How to Claim & Optimize Your Google Listing

Olympia Caswell • Sep 13, 2023

Completely Optimize Your Google Business Profile: A Checklist & How-to-Guide

Now that we know why you should be optimizing your Google Business Profile, let's talk about how you can do it! Here is our step-by-step checklist you can use your Google Business Profile to promote your local business. 



  • Create your profile or claim your business 
  • Verify your business profile through Google
  • Complete every section of business information asked for as far as it applies to your business
  • Write a business description optimized with keywords so your customers know who you are and what you offer
  • Select a primary & secondary Google Business category
  • Add Photos
  • Request reviews on Google from your clients
  • Add products & services
  • Enable messaging
  • Utilize the Q&A section to answer common questions about your business
  • Make Google Business posts every week 
  • Keep your profile updated

How to Create or Claim a Profile

Before we get into adding and optimizing your account, it's important to first make sure you have an account. Use your business email (not your personal one) to create an account through Google.com/business. (www.business.google.com)

It will then ask you a series of questions such as location, the areas/towns you serve, what category of business you represent, and the contact information your customers can use.


Watch this brief video from Google on how to claim or add your business: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DGih-I5WLY

Verify your Business Profile

Google has guidelines you need to follow to verify your business profile so you can show up on google maps.

Watch this brief video to understand how you can verify your business profile with Google.

Complete every section

It's important for people to have as much information as possible when looking at your profile as that can sometimes make all the difference between engaging as a customer or moving on to your competitor.


As soon as you open your profile, fill in your name, phone number, website, address, hours of operation, and holiday hours. This is basic information and easy to complete. Steps that may take a bit more time, but should still be completed as soon as possible, are your products/services, category/attributes, and various questions with accompanying answers.

Besides just filling in these contact sections of your profile, it's extremely important to double-check that everything is completely accurate.


The name of your company should be consistent with any retail signs. Do not add keywords or a location name unless they’re part of your official name, otherwise Google will see it as spam.


If you used "Street" in other online listings, do not use the abbreviation "St." for your Google Business Profile. Make sure you keep your address consistent throughout all web listings, as Google will find you less credible if it finds conflicting information.

Do Competition and Keyword Research

Keyword research in SEO involves the process of identifying and analyzing the words and phrases that users enter into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. By understanding popular keywords and their search volume, competition, and relevance, businesses can optimize their website content to target those keywords effectively.


Keyword research helps improve search engine rankings, drive targeted organic traffic, and align website content with user intent. It is an essential step in SEO to identify valuable keywords that can attract the right audience and increase visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).


Tips for keyword research:

  • Understand your target audience and their search intent to identify relevant keywords.
  • Use keyword research tools to discover popular and relevant keywords in your industry.
  • Consider long-tail keywords (specific phrases) as they often have less competition and higher conversion potential.
  • Incorporate a mix of primary keywords and related secondary keywords throughout your content.
  • Create high-quality and informative content that naturally incorporates your chosen keywords.
  • Regularly update and refresh your keyword research to adapt to changing search trends and user behavior.

Fill in your "from the business" description

This section appears just under your reviews and is a chance for you to give potential customers a glimpse into your business. Utilize this section to discuss how your company differs from its rivals and which aspects clients would find most appealing.


You are allowed to use 750 characters, but make sure to put your most important information in the first 250. Include keywords relevant to your business throughout your content.


Make sure you use important keywords for your business description, so Google can discover your products or services.

Select a business category

Choosing a category for your business is extremely important when it comes to being discovered by potential customers and accessing category-specific features for your profile.


Most views to your Google Business Profile will come from discovery searches. These are where a potential customer searches for the category of product or service they’re looking for instead of the business name.



Also, when you select a category, Google gives you access to category-specific features that enhance the effectiveness of your profile. Restaurants, for example, can include a reservation button so customers don't have to click on the website to book a table.

There are over 4,000 categories to choose from, so it is likely that you’ll be able to find one that accurately matches your business. For example, if you’re a cafe choose "vegan cafe" instead of simply "cafe,” if that applies.


Pro tip: If you aren't sure what category select, do some competitor research to see what companies like yours list themselves as.

Choose secondary categories

Oftentimes businesses have multiple categories, as they offer different types of services. This is why secondary categories exist. After you choose your primary category, input any others your business could fit into. Don’t overdo this, though. as you only want to attract customers who are in need of your services/products.

Add new photos & videos

Uploading photos to your profile is important for a number of reasons. The first is that it lets Google know that you’re active and your profile is accurate, which improves your ranking. Another is that since anyone can upload photos to your business profile, adding your own ensures that there are some high-quality photos in the mix. Lastly, customers are much more likely to interact with your profile if they see photos attached, as they’ll view it as more reliable and trustworthy.

