Before you start
- Check there isn't already a listing for your business. Search your name and phone number on Google Maps.
- Have your exact trading name, phone number and the suburbs you serve ready.
- Decide whether customers come to you. If they don't, you're a service-area business.
The setup, step by step
- Sign up for Business Profile with the Google account you'll keep long term.
- Enter your real trading name. No keywords or suburbs added.
- Pick your primary category carefully. Check what your top competitors use.
- If customers visit you, add your address. If not, hide it and set a service area.
- Add your phone number and website.
- Complete verification when Google asks. For many trades that's a video.
Once you're verified
- Fill in your services list, one entry per job, with a short description each.
- Write the description: what you do and where, in the first line.
- Add real photos: your work, your vehicle, your team.
- Set your hours, including upcoming public holidays.
- Get your review link and send it to your last few happy customers.
Mistakes that cause problems later
- Using a personal email you might lose, or an employee's account.
- Showing a home address on a service-area business.
- A vague primary category like "contractor".
- Editing the name and address over and over while verification is pending.
Is it free?
Yes. A Google Business Profile costs nothing to create or keep. Be wary of anyone calling to say you need to pay to stay on Google.
Rather not do this yourself? Our Google Business Profile management handles the profile, the posts and the reviews every week, for one monthly fee.