Your Google Business Profile is often the first, and sometimes only, thing a customer sees before deciding to call. Here's how to get every part of it working.
A Google Business Profile is free, but most businesses only fill in the minimum and leave real visibility on the table. Here's what each part of it actually does, and how to get it right.
Search your business name on Google and look for "Own this business?" If a profile already exists, claim it; if not, create one through Google Business Profile Manager. Verification usually happens by phone, text, or email, though some categories still require a postcard by mail. Multi-location businesses can verify in bulk through Business Profile Manager instead of one at a time.
Category is one of the single biggest ranking factors in the local map pack. Pick the most specific accurate primary category available, not just the closest generic one, since Google regularly adds more specific options over time. Add relevant secondary categories for additional services you offer, and revisit this every few months to see if a better-fitting category has been added.
Google Posts let you share updates, offers, and events directly on your profile. Posting regularly is a light but real signal of an active business. Monitor and answer the public Q&A section yourself, since anyone, including a competitor or a bot, can post an answer, and an unanswered or wrong answer sits there publicly for every future searcher to see.
Respond to every review, good and bad. Ask consistently after every completed job or visit rather than hoping happy customers volunteer one. Report reviews that are clearly fake or violate Google's policies rather than letting them sit unaddressed.
Most competitors in your market have an unfinished profile, which is exactly the opening you can take. Sitework's monthly plan tells you precisely what's missing on your profile and what to fix next, specific to your trade, instead of a generic checklist you have to interpret yourself.
See plans →Once every week or two is enough to signal an active business without it becoming a chore. Consistency matters more than frequency.
You can request ownership transfer directly through Google. It takes a few days but is a normal, common process, not something to work around.
The fundamentals are the same for each location, but each one needs its own fully completed, individually verified profile rather than one listing trying to represent all of them.
This guide covers the general version. A Sitework plan does google-business-profile-guide specifically, every month.
The same fundamentals covered in every Sitework monthly plan.