Is it still called Google My Business?
No. Google renamed it Google Business Profile in 2021, and you now manage it from Google Search and Google Maps rather than a separate app. Search your business name while signed in to the owner account and the editing tools appear.
Plenty of people still say Google My Business. It's the same listing.
How does Google rank Business Profiles?
Google says local results are based mainly on three things.
- Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Categories, services and description do the work here.
- Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or from the place they named. You can't change it, but accurate location details help Google place you.
- Prominence: how well known you are. Reviews, links, mentions and coverage elsewhere all count.
How do you do Google Business Profile optimisation?
Set it up once, carefully, then keep it current. In order:
- Claim and verify the profile from the Google account that should own it. Google will offer a verification method, such as a video, phone call or postcard.
- Use your real business name, exactly as it appears on your signage and paperwork.
- Choose the most specific primary category that fits, then add secondary categories for the other things you really do.
- Add your address if customers visit you. If you go to them, hide the address and set a service area instead.
- Set your opening hours, and add holiday hours before every bank holiday.
- List your services and products in plain words, the way customers would describe them.
- Write a short description: what you do, who for and where. No keyword lists.
- Upload real photos of your premises, team and work, and add new ones regularly.
- Link to the most relevant page on your website, and make sure your name, address and phone number match it exactly.
- Ask every customer for a review, and reply to every review, good or bad.
How do you get more Google reviews?
Ask, every time, at the moment the customer is happiest. Send a short link straight to the review form, by text or email, and make it a habit rather than a campaign.
Two rules matter. Don't offer anything in return for a review, and don't ask only the customers you know are happy. Both break Google's policies. Reply to every review, briefly and personally, including the bad ones. Other customers read the replies.
What mistakes hurt a Business Profile?
Most problems come from shortcuts. The ones we see most:
- Keywords or towns added to the business name. It can get the profile suspended.
- A virtual office or P.O. box used as the address.
- Duplicate profiles for the same location, often left over from an old agency.
- Different phone numbers or addresses on your site, profile and directories.
- Out-of-date hours, which lead to wasted trips and bad reviews.
- A profile set up and then forgotten: no new photos, unanswered reviews.
How long does Google Business Profile optimisation take to work?
Verification can take a few days. Fixing categories, details and photos can show an effect once Google has processed the changes. Prominence, which comes from reviews and mentions, builds over months. There's no fixed timeline, and nobody can promise you the top spot in the map results.