When someone searches "hairdresser near me" or "electrician in Chorley", Google often shows a map with a few local businesses above the normal search results. This is often called the "map pack". It's a valuable spot for a local business, and creating a Business Profile is free.
This guide walks you through it step by step, using Google's free tool, Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business).
Before you start: are you eligible?
Google Business Profiles are for businesses that deal with customers face to face, either:
- At a location, such as a shop, salon, café or office customers visit, or
- In a service area, where you travel to customers, like plumbers, cleaners, mobile hairdressers and gardeners.
Google's rules say a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. Online-only businesses aren't eligible, and PO boxes and virtual offices aren't allowed [1][2].
You'll need: - A Google account (a free Gmail account is fine, but ideally use one that's just for the business) - Your business name, exactly as you trade - Your address (even if you'll hide it, as below) - A phone number and website, if you have them
Step 1: Check whether you're already on Google
Search for your business name and town on Google Maps. Sometimes a listing already exists, created automatically or by a previous owner. If you find one, click "Own this business?" or "Claim this business" rather than creating a duplicate. Google's guidelines expect one profile per business [2].
Step 2: Create your profile
- Go to google.com/business and click Manage now.
- Enter your business name. Use your real trading name only, and don't add keywords. "Smith Plumbing" is right. "Smith Plumbing Best Cheap Plumber Bolton" goes against Google's guidelines [2].
- Choose your business category (more on this below).
- Say whether you have a location customers can visit.
Step 3: Choose the right category
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and complete, accurate details help with relevance [3]. Your category is a key part of that, so pick the most specific one that fits:
- "Plumber", rather than "Contractor"
- "Hair salon" or "Barber shop", rather than "Beauty"
- "Electrician", "Roofing contractor", "House cleaning service" and so on
You can add more categories later, but keep them relevant. Don't add categories for services you rarely offer.
Step 4: Address or service area?
This is where many tradespeople go wrong.
- If customers come to you (a shop, salon or café), enter your address and show it.
- If you go to customers (most trades), enter your address for verification, then hide it and set a service area instead. You can list towns, cities or postcode areas, such as "Bolton", "Horwich", "Westhoughton" and "Chorley".
Don't show your home address if you work from home and don't see customers there. Google lets you hide it, and you should.
Step 5: Add your contact details
Add your phone number and website. Note that Google no longer builds websites for you: its free Business Profile websites were shut down in 2024 [4]. So if you want a website, you'll need your own.
Step 6: Verify your business
Google needs to confirm you're real before your profile appears publicly. Google chooses which methods you're offered, and you can't change them [5]. They can include:
- Record a short video showing your signage, equipment or van, and proof you run the business
- Verify by phone or text
- Verify by email
- Other methods Google may offer
Google recommends video verification where it's offered. For service-area businesses, it suggests showing where you operate, branded equipment such as your van, and business documents like an invoice [6]. The video must be recorded live, not pre-recorded [6]. Reviews of verification can take several days.
Step 7: Fill in everything
A complete profile ranks better and converts better. Once verified, add:
- Opening hours, including any emergency hours. Update them for bank holidays.
- Services, listing each one separately, with prices if you're happy to share them.
- Description, up to 750 characters [7], with no links, prices or special offers allowed [2], explaining what you do, where, and why customers choose you. Write it for people, not robots.
- Photos: your logo, a cover photo, your van or premises, your team, and plenty of real work. Photos help customers see what you do.
- Attributes, such as "Online estimates" or "Wheelchair accessible", where relevant.
Step 8: Get reviews (and reply to them)
Google says the number of reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking [3]. Reviews also help customers decide.
- Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. Google allows you to share a review link, but not to pick out only positive reviewers or offer incentives [8][9]. Send the link by text or email after the job.
- Make it easy. A direct link takes them straight to the review box.
- Reply to reviews, good and bad. Google says replies show you value feedback [3]. Thank people. For negative reviews, stay calm, be polite, and offer to put things right offline.
- Never buy reviews or post fake ones. Google's policies ban fake engagement and remove it [9].
Aim for a steady flow of genuine reviews.
Step 9: Post updates
Your profile lets you publish short posts: offers, news, recent jobs or tips. They show on your profile and show customers you're active. Once a week is plenty. Something like "Just finished this bathroom in Horwich, here's the before and after" works well.
Step 10: Connect it to your website
Google Business Profile and your website work together:
- Your profile sends people to your website to find out more.
- Your website confirms to Google that your business is real and established.
- Your business name, address area, phone and website should match exactly in both places, and on any directories like Yell or FreeIndex.
Google uses information from businesses' own websites when building local listings [10], so a good website helps support your profile.
How long until I appear?
Once verified, your profile can start showing for searches of your business name. Ranking for general searches like "plumber Bolton" usually takes longer, and Google doesn't promise any timescale. It depends on how close the searcher is, how complete your profile is, your reviews and your website.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Keywords in the business name
- Creating duplicate profiles
- Showing a home address when you don't see customers there
- Using a virtual office or PO box
- Leaving the profile half-finished
- Ignoring reviews
Need the website to go with it?
A Google Business Profile gets you on the map. A proper website turns those clicks into enquiries. At Yesmo, we build mobile-friendly websites for local businesses, entirely by email, and we'll make sure the details on your website match the ones you use on your profile. (We build websites; we don't run Business Profiles for you.)
Starter websites are £549 (no VAT to add: prices are final), or £79 a month with no build fee upfront (your first £79 month is due at sign-up) (24-month minimum). See our prices and what a website really costs. Email hello@yesmo.co.uk with your business name, town and what you do, and we'll send you a proof.
Sources
Checked by web search on 13 Oct 2026. Google changes its tools often, so recheck the screens when you set yours up. 1. Google Business Profile Help, Business eligibility and ownership guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/13763036 2. Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177 3. Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091 4. Search Engine Land, "Google is shutting down websites made with Business Profiles" (Jan 2024): https://searchengineland.com/google-shutting-down-websites-business-profiles-436393 5. Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business on Google: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7107242 6. Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business with a video recording: https://support.google.com/business/answer/14271705 7. BrightLocal, Google Business Profile description guide (750-character limit): https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/google-business-profile-description/ 8. Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122 9. Maps User Generated Content Policy, Fake engagement: https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/11414422 10. Google Local Listings Help, How Google sources and uses information in local listings: https://support.google.com/local-listings/answer/9851099