Google Business Profile: the settings that get you into Google Maps

To show up in Google Maps, your Google Business Profile needs to be complete, accurate and active. Google ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You can't change your distance, but you can improve the other two this week with a few simple settings.

When someone types "dry cleaner near me" or "accountant Laval", Google shows a map with three businesses before any website. That's often where the customer makes their choice. If your profile is half-filled, you're handing that spot to someone else. Here are the settings that really matter, in the order we check them for our clients.

How Google picks the businesses shown in Maps

Google explains it in its own help article on local ranking: it combines three factors.

• Relevance: does your profile match what the person is looking for? This is where your category, services and description come in.
• Distance: how far are you from the person, or from the place they searched for? There's no way around this one.
• Prominence: how well known and well regarded is your business? Reviews, mentions around the web and your website all count.

The good news: relevance and prominence are largely in your hands.

The basic settings you can't skip

Your primary category

This is the single most important setting on your profile. Pick the category that describes your main activity as precisely as possible, not the broadest one. A "Vietnamese restaurant" has a better shot at showing up for "pho" than a plain "restaurant". Then add a few secondary categories, but only if they describe what you actually do.

Name, address and phone number

Use your real business name, the one on your sign. Stuffing keywords into the name ("Tremblay Plumbing Best Plumber South Shore") goes against Google's guidelines and can get your profile suspended. Also make sure your address and phone number match your website and other directory listings exactly.

Opening hours

Wrong hours cost you customers and trust. Set special hours for statutory holidays and vacations. It takes a minute, and Google notices.

Services or products

List each of your services with a short description, using the words your customers use. If people say "tire change" and not "tire replacement service", write "tire change".

What makes your profile more convincing

Photos

Add real photos of your business: the storefront (so people can find you), the inside, your team at work, your products or your projects. Skip the stock photos. Add new ones regularly, as seasons and projects change.

Description

In a few clear sentences, say what you do, who you do it for and where. No keyword lists: write it the way you'd explain it to a customer at the counter.

Reviews and your replies

Reviews feed into prominence, and they reassure customers. Simply ask your happy customers for one, at the right moment. Reply to all of them, good and not so good, calmly and politely. Google itself notes that responding to reviews shows you value your customers.

Posts

You can share news, offers or events right on your profile. An occasional post shows the business is active and gives people one more reason to choose you.

How your profile and your website work together

Your profile and your website support each other. Google also looks at what it finds on your site to judge your relevance and prominence. A clear website that names your services and the areas you serve, with the same contact details as your profile, strengthens your presence in Maps. If you want the big picture on your local presence, that's exactly where our visibility work starts.

Where to start

1. Review your primary category: is it the most precise one for your main activity? Adjust it if needed.
2. Fill in the empty sections: services, description, holiday hours and attributes (accessibility, parking, payment options).
3. Add five real photos and reply to any reviews that are still waiting for an answer.

Curious where you stand? Our website check gives you a clear picture of your online presence.

The Elliot team