How to set up your Google Business Profile
MARKETING TIPS

How to set up your Google Business Profile

28 May 2026 MJ

A short, plain-English guide for local businesses in Burntwood and the surrounding area. Around fifteen minutes from start to finish, plus a wait for the verification postcard if Google asks for one.

Why this is worth doing

A Google Business Profile is what makes your business show up on Google Maps, in the local “businesses near you” results, and on the right-hand side of Google when someone searches for your name. It’s free. Done well, it’s one of the highest-value half-hours you’ll spend on your business this year.

If you already have one, brilliant. Send the URL to martyn@burntwood.business and we’ll link it to your burntwood.business listing so the two work together.

If you don’t, the rest of this guide walks you through it.

What you’ll need before you start

  • A Google account. Personal or business, either works, but a business one is tidier in the long run.
  • Your business name, exactly as you want it to appear.
  • The address you trade from. If you don’t have a public address (mobile services, home-based), you can hide the address and set a service area instead.
  • A phone number.
  • A website, if you have one. The burntwood.business listing URL works as your website if you don’t have your own site.
  • Your opening hours.
  • A handful of photos. The outside of the premises if you have one, a couple of inside shots, the team, the work, anything that says “this is a real business”.

Step 1, claim or create the profile

Go to https://business.google.com/create.

Sign in with your Google account. Google will ask you to search for your business name. Two things can happen here.

The business already exists. Google has often pre-created an entry from public records, an old listing, or a previous owner. If it shows up in the dropdown with your name and address, click it and choose “Claim this business”. You’ll need to verify you’re the rightful owner; Google walks you through it.

The business doesn’t exist yet. Click “Add your business to Google” at the bottom of the search box and create a new entry.

Either route lands you in the same setup flow.

Step 2, name and category

The name should be the trading name customers know. Don’t add keywords or locations to it (so “Smith’s Plumbing”, not “Smith’s Plumbing Burntwood best plumber”). Google’s policy is strict on this and stuffing keywords can get the listing suspended.

You’ll be asked to pick a primary category. Pick the one that most accurately describes what you do. Be specific. “Italian restaurant” beats “Restaurant”. “Mobile mechanic” beats “Car repair”. You can add secondary categories later for the other things you do.

Step 3, address or service area

If customers visit you, enter the trading address. The address shows publicly.

If you go to customers (mobile mechanic, dog walker, plumber, mobile beauty), tick “I deliver goods and services to my customers” and don’t show the address. You’ll then set a service area in the next bit. Google asks for towns, postcodes, or radius. For Burntwood businesses serving the local area, listing the surrounding towns by name (Burntwood, Lichfield, Cannock, Rugeley, Brownhills, Chasetown, Chase Terrace, Hammerwich) works better than a single radius.

Step 4, phone and website

Use the number you actually answer. The mobile is fine if that’s where the business calls go.

For the website, your own site if you have one. If you don’t, paste your burntwood.business listing URL. It’s a real, indexed page that describes your business, so it works as a stand-in.

Step 5, verify the listing

How Google verifies youPick one. Google decides which options are available for your category.Postcard5 working daysPhone or textImmediateEmailIf domain matchesVideoShow your premisesYou can keep editing the profile while you wait. Changes go live once you’re verified.

This is the only step that can take more than a few minutes. Google needs to confirm you own the business. The options vary by business type and what Google can confirm from public records. Usually one of:

  • Postcard by post. A card with a five-digit code lands at your business address within five working days. You log back into the profile, enter the code, and you’re verified.
  • Phone or text. A code goes to the business phone number you entered, immediate.
  • Email. A code goes to an email address linked to the business domain.
  • Video. You record a short video of the premises, your tools, and proof of ownership. Less common, but Google offers it for some categories.

While you’re waiting for verification, you can carry on filling in the profile. Anything you edit pre-verification gets published once the code goes in.

Step 6, fill in the rest of the profile

This is what separates a profile that just exists from one that actually pulls in customers.

Business description. Up to 750 characters. Two short paragraphs is enough. Say who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and why someone should pick you over the next listing. Don’t write it like a marketing brochure; write it like you’d explain your business to a neighbour at a barbecue.

Opening hours. Set them accurately. If you take appointments rather than walk-ins, Google has a “by appointment only” option. Bank holidays and Christmas hours can be set as special hours, worth doing the week before each one.

Photos. This is the bit most businesses skip and it’s the bit that matters most. At minimum:

The minimum photo setAdd at least these. Then one more every month.BBLogoCover photoYour workThe teamProfiles with regular photos rank higher than profiles that sit untouched.
  • Your logo.
  • A cover photo. Outside of the premises, or you with your van, or a clear shot of your work.
  • Three to five photos of the work, the team, the inside, the product, whatever fits.

Google rewards profiles that get photo uploads regularly. Even one new photo a month keeps the profile looking active.

Services and products. If your work breaks down into discrete services (haircuts, oil change, boiler repair), list them with prices where you can. If you sell products, the same.

Attributes. Google offers a list of attributes that match your category (wheelchair accessible, free parking, women-led business, accepts cards, has Wi-Fi). Tick the ones that apply, accurately.

Messaging. You can turn on direct messaging so customers can message you from Google. Only do this if you’ll actually reply within a working day; an unanswered message hurts more than no messaging at all.

Step 7, ask for your first reviews

Once the profile is verified and looking complete, ask three or four happy customers to leave a review. Google gives you a short link you can share by text, WhatsApp, or email. The link sends them straight to the review form.

Don’t offer anything in exchange for a review, paid or free; that breaks Google’s policy and can get the profile suspended. Just ask. Most people who like your business are happy to leave a sentence or two if you ask directly.

When reviews come in, reply to all of them. The good ones with a short thank-you. The less good ones with a calm, professional response that acknowledges the issue. Future customers read the replies as much as the reviews themselves.

Step 8, keep it alive

Once a month, do these three thingsThe whole maintenance loop. Small inputs, compounding visibility.Add a photoAny photo, any monthPost an updateOffer, news, anythingReply to everyoneReviews and messagesActive profiles outrank dormant ones, even if the dormant one has been around longer.

Once a month, do three small things:

  • Add one photo.
  • Post an update or an offer using the “Add update” function on the profile.
  • Check the messages and reviews.

That’s the whole maintenance loop. Profiles that get even small updates regularly outrank profiles that sit untouched.

Common things that go wrong

Verification postcard doesn’t arrive. Wait two full weeks, then request another. The first one occasionally gets lost in the post.

The business name is rejected. Usually because it includes a location or keyword. Strip it back to the trading name.

Suspended profile. Google occasionally suspends profiles, usually because of a name policy issue, a wrong category, or a dispute over ownership. The appeal process is documented in Google’s own help pages; it takes a few days. Don’t panic, don’t create a second profile, just file the appeal.

Address you don’t want to show. Tick the service-area option in the address step. If you’ve already gone public with an address you’d rather hide, you can change it in the profile settings.

Once you’re set up

Send the URL of your Google Business Profile (the one that looks like https://www.google.com/maps?cid=12345... or https://g.page/your-business-name) to martyn@burntwood.business. We’ll link it to your burntwood.business directory listing so customers can find both from one place, and so the directory listing can carry your Google rating alongside the listing reviews.

Any questions, reply to the welcome email and we’ll help.

burntwood.business is a free local business directory operated by Let’s Grow MJC Limited. We’re not affiliated with Google. This guide reflects Google’s setup flow at the time of writing and may differ slightly if Google changes the interface.

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