Google Business Profile Setup Tutorial: Step-by-Step Guide for 2022

[00:00:00]setting up a google business profile is by far the easiest way for people to find a local business like yours on google search and google maps with a google business profile you can interact with customers through messages showcase your services and products build trust through reviews understand how customers find your business and even specify what health and safety measures you have put in place to protect them formerly known as google my business your google business profile can be managed and updated directly on google search itself either from your desktop or if you are always on the go using your mobile phone which makes it easy to keep your business information accurate at all times whether you run a brick and mortar store or visit customers directly at their home such as a plumber you are eligible for a google business profile the good news is it's easy to set up takes minutes and doesn't require any particular computer skills oh and i almost forgot it's also totally free having a well optimized google business profile in 2022 is going to be more important than ever before for every local business in this tutorial i'm going to show you how to set yours for best results step by step so let's jump on the computer [Music] the first thing you need to do before creating a google business profile is to create a google account if you already have a google account you can skip this step and jump to the next chapter called start building your business profile using the timestamp on the video timeline if not just keep watching from the google.com homepage click on the sign in button located in the top right hand side corner of the window then click on create account choose the to manage my business option which will take you to a form add your first and last name logging into your google account requires an email address you can create a gmail one from this form or use an existing email address from a different provider such as yahoo or outlook by clicking on the use my current email address link instead i like to keep things separate so i always create a gmail address using the business name i want to set up a google business profile for today i'm going to create a listing for a fictional removal company called removal brigade and use the name for the address which makes it easy to remember set up a password then click on next you'll then be asked to enter a phone number don't enter a dummy number here as it will be used to verify your account you can add a recovery email address which i suggest you do for security purposes add your date of birth and gender then click on next you will then be prompted to verify your phone number via a text message click on send then enter the verification code you should have received once you're done click on verify google will ask you if you want your phone number to be added to other google services i would suggest you click on the yes i'm in option here on the next screen tick the express personalization radio button then click next scroll down the next window to confirm your settings do the same with the privacy and terms page congratulations your google account is now created don't click on continue just yet instead close your browser window and open a new one so you can move on to the next step start building your business profile head over to google.com business click on the manage now button and sign into a google account you want to associate with your business profile if you've just created an account you should already be signed in this will take you to the google business profile manager if your business has been established for a while it is possible google already knows about it and created a business listing for it based on information it has collected around the web to find out start typing your business name in the search box if you see your business being listed in the drop down select it and follow the process to claim and manage the listing as you're on this will prevent you from creating a duplicate listing which could affect your business visibility on google maps for most of you watching this video i assume there isn't an existing profile for your business so you can safely select the create a business with this name option from the drop-down this will take you to the initial step of the profile creation process by default the first field should already be filled in with your business name the second field is all about choosing a category that is the most suitable for your business which is crucial to the success of your listing google uses your category to determine how relevant your business is in relation to keywords people are searching for which in turn will impact where your business ranks on google maps results start typing what you think could be a good option this will trigger a drop down with possible matches in my example the decision is fairly straightforward and there is only one option available moving company but depending on your business type you might find that multiple options are applicable let's say i was creating a profile for a dentist for example the choice is no longer as clear-cut the trick here is to be as specific as possible and to choose a category based on the service or product that generates most of your revenue once you've made your decision click on next on the next window you'll be asked if you want to add a location customers can visit if you run a brick and mortar store or an office and have a physical address where customers can get to tick the yes radio button and then next you will then be asked to add the exact address of the location where your business is based the location you add will show on google maps in the form of a red pin like this one my fictitious removal company doesn't have a physical address where customers can visit so i'm just going to go back one step and choose the no option choosing this option is recommended if you are a service area type of business such as plumber an electrician a locksmith and visit people at their home when you click on next you'll be asked to specify the areas in which you operate instead of adding a physical address my removal company operates in the city of london and in the kent area so i'm just going to add these two locations when choosing this option your business will not be represented with a red pin on the map instead the area you cover will be drawn on the map and delimited with a red line once you're done click on next regardless of whether you've chosen to add an address or service areas you'll then be asked to add a phone number where customers can contact you and a website address both of which will display on your business profile if you don't have a website just tick the box i don't have a website then click on next if you want to receive updates and recommendations from google for your business tick the yes option on this window then move on to the next step in order for your profile to be publicly visible and for you to be able to manage your business information it needs to be verified for this google uses different methods of verification which will depend on your business type and your geographical location most of you are likely to see a screen asking you to verify your business by post if this is the case just add your postal address and click on next on the following screen enter your name in the contact name field and click on mail you should then see a message saying a postcard containing a verification code has been sent to you which you should receive in about four days once you've received the postcard you'll need to log into your account