<TLDR> Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Listing increases local visibility, improves search rankings, and helps customers find your business. Setup involves creating a profile, verifying your business, adding accurate info, images, and optimizing for reviews and SEO.
How to Set Up Your Google Business Listing in the UK
If you run a local business and you’re not on Google Business Profile, you’re invisible to a huge chunk of your potential customers. When someone searches for a service near them, Google shows a map with local businesses at the very top of the results. That panel with your name, opening hours, photos and reviews? That’s your Google Business Profile, and it’s completely free to set up. Here’s how to get yours sorted.
What Is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business) is a free listing that appears in Google Search and Google Maps when people look for businesses like yours. It shows your address, phone number, website, opening hours, photos and customer reviews, all in one place, right at the top of the search results.
For any local business, it’s one of the most powerful free marketing tools available.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before you dive in, have the following to hand:
- A Google account (a Gmail address works fine)
- Your business name, address and phone number
- Your website URL
- Your business hours
- A short description of what you do
- A few decent photos of your business, premises or work
Step 1: Go to Google Business Profile
Head to business.google.com and sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create one first, it only takes a couple of minutes.
Step 2: Add Your Business
Click Manage now and type your business name into the search box. If your business doesn’t appear in the dropdown, click Add your business to Google and follow the prompts.
You’ll be asked to choose a business category. Pick the one that most closely describes what you do. You can add more categories later, but your primary one carries the most weight in local search results.
Step 3: Enter Your Location Details
Google will ask whether you have a physical location customers can visit, or whether you serve customers at their location, or both.
If you have a shop, studio or office that people can visit, select yes and enter your address.
If you work from home or travel to clients, you can hide your home address and instead list a service area by town, city or county. This is common for tradespeople, freelancers and mobile services.
Step 4: Add Your Contact Details
Enter your business phone number and website address. These appear on your listing and make it easy for customers to get in touch or visit your site directly from Google.
No website yet? This is a good reminder that having one gives you far more control over your online presence and makes a real difference to how customers perceive you.
Step 5: Verify Your Business
This is the step most people find a little frustrating, but it’s important. Google needs to confirm your business is legitimate and that you’re the owner.
The most common verification method in the UK is by postcard. Google sends a card with a five-digit code to your business address. It usually arrives within five working days. When it does, log back in and enter the code to complete verification.
Some businesses may be offered phone, email or video verification instead. Follow whichever option Google offers you.
Step 6: Complete Your Profile
Once verified, your listing goes live. But don’t stop there. A fully completed profile performs significantly better in local search results. Take time to fill in all of the following:
Business Description
Write a clear, friendly description of what you do and who you help. Around 150 to 250 words works well. Write for real people, not search engines, but do naturally include words your customers might search for.
Opening Hours
Set your regular hours and update them for bank holidays or any planned closures.
Photos
Add a logo, a cover photo, and at least three to five photos of your work, your space or your team. Listings with photos get significantly more clicks than those without.
Services or Products
List out what you offer. For service-based businesses, you can add individual services with short descriptions and optional pricing.
Attributes
Google lets you add details like Women-led, Online appointments or Wheelchair accessible. Tick any that apply.
Step 7: Start Collecting Reviews
Reviews are gold. They build trust with potential customers and help your listing rank higher in local search. Don’t be shy about asking happy clients to leave you a Google review.
Google gives you a short link you can share by email, text or on social media. To find yours, go to your Business Profile and look for the Share review form option.
When reviews come in, respond to them. Thank people for positive feedback and handle any negative reviews calmly and professionally. How you respond to criticism says as much about your business as the review itself.
Keeping It Up to Date
Your Google Business Profile is not a one-and-done job. The more active and up to date it is, the better it performs. A few good habits to get into:
- Post regular updates including news, offers, events and blog posts directly to your profile
- Update your hours for bank holidays or any changes to your schedule
- Add new photos regularly. Fresh content signals to Google that your business is active
- Answer questions promptly. Customers can ask questions publicly on your listing, so keep an eye on them
A Few Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using a different business name online. Your name on Google should match exactly what appears on your website and any other directories. Inconsistency can hurt your local rankings.
- Choosing the wrong category. Your primary category has a big impact on when your listing appears. Take a moment to check what category your competitors are using.
- Leaving the profile incomplete. Half-finished profiles rank lower and give customers less reason to get in touch.
- Ignoring reviews. Not responding to reviews, good or bad, looks unprofessional and can put people off before they’ve even picked up the phone.
Need a Hand Getting Set Up?
If you’d like help setting up your Google Business Profile properly, or you want to make sure your website and listing are working together to bring in more local customers, I’d love to help.