How to optimise your Google Business Profile, step by step
Published on 2 min read
When someone searches for a service “near me” or in their town, the first thing they usually see is not a website but a map with three business listings. That listing is your Google Business Profile, and for many local searches it matters more than your website. The good news: it is free and almost all of it is in your hands.
Categories and the basics
Your primary category is one of the most important factors on the profile: it should describe what you do as precisely as possible, not generically. Add secondary categories for each relevant service.
Name, address or service area, phone number and opening hours must match exactly across your profile, your website and any directory. Small differences — an abbreviation, an old number — confuse Google. And use your real business name: stuffing keywords into it breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
Description, services and photos
Use the description to explain what you do, for whom and where, in natural language. Fill in the services section with names that match what people actually search for.
Real photos — the premises, the team, finished work — build more trust than stock images. Add a few every month: a profile with recent activity signals a business that is alive.
Reviews: asking and replying
Ask for a review at the moment of greatest satisfaction, with a direct link so nobody has to search for you. Sending it on WhatsApp right after the job is done works far better than asking weeks later.
Reply to every review, good and bad, specifically. Faced with criticism, a polite reply that offers a solution carries more weight with the next customer than the complaint itself. Never buy reviews or offer discounts in exchange: Google prohibits it and can remove them.
Posts and the right links
Profile posts let you announce news, offers or blog articles, and they keep the listing active. You do not need to post daily; regularly is enough.
Link the profile to the page on your website for that area or service, not always to the home page. And if you work by appointment, add your booking link: every step you save the customer is one more booking.