and enter the code to verify your listing more on this in a few minutes if this scenario applies to you click on continue some of you might be asked to verify your listing using video recording instead to do this you'll need to create a video that includes outside signage or street name show inside your business and areas only employees can access this should be done in one continuous recording to do this click on the start recording button using your mobile phone log into your google account scan the qr code and start recording you will need to schedule the time with a google representative for the video verification code another method a few of you might see is the ability to verify your profile directly via a phone call or an email you can request a verification code from either and enter the code as soon as you receive it since the vast majority of you watching this video is likely to fall into the postcard scenario let's take it from there and continue setting up your profile this step is all about adding common services to your profile you provide to customers based on the business category you have chosen for your business google would have added some options by default you can either keep them on or deselect them or even add others if you don't see any suitable options you can add your very own custom ones once you're done just click on next time to add your business hours specify your real opening and closing times you don't want to deceive customers by pretending you are open when you are not then click on next visitors can interact with you through messages directly from your google my business profile this feature is enabled by default you can disable it if you want but i would suggest you keep it turned on to make it easier for customers to reach out to you then click on next the next thing you need to do is to enter a business description which will appear right at the bottom of your business profile panel use the description to share useful information about your services your history and how you started off think of it as an about us page you would have on your website make the most of the 750 characters you can use then click on next time to add photos to showcase your business and make your profile more attractive to customers you can add photos of your storefront some of the products you sell the services you provide your team members etc don't use stock photos google doesn't really like them make sure they are unique to your business once you're done click on next you can claim an 80 pounds free advertising credit you can use on google ads i suggest you skip this as you can claim this voucher later if you are interested on the next screen click on continue within seconds you should be redirected to a new window called google business profile manager which is where we are going to optimize your profile further from the google business profile manager you can control and edit all your business details as well as access various features that can make your listing stand out in search results the homepage of your dashboard is used by google to communicate important information and news regarding your profile but also to make suggestions about other services you might want to use in relation to your business such as creating a professional email address for example i'm not going to cover them all here instead i'm going to focus on the most important ones starting with the one at the very top of the page which is about managing your business profile directly on google search and google maps if you click on the try it on search button you will be redirected to google search results from where you can edit your business information directly almost all features available on your google business profile manager can be found here when clicking on the edit profile option a pop-up window will open from which you can update your business details which will be reflected almost instantly on your listing you can also do this on the fly via your mobile phone as long as you are logged into your google account which is quite practical if you are always on the road google announced that sometime in 2022 this will be the only way to update your business details if you have a single business profile the google business profile manager will only be available for those of you with more than one profile so the sooner you get used to this interface the better at the time of recording this video the business profile manager is still available for everyone if you're watching this and no longer have access to the business profile manager the easiest way to access your profile will be to go to google log into your google account and search for your business you should then be able to update your details let's go back to the profile manager for now the second message is a reminder that your profile needs to be verified which is something you should do as soon as you receive your verification code if you scroll down a little you should see a notification that your profile is only 80 complete and missing a logo to add one click on the plus button from there you should be able not only to add a logo but also a cover photo which are the most important images for your profile your logo will appear here while your cover photo will show up there the recommended dimensions for your logo are 712 pixels by 712 pixels while your cover photo should be 1024 by 756 pixels i'm going to add pictures for both of them which i have prepared earlier on this is a very straightforward process starting with the logo just click on choose photo and fetch the image from your computer which should have been designed using the correct sizes repeat the same step for your cover photo you should now see both your logo and cover photos displayed next to the images you added when you created your profile we're almost there just a couple more touches to increase your chances of getting more customers from the left hand side menu click on the info option this is where you can access and edit all the business information you have filled in during the setting up process which can also be found on google search the first thing you want to do here is add more categories i told you how important categories are unfortunately when creating your profile you only have the option to choose one primary category but from the business profile manager you can add secondary ones under your business name click on the pencil icon from the pop-up click on add category and add relevant categories to your business this will help your business rank in google maps for keywords related to the secondary categories you can add up to nine secondary categories scroll down the page until you get to the attribute section add relevant attributes to your business especially their health and safety ones these attributes will show on your panel and reassure people you have put the right measures in place add an opening date it will automatically add the number of years you have been in business on your listing which can help visitors feel more confident you are the right business to deal with once you've received your verification code log back into your business profile manager from the main page click on enter verification code enter your verification code then click on verify you will be redirected to screen confirming your listing has been verified click on next and skip the free offer then on continue you will be taken to the google business profile manager's homepage congratulations your listing should now be visible to the public if you have any question post them in a comment below and i will get back to you until next time happy marketing [Music] you