For most local businesses the Google Business Profile — the panel with the map, hours and reviews — brings more phone calls than the website does. It is free, it takes an hour to set up properly, and most profiles are left half-finished. Here is the full checklist.
Claim and verify
Search your business name in Google Maps. If a listing exists, claim it; if not, create one. Verification is by postcard, phone, email or video depending on the business type. Do this before anything else, because you cannot edit an unverified profile.
Get the basics identical to your website
Business name (the real one, no keywords added), address or service area, phone number and website link must match the site exactly — same spelling, same format. Mismatches are the most common reason profiles underperform.
Categories
Choose the most specific primary category available: "Emergency plumber" rather than "Plumber" if that is your focus, "Physiotherapist" rather than "Health". Add two or three secondary categories that describe real services. Do not add categories for work you do not do.
Services and description
List each service individually with a short description and, where sensible, a price. Write the business description in plain language: what you do, who for, where. Save the marketing adjectives.
Hours
Set regular hours and add special hours for public holidays a week in advance. A profile that says "open" when you are closed produces angry reviews.
Photos
Upload at least twenty real photos: exterior (so people recognise the building), interior, team, work in progress, finished jobs. Add a few every month. Profiles with recent photos get noticeably more clicks.
Reviews
Create the short review link and send it after every job. Reply to every review within a few days, including the bad ones, calmly and briefly. Volume and recency both matter.
Monthly maintenance
- Check hours and phone number.
- Add three to five photos.
- Reply to new reviews and questions.
- Post one update: a recent job, a seasonal note, a new service.
If you want the profile, website and AI visibility checked together, that is what YINO's search visibility review covers.
