Pick the right primary category
It is the strongest signal for which searches you show up in. Choose the most specific one that describes what you do, then add a few secondary categories.
Decide: storefront or service area
If customers do not come to you, say so and list the towns you serve instead. Your home address stays hidden; Google uses it only to verify you.
Use one name, address and phone everywhere
Spell them exactly the same on your website, Google, Apple, Bing, Yelp and every directory. Mismatches make Google less sure you are who you say.
List your real services
Add each service you actually offer, in the words customers use. Do not list things you do not do yet; it can get a profile suspended.
Write the description
You get 750 characters. Say what you do, where, and for whom, in plain words. No links and no special offers in this box.
Add a square logo and a cover photo
The logo is cropped to a square, so a wide logo will be cut off. Use a large, sharp cover image. Real photos of you and your work help most.
Get verified
Google may offer a postcard, a phone or text code, or a short video of your business. Nothing shows publicly until this is done.
Ask for reviews
After a job goes well, ask in person and send the review link the same day. Never pay for reviews or post fake ones.
Want it done for you? Setting up and running your Business Profile is part of the Local SEO plan, and it always stays in your Google account.
The Marketing Audit · free
Send me your website. I’ll tell you what I’d fix first.
A written review of your website, how you show up on Google and in AI answers, your email and your ads, with the fixes in order of what makes you money first. Yours to keep, whether or not you hire me. The prices are public, so you already know what the work costs.
jeff@sheltonstrategies.com · Weatherford, Texas