For local businesses, ranking in Google Search and Google Maps often comes down to one free tool that many businesses either set up halfway or never fully optimize: Google Business Profile, still widely known by its former name, Google My Business (GMB). At FirstPage Marketing, we work with clients across the Fraser Valley and beyond on their local SEO, and we know that understanding how to optimize your Google My Business listing from the ground up can make a meaningful difference in how often your business shows up and how many local customers actually reach you.
Setting Up Your Google My Business Listing
Before optimization is possible, the listing has to exist. If your business doesn’t have a GMB profile yet, here’s how to get one started.
Create or Claim Your Listing
Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google Account you want associated with the business. If you’d prefer to keep your personal account separate, create a new one first. Once logged in, select “Start Now” to begin.
When you enter your business name, Google’s autocomplete will surface any existing listings that match. This is worth paying attention to: it prevents you from creating a duplicate and lets you claim an existing profile if one has already been generated for your location.
Enter Your Business Address
How you fill out the address field depends on how your business operates. If you have a physical location that customers visit, enter the full address and proceed. If your business serves customers at their location rather than from a fixed storefront, such as a plumber or home services company, leave the address blank and select “Hide my address” when prompted. Google accommodates both models.
Specify Your Service Areas
Service area businesses can define the regions, cities, or postal codes they serve. Listing your service areas helps Google understand where to surface your listing for relevant local searches, which is especially useful for businesses that cover a wider geographic area without a central storefront.
Choose Your Business Category
Category selection is one of the highest-impact decisions in the entire setup process. Your primary category strongly influences which search queries your listing appears for, and it shows up visibly in your profile. Take the time to research which category your top competitors have selected, and choose the one that most accurately reflects what your business does. You can add secondary categories to capture additional search relevance, and you can update your selections later if needed.
Add Your Contact Information and Website
Your phone number and website URL are essential. Including them enables call tracking functionality and gives customers a direct path to reach you from the listing. Local businesses should have their own unique website rather than relying on a Google-generated page to get the full value out of their GMB presence.
Verify Your Business on Google
Once the listing is created, it needs to be verified before it will appear in search results. Google offers several verification methods depending on your business type and situation.
Postcard Verification
This is the most common method. Request a postcard from within your GMB account, confirm the mailing address, and click “Mail.” The postcard typically arrives within five days and contains a five-digit verification code. Until it arrives, avoid editing your business name, address, or category, as changes can delay or cancel the process. Once the postcard is in hand, log back in and enter the code to complete verification.
If the postcard never arrives, you can request a new code by signing into your account and selecting “Request another code.”
Phone and Email Verification
Some businesses are eligible to verify by text message or email instead. If either option is available to you, it will appear during the verification step. Both follow the same pattern: confirm the contact information, receive a code, and enter it to verify.
Instant Verification
If your business is already verified through Google Search Console using the same account, you may be able to skip the standard verification process entirely. Not all business categories qualify for instant verification, so if no prompt appears, use one of the other methods.
Optimizing Your Google My Business Profile
With the listing live and verified, the real work of optimization begins. A complete, well-maintained profile performs better in local search results and gives potential customers the information they need to choose your business before they ever visit your website.
Add a High-Resolution Logo and Cover Photo
Your logo helps customers identify and connect with your brand. Google recommends uploading a square-format, high-resolution image so it displays clearly on all devices.
The cover photo sits prominently at the top of your profile and is always cropped to a 16:9 aspect ratio. Choose an image that represents your brand’s personality and offering well, and make sure it holds up across different screen sizes. A low-quality or poorly composed cover photo undermines the first impression your listing makes.
Write a Strong Business Description
Your GMB description gives you 750 characters to tell local searchers who you are and what you offer. Focus on one or two relevant keywords and place the most important search phrase near the top of the description. Including a local keyword helps with local search rankings.
Google’s guidelines prohibit promotional content and links in this field, but you can include your phone number and email address, which keeps the information useful without crossing into territory that could get the description rejected.
Add Photos of Your Business
Beyond the logo and cover photo, a well-optimized GMB listing includes a range of images that show different facets of the business: products and services in action, team members at work, the exterior of your location so customers can find you easily, and interior shots that give a sense of the space. Variety matters here. More detailed visual information makes it easier for customers to choose your business when comparing options.
All photos should meet Google’s technical requirements:
- Format: JPG or PNG
- File size: Between 10KB and 5MB
- Minimum resolution: 720px × 720px
- Quality: In focus, well-lit, and free of excessive filters or alterations
Learn all about the importance of image search optimization.
Keep Business Hours Accurate and Updated
Inaccurate hours are one of the fastest ways to lose a customer’s trust. A customer who arrives during posted business hours and finds the doors locked is unlikely to try again. Update your hours whenever they change, and use the special hours feature for holidays and other events. Accuracy here sends a basic but important signal of reliability.
Add an Appointment Link
If your business relies on appointments and uses scheduling software, connecting that software to your GMB listing lets customers book directly from Google without having to navigate to your website first. Reducing that friction can make a real difference in conversion rates for service businesses.
Fill Out Services and Products
Service-based businesses with defined offerings can list them in GMB’s services section, including pricing where applicable. The same logic applies to products. Having this information visible upfront means potential customers can evaluate your offering before they contact you, which tends to produce more qualified inquiries. Keep these sections updated whenever your pricing or availability changes.
Use Google Posts Regularly
Google Posts are short updates that appear directly on your listing and can include an image, text, and a call-to-action button. They’re well-suited for promoting upcoming events, sharing offers, and linking to recently published blog articles. Keep the image clean and the text focused. The goal of each post is to prompt a specific action, whether that’s a phone call or a click through to your website. Regular posting signals to Google that the listing is actively managed, which contributes to local search performance.
Track Performance with GMB Insights
The Insights section of your GMB dashboard surfaces useful data about how customers are finding and interacting with your listing. You can see which search queries led people to your profile, whether they found you through Google Search or Google Maps, and what actions they took afterward. Reviewing this data regularly helps you understand what’s working and where there’s room to improve.
A well-managed Google My Business listing is one of the most cost-effective local SEO investments a business can make, and the foundation is simply keeping it complete and current. If you’d like help getting your GMB profile optimized to rank in the Google local map pack and attract more customers in your area, reach out to us at 604-866-2230. Our local SEO team works with businesses across the Fraser Valley and beyond to make sure their Google presence is working as hard as it should.
