How to Get Your Business on Google Maps (and Get It Verified)

Your website and your Google Business Profile are two separate things. Your website is your home. Your Business Profile is your listing on Google. The profile is what feeds the map, the reviews, your opening hours and the "Call" button. You can have a brilliant website and still be invisible on the map because your profile is half finished or unverified.

If you have never claimed it, search your business name on Google. If a listing shows up with a "Claim this business" or "Own this business?" link, that is your profile sitting there unmanaged. If nothing shows up, you can create one. Google describes the Business Profile as free (opens in a new tab). You can claim it yourself, or pay someone for the work of setting it up and looking after it, but never for the listing itself.

Once you are verified, go through every field. Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results (opens in a new tab), and a complete profile gives customers the answers before they have to ring you.

• Business name: your real name, exactly as it appears on your signage. Do not stuff it with keywords like "Dave's Plumbing Sunderland Best Emergency Plumber". Google says including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted and could result in the suspension of your profile (opens in a new tab).
• Primary category: pick the most specific one that fits, such as "Web designer" rather than something broad. Google says the categories you select affect your local ranking (opens in a new tab). Add secondary categories for the other things you do.
• Service area: if you travel to customers, set the places you actually cover. Google says setting a service area helps people find your profile (opens in a new tab).
• Hours: accurate, and updated for bank holidays. Nothing annoys a customer more than turning up when the listing says you are open and you are not.
• Photos: real ones. Your premises, your work, your team. Google says photos can help your business stand out (opens in a new tab), so a profile with none is a missed chance.
• Products and services: list them with short descriptions. It is free space to describe what you do in your own words.

If you want the longer version, with more on categories, services and the dashboard, read my guide on how to set up and optimise your Google Business Profile.

The Business Profile has a posts feature that a lot of people ignore. Google says you can use posts to share announcements, offers, updates and events with customers (opens in a new tab) on Search and Maps. A quick update about a finished job or a change in your hours keeps the profile useful, and it gives customers a reason to pick you over a business whose profile looks forgotten.

Local ranking is not instant. Google says changes to your site can take anywhere from a few hours to several months to show (opens in a new tab), so treat any promised date with suspicion. The profile dashboard shows you how many people called, asked for directions or visited your site. Google lists calls, directions and website clicks (opens in a new tab) in its performance data, and those are the numbers that matter, not where you sit on a vanity search.

If all of that sounds like one more job you have not got time for, it is the kind of thing I do for local businesses. Have a look at my Google Business Profile help in Sunderland, or drop me a message and I will take a look at where you are currently showing up. I reply the same working day, in UK hours.