Your Google Business Profile, step by step

• a company Google account, not a personal one used for other purposes;
• the company name, exactly as it appears on your sign and documents;
• the address, if clients come to you, or the service area, if you go to them;
• a phone number that is actually answered;
• your website address, if you have one;
• a few real photos of the company and its work.

Go to business.google.com with the company account and follow the steps. If the business already appears on the map (added, for example, by a customer), claim the existing profile instead of creating a new one: two profiles for the same location conflict and may be suspended.

The name must be the real one, used on your sign and documents. Google's rules prohibit adding keywords, the city, slogans or phone numbers to the name; breaching them can lead to suspension of the profile.

Choose the primary category according to what the business is (for example, "Car repair"), not according to every service offered. Google recommends as few categories as possible, strictly those describing the core business.

If you receive clients at your premises (shop, clinic, restaurant), enter the real address, where the business is signposted. If you go to clients (construction, plumbing, cleaning), hide the address and set the service area; Google recommends that it should generally not extend beyond about two hours' drive from your base.

Virtual offices and addresses where the business does not actually operate are not accepted.

Google decides which methods are available for each business, and sometimes more than one is needed. The possible options are:

• video recording (recommended by Google when available): film the location and its surroundings, evidence of the business (equipment, products, company vehicle) and proof that you manage it (for example, unlocking the door or access to a staff-only area);
• live video call, only during the business's listed opening hours;
• code by phone or text message, to the business number;
• code by e-mail, to a business address;
• postcard with a code, which usually arrives within 14 days; the code is valid for 30 days, and until it arrives you should not change the name, address or category.

After submission, the review usually takes up to 5 business days; only then does the profile become visible on the map.

• opening hours, including special holiday hours;
• services or products, with prices where possible;
• a short description: what you do, for whom and where;
• real photos: exterior and interior, the team, your work (not images taken from the internet);
• the link to your website, ideally with UTM parameters, so that visits from the profile show up in your statistics.

Reviews influence both your position in results and clients' decisions. Ask satisfied clients for them through the direct link in your profile and reply to all of them, including negative ones, calmly and to the point.

Google's rules prohibit buying reviews, offering rewards in exchange for them, writing them yourself and selectively soliciting only positive reviews. Breaches can lead to reviews being removed or the profile being restricted.

The profile puts the business on the map; the website convinces the visitor to contact you. The name, address and phone must be identical in both places, and on the website structured data conveys the same information to search engines.

We can create and optimise the profile together with the website (250 lei). Check, free of charge, whether your website has the necessary data with the website check.