Six concrete actions to get more from your Google Business Profile

Google is direct about this one: businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search results, and a profile with outdated or missing details might not show up for relevant searches at all. None of that requires an agency. It requires sitting down for a couple of hours and working through six things in order, then checking in on them monthly. Here's the fixed list, aimed at an owner doing this themselves rather than handing it off.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: improve your local ranking

1. Confirm you actually control the listing

Search your business name and city on Google Maps before you do anything else. Google auto-generates listings from public data constantly, so there's a real chance one already exists, half-complete, that nobody at your business has claimed. If it exists, claim it. If it doesn't, create one through Google Business Profile Manager.

• Verify through whichever method Google offers you — phone, email, or postcard, depending on your business type and history.
• Set yourself as the primary owner, and add at least one backup owner you trust. Listings get orphaned constantly because the one person with login access left the business.
• If your business changed name or address recently, expect Google to ask you to re-verify — that's normal, not a sign something's wrong.

2. Fill in every field, in the order that matters

An unclaimed or half-filled profile is effectively invisible next to a complete one. Work through these fields specifically, because they're the ones owners skip:

• Business name — your real, legal operating name. No extra keywords stuffed in; it looks amateurish and Google penalizes it.
• Address or service area — a full list of every city or county you actually serve, not an optimistic radius stretching well past where you actually work.
• Hours, including holiday hours, set before the holiday, not after a customer shows up to a locked door.
• Phone number and website, matching exactly what's printed everywhere else you're listed.
• A business description that answers one question: why you, and not the other five options on the map. Skip generic phrases like 'quality service' — name something specific, like same-day appointments or how long you've served the area.

3. Pick one precise category, not the broadest one that fits

Your primary category is one of the strongest signals Google uses to match your listing to a search. Choose the single description that most precisely answers 'what is this business' — not the category that technically covers the most ground. A bakery that also sells coffee should pick 'Bakery,' not 'Restaurant,' even though both technically apply.

1. 01Choose one primary category that's as specific as your actual work allows.
2. 02Add two to four secondary categories only for services you genuinely offer.
3. 03Skip the temptation to add ten categories to catch more searches — a diluted profile can rank worse than a narrow, accurate one.
4. 04Make sure your website actually describes the same services your categories claim. A mismatch between the two is something Google can detect.

4. Add photos that prove the business is active

A handful of blurry photos from years ago tells a searcher the business might be closed, whether or not that's true. Aim for a specific set rather than a random pile:

• An exterior shot so someone can spot your storefront from the street.
• Interior shots of the actual space, not a stock photo of a generic waiting room.
• A team photo — faces build trust faster than a paragraph of copy.
• Real project or product photos, including before-and-after shots if your work is visual (landscaping, remodeling, detailing).

Shoot in good light, skip heavy filters, and swap in a few new photos every couple of months rather than letting the same set sit untouched for years.

5. Build a habit around reviews, don't run a one-time push

Ask for a review at the moment satisfaction actually peaks — right after the job is done, not a week later when the moment has passed. A short text or email with a direct link works better than asking in person and hoping someone remembers.

• Never offer a discount or gift for a review, and never write or buy fake ones — Google can and does suspend profiles over this.
• Reply to every review, positive or negative, within a few days. Keep it short: thank a happy customer by name and the specific thing they mentioned; acknowledge a complaint without arguing publicly and invite them to resolve it directly.
• A steady trickle of new reviews most weeks reads as more active than one burst of fifty followed by silence.

6. Give people a way to act, not just read

Turn on messaging or a booking link if your business type supports either. List your actual services individually — 'Emergency Drain Cleaning,' not just 'Plumbing' — so you can surface for the specific thing someone searched rather than only the broad category.

Then check the Insights or Performance section of your profile once a month: what people searched to find you, how many called, how many asked for directions. That number tells you whether the previous five actions are actually working, and it's the same place you'll notice a slow decline before it becomes a real problem.

This is a maintenance job, not a setup task you finish once. If you get through all six and keep the monthly check-in going, you've done the part that's genuinely yours to do. If it keeps sliding down the priority list every month, that's the gap a managed membership is built to close.