How To Create Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
A Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the most powerful free tools your local business can be using! In this article I will show you how to get started and set one up like a pro.
Step-By-Step GBP Creation
1. Go to the Google Business Profile Website: The first thing you want to do is go to this link here https://business.google.com/ and make sure you are logged into a Google account.
2. Press the "Start Now" Button: In the top right of the screen there is a blue button "Start Now" Press this
3. Enter Your Business Name: After you sign in and press start, you are taken to a page to create your GBP, start by entering the name of your business
4. Choose Your Business Type: You then want to select your business type from Online Retail, Local Store or Service Business, make sure you pick the correct one that applies to you
5. Enter Your Business Category: This step is VERY IMPORTANT as it affects what you will be ranking for, the way you chose your business category is go onto Google, search for your competitors and find the top 3 profiles. Select "Suggest an edit" for these profiles and see what their Primary Category is. Now select that as your category.
6. Choose Your Service Area: Select the locations that you serve, be specific here.
7. Contact Details: Here you want to enter your business phone number, this will be the number that is shown on your profile for people to call. You want to also enter your website URL if you have one.
8. Verify: This is where Google want to verify your home address, this wont be shown on the profile, you can turn it off. This is only used to verify your account. Follow the instructions on screen for this as each persons verification may differ slightly.
9. Services: Next you want to add your services, make sure to use the ones Google suggest, usually most of the things you do will be there already. Don't go too overboard with this I suggest adding 5-15 services, again it can always be changed later.
10. Business Hours: Nothing too complicated here, just enter your opening hours, or for service businesses the hours that you would answer the phone etc. Make sure these hours are the same across your Facebook Profile and other online directories.
11. Business Description: This is where you can write about your business, and it's important to try and fit keywords in here. For most businesses just try and mention the main service you do for example a landscaper would but "Professional Landscaper in Nottingham" somewhere in the description as it also mentions their area.
You can also use external tools like AI to write you something if you are really struggling, for beginners I recommend using ChatGPT to write you your first description, just use the prompt below copy and paste it and fill in the blanks.
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"Can you write me a 750 character description for a Google Business Profile using the best SEO keywords for my niche. I am a [What you do] based in [Area you serve] with [number] of years experience and my business name is [Business Name]"
AI wont be as good as a professional copywriter but it will do a good enough job for now*
12. Pictures of Your Work: Finally we want to add as many pictures of our work as possible the more pictures the better, if a customer can see 50+ pictures/videos of high quality work they are more likely to trust you then if they can see 1 or 2 basic pictures.
BONUS Ad Credit: Now that you are done, it is going to ask you to sign up for Google Ads and offer you £400 advertising credit. DO NOT DO THIS yet...
Once you create your ad account you have 60 days to spend £400, if you do spend £400 you get £400 ad credit so your next £400 is essentially free. But if you do not spend the £400 in that time you will lose the deal. So only claim this when you are 100% ready to start advertising and have the money to, as it is based off when your ad account (different to GBP) is created, NOT when you start spending.
P.S there are also more deals you can claim if you go directly through Google Ads website such as spend £2,400 get £1,200 in credit or spend £1,200 get £800 in credit rather than the £400 spend and £400 credit.
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