How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile the Right Way
Set it up once, carefully, by Google's rules. Most of the ranking help comes from getting the basics right, and most suspensions come from getting them wrong.
Why setup matters
Google says it plainly: "Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results." (Google Business Profile help)
So the setup isn't busywork. Here it is, step by step.
1. Verify your profile
Google picks how you verify. "Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed." The options include a video recording, a live video call, a phone call or text, email, or a postcard. A review can take "up to 5 business days." (Google Business Profile help)
If you're asked for a video, Google wants "An unedited, unique, and complete recording with no breaks," "At least 30 seconds long," shot and uploaded from your phone. A storefront shows the street, the sign with your name, and a staff-only area like the register. If you go to customers, show your tools, your equipment or you doing the work. Don't show ID numbers, bank details or "Other people's faces." (Google Business Profile help)
A shortcut: "In some cases, Google verifies a profile instantly," and one of those cases is when "You verify your website with Google Search Console." See what to track on your website for that setup.
2. Use your real name, and only your name
"Your name should reflect your business's real-world name." Google bans adding "Marketing taglines," "Service or product information," "Location information," and words in all caps, and says extra info "could result in the suspension of your Business Profile." (Google Business Profile help)
Yes, keywords in the name can help ranking. That's why it's tempting, and why it's one of the top suspension risks. More on that here.
3. Pick your categories
Choose categories that complete the sentence "This business IS a", not "this business HAS a." Use "as few categories as possible," and don't use them as keywords. (Google Business Profile help)
The primary category is the one to get right first.
4. Get the address right
Customers come to you? Show your address.
You go to them? Google says, "If you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers." Your service area "shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time." (Google Business Profile help)
Don't use a P.O. box or a rented mailbox. Google says those "aren't acceptable," and a co-working space only counts if it has "clear signage" and is "staffed during business hours by your business staff."
5. Set your hours, and your holiday hours
Being open when someone searches matters for ranking, as we covered here. Two rules from Google:
- For holidays, "It's a good idea to confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they're the same as your regular hours."
- Closed for a week or more? At 7+ days, "mark your business as Temporarily closed."
(Google Business Profile help)
6. Write your description
"Do not exceed 750 characters in the description field." "Do not include URLs or HTML code." And "Focus primarily on details about your business instead of details about promotions, prices, or sales." (Google Business Profile help)
Our recommendation: say what you do, who you do it for and where, in plain words.
7. List every service
Select Edit services, then Add custom service. You can add a price and a description to each one. Keep prices and phone numbers out of the service names. (Google Business Profile help)
It's worth the half hour. A Sterling Sky test found that "Services impact ranking," though the effect varies by industry and market. (Sterling Sky)
8. Add your attributes
Attributes are yes-or-no facts: accessibility, and labels like "Women-owned, Veteran-owned, and Small business." Google's line for small: "A small business makes less than $10 million a year." Edits usually take "about 10 minutes," but "sometimes it can take up to 30 days." (Google Business Profile help)
9. Upload photos
Google's specs: "JPG or PNG," "Between 10 KB and 5 MB," and a recommended "720 px tall, 720 px wide." Photos should be "in focus and well lit, and have no significant alterations or excessive use of filters." Videos run "Up to 30 seconds long." (Google Business Profile help)
Our recommendation: start with your logo, a cover photo and a photo of the outside. Google notes an outside photo helps customers recognise you. Then add your team and your work. Sterling Sky found that "having recent photos does help" for visual businesses like restaurants and salons. (Sterling Sky)
After setup: watch for suggested edits
People can suggest changes to your profile. Google's help page now gives owners "4 days to accept or reject the suggestion." After that, Google "may automatically publish the update." (Search Engine Roundtable)
Our recommendation: turn on notifications and check your profile at least once a week.
Two things you can skip
- Chat. Google turned off Business Profile chat on July 31, 2024. (Search Engine Roundtable)
- Seeding Q&A. Google pulled Q&A from Maps in 2025. Put your FAQs on your website instead. (Search Engine Roundtable)
Drop 08 has this whole setup as a checklist you can tick off, plus your review link, Bing Places and Apple Business.
Quick wins
- Use your real business name, nothing added
- Pick the category that finishes "This business IS a…"
- Hide your address if customers don't come to you
- Fill in the description, services, attributes and hours
- Check suggested edits: you have 4 days to reject them
