The Google Business Profile checklist for local businesses
For a local business, the map listing is frequently the first and only thing a customer looks at. It costs nothing and takes an afternoon to do properly, which makes it the most obvious win available.
Get the category right first
Your primary category has more influence than almost anything else you can control. Choose the one that describes what you mainly do, not the broadest option available, then add secondary categories for genuine additional services.
Make the details match your website exactly
Business name, address, phone number and opening hours should be identical wherever they appear. Inconsistency between your listing, your website and old directory entries makes it harder for search engines to be confident it's all the same business.
Photos of real work, added regularly
Listings with genuine, recent photography get more clicks than those with a logo and nothing else. A handful of before-and-after shots or finished jobs, added monthly, is enough.
Reviews: ask, honestly and often
Ask every satisfied customer at the moment the job finishes, when goodwill is highest. Reply to every review, including the awkward ones — a calm, factual reply to a complaint reassures the next reader more than a perfect five-star average.
Where people get it wrong
Keyword-stuffing the business name, listing service areas you don't cover, and setting up in a location you don't actually operate from. All three can get a listing suspended, and recovering one is far harder than setting it up correctly.
Keep reading
- What is local SEO, in plain English?How local search actually works, and the handful of things that genuinely move the needle for a local business.
- What should be on a small business homepage?A practical running order for the one page almost everyone sees first.
- Website speed: why it matters and what actually slows a site downSpeed is a ranking factor and an enquiry factor. The usual culprits are simpler than most people expect.