A Google Business Profile checklist for local firms

A Google Business Profile is the listing that shows your business on Google Maps and beside local search results. For a clinic, a trade or a shop, it is often the first thing a nearby customer sees, before your website. This checklist covers what to set up once and what to check each month.

Set up your Google Business Profile once #

• Name. Your real business name, as it appears on your sign. Adding a town or a service to the name breaks Google's rules.
• Main category. The one that matches what customers search for, such as "Physiotherapist" rather than "Health".
• Address or service area. An address if customers visit you, a service area if you go to them.
• Hours. Opening hours, plus holiday hours before each bank holiday.
• Services. Each service in plain words, with a short line on what it includes.
• Photos. The outside, so people recognise it, the inside, and the team at work.

Google's own guidelines for representing your business list what the name and address may include. Read them once before you change anything.

Check it each month #

Anyone can suggest an edit to a profile, and Google sometimes accepts them. Once a month, open the profile and check the name, hours, phone number and website link. Then answer any reviews you have missed.

Ratings matter for both trust and ranking. Our guide on how to earn more ratings gives a way to ask that does not feel pushy.

Link the profile to the right page #

Point the website link at the page that best matches the main category, not always your home page. A plumber whose main category is "Plumber" should link to a page about plumbing in their area.

If you do not have that page yet, read how to write a local landing page first. Our case study of a family plumber shows the profile and the pages working together.