Your Google Business Profile is the listing that appears on Google Maps and in local results. It is free, you control it, and Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. That leaves the things you can control, and this checklist walks through them in order, using Google’s own guidelines.
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Know how Google chooses
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, which is why Google advises complete and detailed information. Distance is how far you are from the searcher. Keep those in mind as you work through the list: most of it is about relevance.
The checklist
Name
- Use your business’s real-world name, as on your storefront, website and stationery, and as customers know it.
- Do not add keywords, a neighborhood or a service to the name unless they are truly part of it.
- Put extra details, such as your service area or category, in the fields made for them.
Categories
- Use as few categories as possible to describe your core business.
- Choose the most specific category that fits.
- Do not use categories only as keywords.
Address and service areas
- Keep your real address on the profile.
- If you also travel to customers, add a service area: Google lets you enter both your address and your service area.
- List the community areas or suburbs you actually travel to.
- Do not put keywords in the address lines.
- A virtual office cannot be listed unless it is staffed during business hours.
One profile per location
- Google says not to create more than one page for each location of your business.
- A second location in another community area gets its own profile.
- Look for duplicate or old listings of your business and deal with them.
Details
- Hours, including changes, kept current.
- Your website link, pointing to the right page.
- Your services described in plain words.
- Real photos of your work, your space and your entrance.
- The same name, address and phone on your website as on the profile.
Reviews
- Ask every customer for an honest review.
- Offer nothing for it: Google’s policy bans payment, discounts or free goods in exchange for reviews.
- Do not ask only happy customers or discourage negative reviews.
- Do not post reviews from several accounts or ask staff to review the business without disclosure; the FTC’s rule bans undisclosed reviews by officers or managers.
- Google says fake engagement will be removed.
Your website
- A page for each main service, so the profile’s website link and services have somewhere useful to point.
- The same business name as on the profile and the sign.
- The address and hours written as text, not only in an image.
- Pages for areas only where you have something real to say about them: Google calls near-identical city pages doorway abuse.
Keep it up
A profile is not set once and forgotten. Check it whenever your hours, services or phone change, and look over it every so often for edits you did not make. Reply to reviews as a person, thank people, and answer complaints calmly.
Chicago details worth checking
Chicago has 77 official community areas, and many customers search with neighborhood names. Use those names in your service areas and on your website where they are true, not in your business name. The City’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection handles business licenses, so make sure the name on your license, your sign, your website and your profile match.
Thinking of removing your address?
Do not. Keep your real address and add the areas you serve. Google allows both.
Want someone to go through your profile with you? Tell us what you need and an independent marketing agency can contact you.
For how this fits with the rest of local search, read local SEO Chicago. For the pages on your site, see Chicago web design.
Questions people ask
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. And Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Can I have one profile for two locations?
No. Google says not to create more than one page for each location, so each location has its own.
Should I hide my address?
No. Keep your address and add a service area if you travel to customers.
Can I list the suburbs I serve as well as Chicago?
Yes, if you travel to customers there. Keep your real address on the profile and add the suburbs and community areas you actually serve as your service area. Google allows a business to enter both.
Should I choose several categories to show up for more searches?
No. Google asks for as few categories as possible, the most specific that fits, and says not to use categories only as keywords.