Google Business Profile setup
Google Business Profile setup, done right the first time
Building your Google Business Profile correctly from day one.
What this is
For most local businesses the profile matters more than the website. It is what appears in Maps, what shows on the right of a search for your name, and what people read before deciding whether to call.
Setting it up is free and takes an hour. Setting it up correctly is the difference between appearing for the searches that bring work and appearing for almost nothing.
What you get
What setup covers
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01
The primary category
The single heaviest lever in local ranking, and the one most often chosen carelessly. It decides which searches you are eligible to appear for at all, and a near-miss can cost you most of your visibility.
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02
Services and description
Your services listed individually and a description written within Google's rules. The profile should match what your website says, because contradiction between the two helps nobody.
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03
Service area or address
Set up correctly for how you actually work. A business that travels to customers is configured differently from one people visit, and getting this wrong is a common cause of suspension.
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04
Hours, attributes and contact details
Including the details that turn up in filtered searches, which is where a properly completed profile quietly beats a half-finished one.
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05
Photographs
Real ones, of real work. A profile with no photos looks abandoned, and the pictures are often the only thing a customer actually looks at.
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06
Verification
Getting through Google's verification, which increasingly means recording a video of your premises, vehicle or equipment. This is the step that surprises people.
What verification involves now
Google has moved much of verification to video. You record a continuous clip showing your equipment, signage or vehicle, the area you work from, and yourself accessing it, proving the business is real and yours.
It can take a few attempts, and rejections are often unexplained. This is the part of setup that takes patience rather than skill, and knowing what the video needs to show saves most of the repetition.
What it costs
Quoted after a free consult, because what it takes depends entirely on what you already have. Book a call, I will tell you what is involved, and you get a number before anything starts. Website plan details are on the pricing page.
Setup is a separate, one-time service and is not part of the website plans.
How this differs
Setup means there is no profile yet, or it was never claimed. The work is creation and verification. Optimization is for a profile that already exists and needs assessing and repairing, which carries different risks because editing a live listing can trigger review.
Ongoing posts, photos and review replies afterwards are profile management.
Questions
What people ask
Can I do this myself?
Yes, and plenty of owners should. It is free and the interface is not hard. What is worth paying for is the category choice and the service area configuration, which are the two decisions with lasting consequences. If you want to run it yourself properly, that is Google Business Profile training.
I do not have a shop. Can I still have a profile?
Yes. A service-area business hides its address and lists the areas it covers. Configuring that correctly matters, because an address shown when it should be hidden is a common suspension trigger.
How long does verification take?
Anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks depending on the method and whether the first attempt is accepted. Video verification is faster when you know what it needs to show.
What is the most common setup mistake?
The wrong primary category, followed by keyword-stuffing the business name. The second one feels clever, breaks Google's rules, and is a frequent cause of suspension.
Get the profile right from the start
Tell me what is going on and I will tell you whether this is what you actually need. No pitch deck and no pressure.
Book a free consult