Google Business Profile & Online Identity

1. 1

   Check eligibility first

   Read Google's Business Profile guidelines before you sign up. A business qualifies when it meets customers in person, either at its own location or at the customer's location. Online-only businesses do not qualify.

   If you go to customers, like most contractors and cleaners, set up as a service-area business and hide your home address. PO boxes, virtual offices and mailbox stores are not allowed as addresses. Breaking these rules can get the profile suspended, and getting it back can take weeks, so it pays to set it up correctly the first time.

   • Read Google's Business Profile guidelines
   • Decide storefront or service‑area business
   • Hide a home address if you work from home
   • Never use a PO box or virtual office
2. 2

   Core business facts

   Write down your master business facts before you fill in any listing. That includes your legal or trade business name, main phone number, address or service area, website, hours and main category. Use your real business name, with no extra keywords or city names added.

   These facts must match your website, your state registration and every directory. When Google sees the same name, phone and address in many places, it trusts the business more. Pick the primary category that best describes what you do, then add a few secondary categories for other main services.

   • Write one master list of business facts
   • Use your real name with no added keywords
   • Pick the closest primary category
   • Match the facts to your website footer
3. 3

   Ownership and access

   Create or claim the profile with a business Google account that you control, then complete verification. Google may verify by video, phone, text, email or mail, depending on the business. Follow its steps exactly and do not edit key details while verification is pending.

   Stay the primary owner. Add your marketer or office staff as managers, not owners, so they can help without being able to remove you. If someone else already claimed your listing, use Google's request access process. Review the list of people with access a few times a year and remove anyone who has left.

   • Claim the profile with a business account
   • Finish verification without editing details
   • Add helpers as managers, not owners
   • Review the access list a few times a year
4. 4

   Fill out the profile

   Complete every section that applies to you. Add hours, holiday hours, your service area, a plain description of what you do, every service you offer with a short note, and attributes such as payment types or accessibility.

   Use the same service names on the profile that you use on your website pages. Write the description for a customer, not for a search engine, and keep it honest. A complete, accurate profile gives Google more to work with when someone asks who does your kind of work nearby.

   • Fill in hours, holiday hours and service area
   • Write a plain, honest description
   • List every service with a short note
   • Match service names to your website
5. 5

   Photos, videos and posts

   Upload real photos of your work, your team, your vehicles and your location if customers visit it. Add a logo and a cover photo. Short phone videos of a job in progress work well. Skip stock photos and heavy filters.

   Add new photos as jobs finish, so the profile always looks active. Use Google posts to share a recent project, a seasonal reminder or an offer, with a link to the matching page on your website. A steady trickle of real updates looks better to customers than a big batch once a year.

   • Upload a logo, cover photo and job photos
   • Add short videos of real work
   • Post a recent project or update regularly
   • Link each post to a matching web page
6. 6

   Booking and calls

   Make it easy to reach you from the profile. Use a phone number that is answered during your listed hours. Google ended chat inside the profile, so if it offers you a text or WhatsApp button, turn it on only if someone will reply quickly. Add a booking or quote link that goes to a real page on your website.

   If you use a call tracking number, many local marketers suggest keeping your main number as an additional phone so your facts still match elsewhere. Test the call button, the website button and the booking link yourself from a phone. A missed call from your profile is often a job that goes to the next business on the list.

   • Use a phone number that gets answered
   • Add a text button only if you reply fast
   • Add a working booking or quote link
   • Test every button from a phone
7. 7

   Weekly and monthly care

   Check the profile every week. Reply to every new review, good or bad, in a calm and short way. Look for suggested edits from Google or the public and reject any that are wrong. Google has phased out the old questions section, and Maps now answers customer questions from your profile and reviews, so keep both accurate.

   Once a month, add fresh photos, post an update and check the performance numbers for calls, website clicks and direction requests. Update holiday hours before each holiday. Ask happy customers for reviews as part of finishing every job, using the review link from your profile, and never offer a reward in exchange for a review.

   • Reply to every review each week
   • Check for wrong suggested edits
   • Add photos and a post each month
   • Ask every happy customer for a review

General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice. See the Disclaimer.