1. Claim and verify your profile
Search for your business on Google Maps. If it is already there, click “Own this business?” and follow the steps. If not, create it at business.google.com. Verification is usually by phone, email or a short video.
2. Choose the right primary category
This is the single biggest factor in which searches you show up for. Pick the most specific category that describes your main service, like “Seafood restaurant” rather than “Restaurant”. You can add secondary categories for other services.
3. Get your name, address and phone exactly right
- Use your real business name, without extra keywords like “Best Plumber Forster”. Google can suspend profiles for this.
- If customers visit you, show your address. If you travel to them, hide it and add service areas like Forster, Tuncurry and Pacific Palms.
- Use the same phone number as your website, ideally a local 02 number or mobile.
4. Set your hours, including holidays
Forster gets busy over summer, Easter and school holidays, and visitors search for “open now”. Keep regular hours accurate and add special hours for public holidays and any seasonal changes.
5. Write a helpful description
You get 750 characters. Say what you do, who you help, which towns you cover and what makes you different, in plain language. Write it for people first.
6. Add real photos, and keep adding them
Add your logo, a cover photo, your shopfront or vehicle, your team and your work. Profiles with plenty of recent photos tend to get more clicks. Try to add a few new photos every month.
7. List your services or products
Add each service with a short description, and prices if you are comfortable. This helps Google match you to more specific searches.
8. Ask for reviews, and reply to all of them
Reviews matter for both rankings and trust. Get your review link from your profile and send it to happy customers by text or email straight after a job. Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and briefly.
Never buy reviews or offer discounts in exchange for them. It breaks Google's rules and can get reviews removed.
9. Post updates regularly
Posts are like mini social media updates on your profile: specials, events, new work or seasonal news. Posting regularly shows Google and customers that you are active.
10. Link it to a good website
Your profile should link to a website whose name, phone number, towns and services match. Google uses your website to confirm what your profile says. If you do not have one yet, a simple local website makes a real difference.
Too busy to do all this?
That is fair enough, you have a business to run. We offer Google Business Profile care from $19 +GST a week, including setup, posting and a monthly report.