Guidelines for uploading photos

  • Use your logo for your thumbnail photo
  • Upload a cover photo
  • Don't use photos with special effects or stock photos
  • Choose high-quality photos with clear subjects
  • Upload a new photo every week
  • Include photos that your products/services, your employees, the interior/exterior of your location, and satisfied customers
  • To add a 360-degree photo to your profile, use the Google Street View app
  • Geo-tag your photos to improve your local search rankings (research shows this is not at the top of the list)

Obtain Business Reviews

Getting reviews on your business is important both in improving your ranking in Google and also in making you appear more trustworthy to potential customers. People are much more likely to go with a business that’s been highly reviewed versus one with no reviews even if the businesses offer the same services or products.


Ask your customers to write a review; most will do it if asked! To make it easier and more convenient for them, send them a direct link to the review page so they don't have to go searching for it. Make sure you don't offer discounts or gifts in return for a review, as this is not allowed.


Then, after someone leaves a review, make sure to reply to them, as this shows your customers you care about their feedback, and it also improves your local SEO.

Make Google posts every week

Posting to your Google Business Profile is a lot like posting to a social media account - you can make announcements about any ongoing or upcoming events and deals or post about your products/services in general. Like adding photos, posts can improve your local ranking while also increasing engagement from searchers.



To keep your customers updated, post at least once a week using a call to action and link in each. When posting about a marketing campaign with a timeline, be sure to use event and offer posts. This ensures that your posts will remain for the duration of the campaign.

Answer the questions your customers ask

It's important to answer the questions presented to you in the question & answer section of your profile, as these responses can influence a customer's decision to pick your company. Anyone can answer questions asked in this section, which can lead to false information and the loss of potential business.



Create a list of the questions that come up most often for your company. After that, post an inquiry, a response, and an upvote on your own profile. If possible, use relevant keywords in your response, as this can help improve your ranking.

Add products and services

If your business name does not make it clear what you provide, adding goods and services might be extremely useful. By filling this out, your profile has more material to boost its ranking for even more pertinent queries.



Provide the name, description, and cost of any items or services you add. Also, Google can include links to your items in its category area.

Enable messaging

When you enable messaging, searchers can send a text message to your phone from your profile. As it uses a special app, no need to worry about it giving out your personal phone number. All you have to do is install the app through the Apple App Store or Google Play and then switch on messaging by choosing the "Messaging" button in your Google Business dashboard.



This is a fantastic chance for clients to contact you, as most smartphone users utilize their devices for local searches.

Keep your profile updated

As you can see, there are immense benefits to using and optimizing your Google Business Profile.



That being said, there are a lot of aspects of it you’ll need to keep updated. As a local marketing tool, it will need regular attention if you want to get the most out of it and improve your internet visibility.

Get Links from Local High Authority Websites

“Inbound links” as they’re called, are links to your business that other businesses put on their own websites. Inbound links will help your business move forward, creating more traffic to your website and getting the attention of those who before that may have been unaware of you and your business.



Some may find generating inbound links a daunting task, however - one they’re unsure of how to even approach. Garnering links from local high authority websites such as the Better Business Bureau, the Milford Area Chamber of Commerce, or other networking or community organizations, will be sure to get the attention of potential customers in your area.

Why is it important to optimize your GBP Profile?

To get found online in your local market, here are some of the advantages to optimizing your business profile:

Improve your local ranking

Google ranks businesses by factors such as vicinity, relevance, accuracy of information, and activity level. So not only do you have to be the closest business to the location of the searcher, but you also need to have the most up-to-date information and be frequently active on your Google Business Profile.



Using Google My Business can help you maintain your company's overall rating so that it continues to rise in the ranks and be easily found in searches. If your profile is optimized, you’ll rank higher in the listings, which translates to increased exposure and interest in your company.

Gets more people to engage

Because the material on the search results pages can alone adequately answer their inquiries, consumers are now frequently visiting Google without ever actually clicking on a website. Since a lot of potential customers may never actually click on your site, it's therefore important that all the information on your Google Business Profile is optimized and accurate.



If all your information is up to date and accurate, potential customers will be much more likely to trust your company and interact with your website.

Turn people into real customers

A standard Google Business Profile by itself doesn't provide anything by way of client acquisition. Potential clients can only look at such basic information as your location and read reviews. However, if you have a well-optimized business profile, customers can engage with you on a whole new level. They can visit your website, learn about your services, find you in keyword searches, get in touch with you, view/contribute FAQs, request quotes, schedule appointments, make reservations, and more.

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