Google Business Profile checklist: is yours holding you back?

The essentials

• You own it: claimed and verified in your name (agencies should be managers, not owners)
• Your real business name, address or service areas, and a phone that gets answered
• Accurate hours, including holidays
• Categories and services that match what you actually do
• Recent photos of your work, team and location
• Recent reviews, with replies from you

Signs your profile needs work

• Competitors with fewer years in business show up above you
• Views are flat or falling month to month
• You show up for your name but not for your services
• Customers mention wrong hours or old information
• Your newest review is months old

Mistakes that hurt (or get you suspended)

• Keywords or city names added to your business name
• A virtual office or mailbox listed as a storefront
• Duplicate profiles for the same location
• Offering rewards for reviews, or only asking happy customers
• Letting anyone's suggested edits go unchecked

Complete isn't the same as optimized

Filling in every field is the starting point. What moves you up is how the profile is set up for the searches that matter in your market, how active it stays, and how well your website and reviews support it. That's where most of the difference between the top three and everyone else comes from.

How we help

Our Google Business Profile management keeps your profile tuned, active and accurate, and shows you the calls, direction requests and leads it brings in each month. Not sure where yours stands? Our free audit is a quick way to find out.