How to set up a Google Business Profile

For a local business, the Google Business Profile often brings more enquiries than the website itself. Here is the whole setup from verification to reviews, including the steps most businesses skip and then wonder why they are not on the map.

Verification: video replaced the postcard

Google renamed the service from Google My Business to Google Business Profile, but many people still search for the old name. You create it at google.com/business and the first hurdle is verification. A postcard with a code can take weeks and sometimes never arrives. Today Google offers video verification for most categories, done in a few minutes.

The video needs three things in one uninterrupted shot: the surroundings with a sign or address, the entrance to the premises and proof that you really work there. That can be tools in a branded van, a stockroom, a till or the keys you use to unlock. The video cannot be edited or pre recorded, it is recorded directly in the app.

Sole traders without premises create a profile with a service area. You hide the address and fill in the towns or radius you serve. Verification then usually happens by video with your van, business cards and a job in progress. Do not use someone else's address or a virtual office. Google detects it and suspends such profiles without warning.

The category matters more than keywords in the name

The primary category is the single strongest setting of the whole profile. It decides which searches you can appear for on the map at all. A plumber with the primary category Construction company will not show for “plumber Brno”, even with fifty reviews. You can add up to nine additional categories, but choose only what you really do.

The business name must match what is on your signs, van and invoices. Adding keywords like “John Smith plumber Prague nonstop cheap” breaks the rules and competitors report it routinely. The penalty is usually a suspended profile, restoring it takes weeks and meanwhile you are not on the map at all.

In the services section, list individual services with short descriptions. Keywords belong here and Google uses them to match searches. Most profiles leave this section empty, so it is the cheapest way to get ahead of a competitor down the street with a similar number of reviews.

Photos: twenty to start, four every month

Profiles with photos get noticeably more clicks for directions and calls than profiles with just a logo. Google also reads regularity as a sign the business is alive. Uploading twenty photos once and then nothing for three years is worse than adding four pictures a month and never stopping.

Take photos with your phone on site and upload them without heavy editing. Do not use stock photos. People recognise them in a second and Google sometimes removes them as irrelevant to the location.

• A square logo and a 16:9 cover photo
• The outside with the sign, so people find you from the street
• The interior, workshop or branded van
• Three to five photos of work in progress
• A photo of you or the whole team
• Results of your work, for trades before and after
• A short video under 30 seconds

Posts, products and questions you ask yourself

A practical pace for posts is one every two weeks. It does not have to be news. Finished jobs, a seasonal offer, changed holiday opening hours or free slots next month all work.

If your profile shows a questions and answers section, it is public and anyone can answer. Ask the five questions you hear on the phone yourself and answer them right away: what a call out costs, whether you work weekends, how long the wait for a slot is. That prevents a stranger from answering them wrongly.

Turn on messages only if you really read them. Google measures response time and an unanswered chat looks worse than a disabled one. The same goes for bookings and order links. Use them only if something really works behind them and someone handles it.

Reviews: how to ask and how to reply

After the category, reviews are the second strongest local ranking factor. It is not only about the number and stars. Google reads the text and looks for a match with the search. A review saying “fixed our boiler in Prague 4 within two hours” is worth more for local search than five stars without a word.

The best moment to ask is within 24 hours of finishing the job, ideally in person and then by text with a direct link generated in your profile. Never offer a discount for a review. It breaks the rules and Google deletes such reviews in batches. The full system is in how to get more Google reviews.

Reply to every review, even the one word ones. With a negative review: thank them, describe factually what happened and offer a solution outside the public thread. An argument in a reply hurts more than the one star itself, because dozens of people read it after you.

Mistakes that keep a profile stuck

The most common mistake is a mismatch in address and phone between the website, the profile and directories. Google compares these details from many sources and every conflict lowers trust. Before optimising anything, write down the exact form of your name, address and number and use it identically everywhere, including abbreviations.

The second mistake is a duplicate profile. It appears when a business moves or when someone created a listing long ago and forgot about it. Two profiles split the signals and neither makes it into the top three. Report the duplicate through support and have it merged, not deleted.

• Keywords stuffed into the business name
• A different phone number on the website and in the profile
• An empty services section and no business description
• No reply to a negative review
• Opening hours that are wrong on holidays
• A hidden address for premises customers actually visit
• Stock photos instead of pictures from your own workshop