Free Google Business Profile checklist

This checklist tells you what to check, not what to buy. Nobody can honestly guarantee you a ranking on Google, and I don't.

Items marked “Fix first” cost you customers the day they're wrong. Start there.

1. First impression: what people see when they look you up

Fix firstYou can sign in and edit your profile yourself.If a former employee, a relative or an agency set it up, ask them to add you as an owner. Until you can edit it, nothing else on this list can be fixed.
Your business name is spelled the way customers know you.No extra keywords like “best braids in town”. Google's rules forbid it, and it can get a profile suspended.
Your main category is the most specific one that fits.For example “Mexican restaurant”, not just “Restaurant”. Then add the other categories that match what you really do.
Fix firstAt least one real photo of your work, your team or your place.Not only a logo or a stock picture. Real photos show a stranger you're real before they call.
Your description says what you do, who it's for and where.In your own words. No text copied from another site.

Fix firstYour hours are right, holidays included.Use special hours for holidays. Wrong hours are the fastest way to lose a customer who drove over.
Fix firstThe phone number works, and it's the one you answer.Call it from another phone to be sure.
Fix firstThere's an easy way to call or book.A Call button, a booking link, or both. If you take bookings on another site, the link goes straight to it, not to your home page.
Your website link works and opens a useful page.Services, prices or booking: what a customer wants. Not a dead page.
The pin on Google Maps sits on your front door.And the address is right. If you go to your customers instead, your service area is set and your home address is hidden.

At least one review from the last 3 months.Old reviews alone make a business look closed. Ask happy customers, but never pay or offer a discount for a review: Google forbids it.
Every review has a reply.Thank the good ones. Answer the bad ones calmly, in public.
Prices, or a price range, are easy to find.On your profile, your website or your posts. “Call for price” on everything costs you calls.
Your attributes are set.For example “Identifies as Black-owned”, “Identifies as women-owned”, “Wheelchair-accessible entrance”, or the payments you accept. They help the right customers find you.
Something new in the last month.A post, a photo, an offer. A profile that hasn't changed in a year looks abandoned.

You show up when you search the way a new customer does.On your phone, try “[your service] near me” or “[your service] [your town]”, not your business name. That's the search that brings people who don't know you yet.
Your services are listed on your profile.Use the words customers actually search for, not only your own names for them.
Your name, phone and website match everywhere.On Google, Facebook, Instagram, Yelp and your website. An old number on Yelp sends customers to the wrong place, and mixed information doesn't help you on Google.
Your business has only one Google profile.Search your name on Google Maps. An old listing with a former address or phone number splits your reviews and sends people to the wrong place.

16 to 19 checked: In good shape. Keep the reviews and the posts coming.
10 to 15 checked: A few quick fixes will show fast. Start with the “Fix first” items, then one review reply.
Under 10: Your profile is probably costing you calls. Fix the “Fix first” items, then work down the list.