What a Google Business Profile Needs to Rank on the Map

When someone searches for a plumber or a dentist near them, the map with a few businesses under it is often the first thing they see. Getting into that spot is the goal for most local businesses I work with. There’s no trick to it, and I won’t promise anyone a position. But there is a checklist, and most profiles I look at are missing half of it. Your Business Profile is free, so most of this costs you time, not money.

How Google decides

Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the searcher or the place they typed. Prominence is how well known your business is, from reviews, links and mentions around the web. You can’t move your shop closer to everyone. You can work on the other two, and that’s what the rest of this list is about.

Get the primary category right

This is the setting that matters most and the one people rush. Your primary category should describe what you are, as specifically as Google allows. “Plumber,” not “Contractor.” “Flooring store,” not “Store.” Add secondary categories only for things you really do. Look at the businesses already showing on the map for your main search and note which categories they use. Don’t add categories for work you don’t want.

List your services

Fill in the services section with the jobs you actually do, in the words your customers use. If you do furnace repair, water heater installs and duct cleaning, list them separately, each with a short, plain description. It helps Google connect your profile to more specific searches, and it helps the person reading decide you do what they need.

Photos of real work

Upload photos that show your work, your team, your vehicles and your location if customers visit. Profiles with real photos look like real businesses. Stock images do the opposite. Your own photos are a fine start, and clear phone shots of finished jobs work well. When the business needs more than that, a professional photo or film shoot is worth considering. Add new photos as you finish jobs, not once and never again.

Reviews, and your replies

Reviews feed prominence, and they’re what people read before they call. Ask every happy customer, and make it easy with a direct review link. Never buy reviews or offer anything in exchange for them. Google can remove them, and it isn’t worth the risk. Then reply to every review, good or bad, in your own words. A calm, specific reply to a bad review often tells the next customer more than the review itself. More on this in getting more five star reviews and why Google hides some reviews.

Posts and updates

Business Profile posts let you share an offer, a recent job or some news. I can’t point to proof that posts move rankings on their own, so I won’t tell you they do. What they do is show people your business is active, and they give you a place to show off recent work. A short post with a real photo every week or two is plenty.

Hours you actually keep

Set your regular hours, then add special hours for holidays and closures. Wrong hours send people to a locked door, and that’s how you earn an angry review. If you go to your customers and don’t have a storefront, set the hours you answer the phone.

Name, address and phone, the same everywhere

Your business name, address and phone number should match across your profile, your website, Facebook, directories and anywhere else you’re listed. People call this NAP consistency. Use your real business name, not a name with keywords added. That breaks Google’s guidelines and can get a profile suspended. If you moved, changed numbers or rebranded, track down the old listings and fix them.

Address or service area

If customers come to you, show your address. If you go to customers and don’t serve them at your location, hide the address and set a service area instead. A service area tells Google where you work. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll appear across that whole area, because distance still counts. My post on why a business isn’t showing on Google Maps covers the common problems.

Link it to a page that matches

Your profile’s website link should go to a page that agrees with it. For a single location, that’s usually your homepage. With several locations, link each profile to its own location page. The page should say the same things the profile does: services, area, hours and phone number.

The checklist

Where I come in

Most of this list you can do yourself, for free, in an afternoon. The harder part is keeping it up and building the website and reputation behind it. That’s part of my SEO work, at $750 to $1,900 a month plus $1,000 setup. For setup basics like verification and ownership, my Business Profile guide goes step by step. Or book a free call and I’ll look at your profile with you.