Offering potential customers complete, accurate, and meaningful information about your local business at the exact moment they’re searching for services or products that you sell can lead to more traffic and sales, both In-Store and online.
Google Business Profile helps you manage how your business appears on Google Search and Maps, including your location, hours, photos, products or services, and customer reviews.
The service is aimed specifically at brick-and-mortar shops and boutiques or multi-channel retailers that sell both from a physical retail location and an online store.
If you’re setting up your profile for the first time, start with Shopify’s guide to optimize your Google Business Profile for more traffic. Below, you’ll find seven areas to focus on to make your Google Business Profile as compelling as possible in local results on Search and Maps.
Key Takeaways
- Follow Google Business Profile policies so your listing can be verified and stay eligible to appear on Search and Maps.
- Complete every relevant field (hours, services, attributes, photos) to help customers choose you faster.
- Pick the most accurate primary category to match the searches you want to show up for.
- Use photos, reviews, and Posts/Updates to keep your profile fresh and trustworthy.
Let’s dive in.
1. Follow the Google Business Profile policies
The first step in optimizing your Google Business Profile is making sure you meet Google’s policies. This is the foundation for creating a high-quality profile that can be verified and shown in local results on Search and Maps.
You can find the latest guidance in the Google Business Profile Help Center. These guidelines are short and practical, so take a few minutes to read through them.
The key takeaways are:
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Be certain you’re authorized to manage the Business Profile
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Represent your business accurately online and offline
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Use precise location and contact information
2. Fully complete your Business Profile
Complete every relevant field in your Google Business Profile, so customers can quickly understand what you sell, where you are, and how to buy from you.
Search Engine Optimization consultant Geoff Kenyon explains, “Google wants to give users the best experience possible; in most circumstances the user will have a better experience if there is more information present on the Places page. This means not only filling out the required text fields but also the optional ones."
In practice, a more complete profile can be more compelling to shoppers when multiple businesses appear together in local results on Search and Maps.
With this in mind, be certain to include your website URL, email address (if applicable), telephone number, hours of operation, accepted forms of payment (where relevant), and a well-written description of your business.
3. Choose proper business categories
Google Business Profiles are categorized to help users find the type of business they want.
For the most part, Google will show a business’s primary category (and sometimes additional category context) to help users decide which listings to examine further when it displays local results.
Your primary category helps Google understand what your business offers and can affect which searches you appear for. For category guidance and other profile best practices, refer to the Google Business Profile Help Center.
With this in mind it is very important to select categories that accurately describe your business and that will resonate with your potential customers.
Mike Blumenthal, an expert in local search, has a neat tool to help you choose categories for your Google Places for Business listing based on words or phrases. Blumenthal also has lists of current Places categories that you can review:
Google recommends that you choose more specific categories rather than more general ones. “The important thing is that the categories are accurate and describe your business well. Google's search algorithm makes sure that users looking for ‘Book Stores’ will see businesses in more specific categories like ‘Used Book Stores,’ ‘Comic Book Stores,’ and ‘Rare Book Stores’ too.”
4. Write meaningful descriptions
Depending on a user’s device or context, Google may show more or less of your Google Business Profile.
When the user does see a business description, you want that description to be persuasive and drive clicks.
The goal should be to convey your core value proposition to the customer and to think of click-throughs rather than focusing on stuffing keywords.
Google is already using your location and the categories that you selected to decide which local results to show in response to a particular search query, so use this opportunity to communicate with words that speak directly to your potential customer and position your business as the solution to their problems.
5. Include rich content (photos, videos, and updates)
In 2012, Digital marketing firm, Meditative, released the results of an eye-tracking study done to determine what users looked at when they were viewing Google Places listings on an iPhone.
Interestingly, for the first couple of listings, users’ eyes moved from left to right across the listing information. But by about the third listing, the user’s attention had almost completely moved to the pictures positioned along the right-side of the screen.
In other words, when given many listings to look at, people will often rely on a photograph to decide which listings merit additional attention.
Google has also started to include more photographs in some places listings, giving users the opportunity to view several of a listing’s pictures.
With this in mind, consider adding as much rich content — pictures and video primarily — as makes sense to communicate what your store sells and why it is special. Also, the higher quality images and video you can provide, the better.
You can also share timely updates through your Google Business Profile (for example, announcements, offers, or events) and keep your social channels active on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, or X.
6. Encourage customer reviews and feedback
In some instances, Google will display a Business Profile’s reviews, photo, and name prominently in local results. That means if you want your profile to perform well when customers compare nearby options on Search and Maps, you’ll need customer reviews.
When shoppers visit your physical store, consider handing them a card with the URL for your Business Profile on it, and ask them to take a moment to write a review.
You could also include a link to your Business Profile on your website or encourage people to leave reviews when you send them transactional emails or newsletters.
7. Publish Posts/Updates in Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile includes Posts/Updates that let you publish timely content directly on your profile, so customers can see what’s new when they find you on Search or Maps.
Use Posts/Updates to:
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Promote an offer (for example, a seasonal sale or limited-time discount)
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Announce an event (for example, an In-Store workshop or Pop-Up)
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Share a product or service highlight (for example, a new arrival or bestseller)
To keep this effective, set a simple cadence (for example, one update per week) and refresh photos and details whenever something changes (hours, services, or availability).
What’s your experience with Google Business Profile? Have you found it to be a good source of inbound traffic for your business?
Read more
Google Places Listing Optimization FAQ
What is a Google Places listing, and why optimize it?
A Google Places listing lets businesses share store, product, and location details when shoppers search across Google properties. Optimizing it can help present complete, accurate information at the moment people are searching, which can lead to more traffic and sales in-store and online.
How do I optimize my Google Places listing for more traffic?
Start by following the quality guidelines: be authorized, represent the business accurately, and use precise location information. Then fully complete the listing with website URL, email, phone number, hours, accepted payment forms, and a well written description focused on click-throughs, not keyword stuffing.
How do I choose the best business categories on Google Places?
Pick categories that accurately describe the business and match what potential customers search for. Google typically shows the first three categories in results, so make those count, and choose specific categories rather than general ones (for example, a specific type of store instead of a broad label).
Why are customer reviews important for Google Places rankings?
Reviews can be the most prominent element shown, since Google may display only the reviews, photo, and business name, with reviews getting top billing. Encourage reviews by handing in-store shoppers a card with the listing URL, adding a link on the website, or requesting feedback in transactional emails.
Can photos and videos improve my Google Places listing performance?
Yes—rich content can draw attention when people compare multiple listings. An eye-tracking study on an iPhone found that by about the third listing, attention shifted almost completely to pictures on the right side of the screen, so add high quality photos and video that show what the store sells.
