Google Business Profile: how to set it up so it brings in calls

When someone in Norwich searches for your trade, the first thing they often see isn’t your website. It’s your Google Business Profile: your name, your star rating, your hours and a button that rings you. If the hours are wrong or the number is one you stopped using, they call the next business on the list.

A profile is free and it doesn’t take long to set up. Keeping it right takes a few minutes a month, and that part is where most profiles slip.

Claim it and get verified

Search for your business on Google Maps first. It may already have a listing, built from public information, which you can claim rather than starting a new one. Then sign in at business.google.com with an account the business controls, not a personal one you might lose access to.

Google then verifies that you run the business. It offers one or more methods: a code by phone or text, an email, a live video call or a postcard. Google picks which ones you get and you can’t change them. For a video call you need to be at the business and show where it is (signage or a street sign), some equipment or branded material, and proof you manage it, such as keys or a staff area.

Reviews of a verification can take up to five business days. Postcard codes usually arrive within 14 days and expire after 30.

Your name and your main category

Use the name on your van and your invoices. Google’s guidelines say the name should match your real-world name and don’t allow extra information in it, so “Smith Electrical Norwich EV Chargers” breaks the rules unless that’s what you’re called.

Your main category tells Google what kind of business you are, so it decides which searches you can show up for. Google asks you to use as few categories as possible, as specific as possible, and suggests finishing the sentence “This business IS a…”. An electrician picks Electrician. Add a second category only if it describes something the business is, not a service it happens to offer. Services have their own section further down.

A shop address or a service area

If customers come to you, at a shop, salon or office, show your address. If you go to them, as most trades do, remove the address and set a service area. Hybrid businesses can show both.

Service areas are set by town, postcode or region, up to 20 of them. Google doesn’t allow a radius, and says the whole area shouldn’t stretch more than about two hours’ drive from your base. A Norwich plumber might list Norwich, Wymondham, Aylsham, Dereham and the NR postcodes they cover, rather than all of Norfolk and Suffolk.

Hours, including bank holidays

Set your normal hours, then use special hours for anything unusual: bank holidays, Christmas, a training day. Special hours are for closures of six days or fewer. For a week or more, mark the business as temporarily closed instead.

Around some public holidays Google may show a warning on your profile that your hours might differ. It recommends confirming your holiday hours even when they’re the same as usual. A calendar reminder each December saves a lot of wasted calls.

Photos, services and posts

Add real photos of your work: finished jobs, your van, your shop front so people recognise it when they arrive. Ask before you photograph a customer’s home or a member of staff.

Fill in the services section. You can pick from Google’s suggestions or add your own, each with a short description and a price if you’re happy to show one. Use the words a customer would type. Retail businesses in the UK can also list products through the product editor.

Posts let you share an update, an offer or an event. They’re archived after six months unless you set a date range, and Google may reject a post with a phone number in the text, so let the call button do that job. A post when something changes (a new service, a closure, a seasonal offer) is plenty.

Older guides tell you to switch on chat so customers can message you from the profile. Google turned that off on 31 July 2024, so ignore any advice built around it and work from what your own dashboard shows.

Keep it matching your website, and watch for edits

Anyone can suggest a change to your profile: new hours, a different phone number, a claim that you’ve closed. When Google wants your view on one, you get an email or a notification and have four days to accept or reject it. If you don’t reply, Google may publish the change anyway when other public information supports it, and your website is one of the places it looks. Changes Google has made show in blue text when you edit the profile.

That’s the main reason your profile and your site need to say the same thing. If your website still lists the opening hours from two years ago, a wrong suggestion can look correct to Google. Check your profile once a month, and every time you change a number, an address or your hours, update the site on the same day. Our guide to local SEO in Norwich and Norfolk covers how the profile fits with the rest of your search presence, and how to get more Google reviews covers the part customers read most closely.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your profile, or a website that matches it, tell us about your business.