How to optimise your Google Business Profile: a practical guide

A well-maintained Google profile answers simple questions: is this the right business, does it provide the service I need, does it work in my area and how can I get in touch? Optimising your Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, starts with those answers. Filling every field with keywords will not help someone prepare their call.

This guide suggests an order of work for a small business improving its local presence. It is an Optimaps way of organising the task, not an official method or a promise about how soon results will arrive.

Understand what you can improve

Google explains that local ranking mainly depends on relevance, distance and prominence. You can clarify your activity and maintain your presence, but you cannot choose the location of the person searching. Paying does not directly buy a better position in these rankings. Source: Google's local ranking guidance.

In practice, separate two aims: being understood in a relevant search, and helping the person who opens your profile take the next step. Accurate contact details immediately help with the second aim, even before visibility changes.

First session: check the essentials

Open your profile as a potential customer would, then prepare a list of corrections. For each item, record the current value, the intended value and who can confirm it.

• Check that the telephone number reaches the right person.
• Open the website on a phone and try its contact form.
• Compare the displayed hours with your actual availability.
• Identify missing or poorly explained services.
• Note outdated photos and customers' recurring questions.

Fix errors that could lose an enquiry first: a wrong number, a broken form or an unannounced closure. A more elegant description can wait a few minutes; a customer calling an abandoned number is less likely to wait.

Second session: explain your offer

Work on your business description and services next. Explain what you do today, for whom and under what conditions. Ask someone unfamiliar with your trade to read it. If they cannot explain your offer afterwards, simplify the wording.

Fictional example: a tradesperson mainly renovating bathrooms can explain the steps involved in an initial enquiry. They should not add a promise of overnight emergency repairs just because the search looks attractive. It would bring enquiries they cannot fulfil.

Set up a realistic routine

Set aside a weekly slot to read new reviews and check content awaiting approval. Once a month, review information that may have changed and prepare your next posts. Keep a record of the date and reason for each important change.

This record prevents a colleague from accidentally restoring old information. It also helps you understand what changed during a period when enquiries rose or fell, without automatically attributing the change to a single edit.

Measure what matters to your business

Choose a few indicators and a consistent comparison period. Look at the interactions available from Google, then compare them with the enquiries you actually received. A button click is not an accepted quotation.