How do I optimize my Google Business Profile?

Start with ownership and verification

Before editing anything, confirm the profile is verified and that you, not an employee or an agency, are its primary owner. Google allows several owners but only one primary owner. Managers can do nearly everything owners can, including editing details and replying to reviews, except add or remove users or delete the profile. Give anyone who helps you manager access rather than ownership.

If the profile isn't verified yet, Google decides which methods you can use, such as phone or text, email, a live video call, a video recording or a postcard. Google recommends video verification when it is offered to you.

Get the core fields right

These fields decide whether Google can match you to a search and whether the profile stays live. The table at the end of this page sums up the rules for each one.

• Business name: exactly what appears on your signs, trucks and invoices. Google prohibits adding taglines, service words or locations that aren't part of the real name.
• Primary category: the most specific match from Google's list. Google's own example is choosing Nail salon rather than Salon. Add a few secondary categories only for real parts of the business.
• Address or service areas: show an address only if customers come to you at a staffed location with permanent signage. If you travel to customers, hide the address and add up to 20 service areas by city or ZIP code.
• Phone: a number that reaches your business and is under your direct control. Google prefers a local number to a central call center line.
• Website: the page that best represents this location, usually your home page or a location page.
• Hours: your regular customer-facing hours, plus special hours for holidays and closures.

Fill in the fields most owners skip

Many profiles stop at the basics. The fields below give Google more to match against specific searches and give customers more reasons to call.

• Services: add each service with the services editor. Google suggests common services for your type of business and lets you add custom ones, whose names can't include prices or phone numbers.
• Description: up to 750 characters on what you offer and what sets you apart. Links aren't allowed, and the text shouldn't focus on promotions or prices.
• Photos: real, well-lit images without heavy filters. Google asks for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 pixels on each side, and recommends 720 by 720. Add a logo and a cover photo.
• Attributes: factual details customers can filter on, where your category offers them.
• Opening date, so customers can see how long you have been in business.

Keep it active

A profile is never finished. Google reviews your edits before they go live, can add details it collects from other sources, and may occasionally call or text the verified number to confirm your information. Check the profile monthly and correct anything that changed. Then keep these habits going.

• Ask every customer for a review with your profile's review link, and reply to reviews briefly and specifically.
• Post when you have something real to share, such as a seasonal service or an event. Google describes posts as a way to share announcements, offers and updates on Search and Maps.
• Add photos of new work as you finish jobs.
• Check the performance report for the searches that found you, calls and direction requests.

Seasonal businesses in Michigan

Google has specific guidance for seasonal hours. During your season, set your regular hours. You can say in your description that you are open only during a certain season, and in the off-season you can mark the business as temporarily closed, then restore your regular hours when you reopen.

Businesses that change what they sell with the weather, such as a landscaper who plows in winter, should rotate services and photos with the season so the profile matches what customers need that month. Profile work is part of the local SEO we quote after a free 30-minute call with Nick.

Keep reading

• How do I get my business in the Google map pack?
• How do I get more Google reviews?
• How do seasonal Michigan businesses plan their marketing?
• SEO from Modern Apex