Optimising your Google Business Profile

Who it's for: owners whose Google profile was set up years ago and hasn't been touched since.
Time needed: 20 minutes to tidy it. About 10 minutes a month after that.
You'll need: access to your Google Business Profile, your phone and your website address.
Our view: fix the basics first. Real photos and the right category do more than any clever wording.

Our Google Profile Guide

Step 2. Get your hours right

• Set your normal opening hours.

• Add special hours for public holidays like Matariki, Easter and Christmas.

• Mark the days you're shut as closed, so Google doesn't show you as "Open".

Wrong hours lose calls and earn grumpy reviews. Google's steps: How to set special hours.

Step 3. Add 5 to 10 real photos

• you or your team on a job

• your ute or van with the signage showing

• finished work you're proud of

• your workshop, office or shopfront if customers visit

Take them on your phone in good light. Skip stock photos. Help: Manage your Business Profile photos.

Step 1. Check your main category

On a computer, sign in to the Google account that manages your profile and search your business name. Choose Edit profile. Your primary category should be the main thing you sell, like "Plumber" or "Electrician". Then add secondary categories for other work you really do. Current steps: Manage your business category.

Step 5. Thank every referrer

Put your main service and the area you cover in the first line. Then add what makes you a safe pick, like years in business or the guarantee you offer. Write it for a person, not for Google.

Step 4. List every service

Add each service you offer with a one-line description. Keep it plain: "Hot water cylinder replacement. Same-week installs across [area]."

Step 6. Match your details everywhere

Your business name, address and phone number should match your website exactly. Check your phone number goes to a phone someone answers.

Watch out our

Google's guidelines (Guidelines for representing your business on Google) say:

• use your real business name, with no extra keywords or suburbs added

• if customers don't come to you, hide your address and set a service area instead

• don't create a second profile for the same business

Breaking these can get your profile suspended. If you're not sure, check the guidelines before you change your name.

How to check it's working

Open Performance on your profile monthly and note calls, website clicks and direction requests. Help: Understand your Business Profile performance.

• Ask new callers how they found you.

• Set a monthly reminder to add photos and check your hours.

Next, keep the reviews coming with guide R1, How to ask for a Google review without sounding pushy.

Want us to do it for you?

Our Lead Lead Kit does a full Google profile set-up, adds review request templates (email, text and a QR card) and lists you on up to 15 NZ directories. $895 +GST. See the Lead Recovery System

Part of the Local Trust Score guides from Buzz Marketing.
Check your score: Local Trust Score quiz

Example: Angela's 20 minute tidy

Angela runs a small landscaping business. Her profile still showed a 2019 photo of an empty section and the wrong phone number. She spent one lunch break adding job photos, her services and holiday hours. A new customer said the photos were why she rang.

The rule: Right, Real, Recent

1. Right: category, hours and phone number are correct today.

2. Real: your own photos of your own work and team.

3. Recent: something new every month, even just 2 or 3 photos.

Services

• Websites

• SEO

• Lead Generation

• Copywriting

• Graphic Design

• Google Adverts

• Email marketing

• Branding

Auckland office & Studio BUZZ:

4/5 Cunard Street, New Lynn, Auckland 0600, NZ

Serving small businesses across New Zealand

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