two new photographs and a post
- Reply to any new reviews and questions
- Look at the profile's search and call figures, and note what changes
How does the profile connect to your website?
The profile and the website support each other. Customers who click through should land on a fast, clear page that matches what the profile promised, and the website should repeat the same business name, address and phone number. The website launch checklist covers the site side, and SEO covers how the pieces work together.
Not sure how your site looks to a first-time visitor? Run it through the free website audit, and for the small-business context see digital marketing for small businesses.
From a local search to an enquiry.
Searches
Looks for a service nearby.
Sees the profile
Reads the hours, photos and reviews.
Calls or clicks
Phones, asks for directions or opens the site.
Lands on the website
Finds a fast page that matches the promise.
Enquires
Sends a message or books.
Questions, answered.
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating and managing a profile costs nothing. Paid advertising on Google is separate and optional.
Do I need a physical shop to have a Google Business Profile?
No. Businesses that serve customers at their location or online can list a service area instead of a public address. The profile must represent a real business that serves customers.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?
It depends on the method Google offers for your business. Some methods are quick, and a postal code can take longer. Follow the steps shown on screen, and do not create a second profile while you wait.
Can I choose my own categories on Google Business Profile?
You choose from Google's list. Pick the one that best describes your main business as the primary category, and add a few accurate secondary ones. Accuracy matters more than the number.
Should I add keywords to my business name on Google?
No. The name should match how your business appears in the real world. Adding keywords breaks Google's guidelines and can lead to the profile being edited or suspended.
How do I get more Google reviews?
Ask satisfied customers at the right moment, and give them a direct link to your review page. Never pay for reviews, offer a reward or write them yourself.
Does Domeq help with Google Business Profiles?
Profiles are part of the wider local search picture that SEO and digital marketing work covers. Domeq plans this around your business and your website.
Keep reading.
More guides on the same topic, and on the ones around it.
- Keyword Research for a Small Business: A Step-by-Step MethodLearn keyword research for a small business: list what customers search, group the terms by intent, check the results and choose one phrase per page.SEO
- How to Set Up Google Search Console and Google AnalyticsSet up Google Search Console and Google Analytics for a new website: a step-by-step guide, how to connect them and mistakes to avoid.SEO
- On-Page SEO Checklist: 20 Checks for Every Page You PublishAn on-page SEO checklist of 20 checks for titles, headings, content, images, links and structured data, to run on each page before and after you publish.SEO
Keep going.
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