Google Business Profile setup guide

A Google Business Profile setup takes about an hour if you have your details ready, plus a few days for verification. It is the free listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in the local results with your hours, phone, reviews and photos. For a local business it is often the single most valuable thing you can do online, and most profiles I look at are half-finished.

This guide goes through the setup in the order Google asks for it, then covers the settings that make a difference after verification. If you already have a profile, skip to the checklist sections and see what is missing.

Before you start: decide who owns it

Create or claim the profile with a Google account that belongs to the business owner, not to a web designer, an employee or an agency. You can add managers later and remove them when they leave. I see too many Canadian businesses locked out of their own profile because a former contractor set it up under their personal email. When I manage a profile, I am added as a manager and you stay the primary owner.

Have this ready:

• The exact business name as it appears on your signage, invoices and registration.
• Address (if customers visit you) or the list of areas you serve.
• Main phone number and website.
• Opening hours, including holiday hours.
• 10 to 20 real photos: outside, inside, team, work.

Step 1: Name, category and type of business

Use your real business name. Adding keywords or a city ("Smith Plumbing Winnipeg Best Emergency Plumber") breaks Google's guidelines and is a common reason for suspensions. If your legal name contains the city, that is fine.

The primary category has more influence on what searches you appear for than almost any other setting. Pick the most specific one that matches your core business: "Kitchen remodeler" rather than "Contractor" if kitchens are what you do. Then add secondary categories only for services you genuinely offer. Look at the top three competitors in the map for your main search and note their categories; it is a useful starting point.

Step 2: Location or service area

If customers come to you (a shop, clinic, salon, restaurant), enter your address. If you go to customers (cleaners, trades, mobile services) and you don't receive them at your address, choose a service-area business: enter your address for verification, then hide it and list the cities or regions you cover. A home-based business should not show a home address publicly. My article on SEO for service-area businesses explains how to rank without a storefront.

Never use a virtual office, a mailbox or a co-working desk you don't actually staff. Google checks, and profiles with fake addresses get removed.

Step 3: Verification

Google decides the verification method, and it varies. In recent years it is often a short video showing your signage, equipment or vehicle, proof of management and your location. Sometimes it is a phone call, text or email, and occasionally a postcard. Tips that save days:

• Record the video in one continuous take, starting outside and showing the business name.
• Make sure the details in the profile match your website and paperwork.
• Don't edit the name or address while verification is pending.

Step 4: The fields most owners leave empty

Once verified, the profile has many more fields. These are worth the time:

If your business serves both English and French speakers, write the description so it reads naturally to your main audience, and make sure the website behind the profile has both languages. See bilingual SEO for the details.

Step 5: Keep it alive

A profile that was set up once in 2021 and never touched looks abandoned to customers. A light routine is enough:

• Reply to every review within a few days, good or bad.
• Add a few photos each month from real jobs.
• Publish an update when something changes: new service, seasonal hours, a project you finished.
• Check the profile monthly for edits suggested by Google or the public. Anyone can suggest a change, and sometimes they get applied.
• Update hours before every statutory holiday.

Moving, rebranding or closing a location

Profiles go wrong most often during changes. If you move, edit the address in the existing profile instead of creating a new one, so you keep your reviews; expect Google to ask for verification again. If you rebrand, change the name only when the new signage is up, because Google may compare the profile with what is on the street. If a location closes for good, mark it as permanently closed rather than deleting it. A temporary closure for renovations or a winter break has its own setting, which keeps the profile from looking abandoned while you're away.

12 mistakes that cost calls

1. Keywords stuffed into the business name.
2. Wrong primary category.
3. Address shown for a home-based business.
4. Different phone numbers on the profile, website and directories.
5. No photos, or only a logo.
6. Hours not updated for holidays.
7. Website link pointing to a homepage that doesn't mention the service.
8. Reviews left unanswered for months.
9. Fake or purchased reviews.
10. Two profiles for the same business at the same address.
11. Profile owned by an ex-employee or former agency.
12. No tracking, so nobody knows how many calls it brings.

For the last point, Google shows calls, direction requests and website clicks in the profile performance view. Add UTM tags to the website link so visits show up separately in GA4.

Once the setup is complete, the next step is moving up in the map. That is covered in how to rank higher on Google Maps. If you'd rather hand the profile off along with the rest of the work, it is part of my local SEO service. And for a printable version of the steps above, use the free Google Business Profile checklist.