How to claim your Google Business Profile

If you run a business that serves people nearby, this is probably the highest-value twenty minutes available to you, and a surprising number of businesses have never done it.

What it is

When somebody searches for a plumber, a cafe or a solicitor near them, Google shows a map with three businesses above the ordinary results. That block is driven by Google Business Profiles, not by websites. If you are not in it, you are competing for attention below people who are.

It costs nothing. Google is not going to ring and sell it to you, which is partly why so few people get around to it. If somebody does ring offering to manage your Google listing for a monthly fee, be careful.

Claiming it

Search for your business name on Google. There is a reasonable chance a listing already exists, generated automatically or added by a customer. If it does, there will be an option to claim or manage it. If not, create one.

Google verifies that you are really there, usually by posting a postcard with a code to your business address, sometimes by phone or video. The postcard takes a couple of weeks, so start it before you need it.

Filling it in properly

Most claimed profiles are half-finished, which is where the opportunity is.

• Categories. Pick the most specific primary category that fits. “Electrician” beats “contractor”.
• Hours. Keep them accurate, and set special hours for bank holidays. Wrong hours generate genuinely angry customers.
• Photos. Real ones of your premises, your work and your team. Profiles with photos get noticeably more engagement, and phone photos are fine.
• Services. List them individually rather than lumping them together.
• Description. Plain description of what you do and where. No keyword stuffing.

Keep your details identical everywhere

Your business name, address and phone number should be written exactly the same way on your profile, your website, your Facebook page and any directory you appear in. Google cross-references these. Three different versions of your address across the web is a signal that something is inconsistent, and it works against you.

Pick one format, write it down, and use that one everywhere.

Reviews

Recent, genuine reviews affect both your ranking and whether anybody clicks. The only reliable way to get them is to ask, in person, at the moment somebody is visibly happy with what you did. Most people will say yes and then forget, so a follow-up message with a direct link helps.

Do not buy reviews. They are easier to spot than people think, and the downside is severe.

Once people are finding you, the site is what convinces them. That is what web design in Wexford covers.