If you’ve ever had a client ask, “Why aren’t we showing up on Google?” or “How do we get more foot traffic from search?, chances are their Google Business Profile wasn’t doing its job. In this guide, I’ll break down exactly how to optimize your Google Business listing in 2025, the best practices for Google My Business, and even how to nail the small things like writing a solid description or choosing the right categories.
Whether you're managing listings for one client or fifty, this walkthrough will help you level up your local SEO game and deliver real, trackable results.
Let’s dive in!
What is Google My Business and Why Do You Need It?
Google My Business (GMB), now known as Google Business Profile, is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By verifying and editing your business information, you can help customers find you and tell them your story. A well-maintained profile can enhance your local SEO, making it easier for potential customers to discover your services.
Setting Up Your Google Business Profile in 2025
If you're setting up a Google Business Profile (GBP) for your client (or your own business) for the first time, the process is pretty straightforward, but you need to get the details right.
Here’s how you can do it.
Before anything else, you'll need a Google account. If you already have one, great. Use that to sign in.
But if you're creating one from scratch, follow this:
Go to Google Account Sign-Up
Choose "For work or my business" instead of a personal account
Use your domain email address (like yourname@yourbusiness.com) for a more professional look
Note: You can manage business emails with Google Workspace using your own domain, but it does come with a monthly cost. If you want to skip the fee, use a regular Gmail address instead, just know that a custom domain looks more trustworthy, especially when managing clients.
Next,
Go to Google Business Profile and sign in with your Google account.
Click Manage now to begin.
Search for your business name. If it appears in the dropdown suggestions, click it and proceed with claiming it.
If it doesn’t show up, you’ll need to add it manually.
Click Add your business to Google and enter the full name of your business, exactly how it appears on your signage or official documentation.
This next part is important your business category influences how you rank and where you show up in local searches.
Primary Category: Choose the one that best reflects what you do. Be specific. For example, "Nail Salon" is better than just "Salon."
Secondary Categories: Add a few (up to 9 more) that describe other services you offer, like "Facial Spa" or "Manicure Service."
If you're stuck, install the Chrome extensionGMB Everywhere. It lets you check what categories your competitors are using. The starred one is their primary category, this can help you decide what's working in your niche.
Now, depending on your business type, you’ll follow slightly different paths:
If you sell products online and don’t have a physical store, you can list your website, phone number, and service areas instead of a physical address. Customers can browse and shop from your site directly.
For freelancers, consultants, and businesses that operate from home or on-the-go (like plumbers or social media managers), you can skip adding a physical address. You’ll be able to set a service area instead.
Brick-and-mortar locations like cafes, boutiques, or gyms should list a full street address. You'll also be able to define your service area,which is great if you offer delivery or work with clients nearby.
Next, Enter a local phone number and your website URL. These should match what’s listed on your website, social profiles, and directory listings to maintain NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone).
The next step is to verify your Business.
Verification proves to Google that your business is legit. The method you get depends on the business type, but here are the common ones:
Phone/Text Verification: Google sends a code to your phone. You enter it, and you’re good.
Postcard Verification: You’ll get a postcard with a code at your business address within 5–10 days.
Video Verification: If other methods don’t work, you’ll need to shoot a one-take video showing your storefront, signage, and proof of business.
If you’re doing a video, make sure:
No editing or jump cuts
Avoid showing faces or sensitive documents
Show your business name and address clearly on signage, documents, or packaging
Keep it under 5 minutes
How to Optimize Your Google Business Listing in 2025
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is crucial for visibility and customer engagement. Here's how to do it effectively:
1. Complete and Accurate Information
Business Name: Use your official business name.
Address: Ensure your address is correct and matches other listings.
Phone Number: Provide a local phone number.
Website: Link to your official website.
Hours: Keep your operating hours up to date, including holidays.
Consistency across all platforms is key. Ensure that your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) are the same on your website, social media, and directories. This consistency helps Google trust your information and boosts your local SEO.
➡️Template:
To save time and avoid errors, create a one-pager with your official business info and store it in Google Docs or Notion. Here are the things that you can include:
Your business name exactly as you want it to appear
Street address (spelled out)
Local phone number
Website URL (use https:// and www. if your site has both)
Standard hours of operation
Short business description
Use this sheet every time you create or update a listing, social profile, or online directory entry. It keeps your details locked in and consistent.
2. Business Description
Craft a compelling description that highlights your unique selling points. Incorporate relevant keywords naturally, such as "best Italian restaurant in [City]" or "affordable wedding photography services." Avoid keyword stuffing, and focus on providing clear, concise information about your offerings. Your description should be limited to 750 characters.
➡️Template:
At [Business Name], we provide [service/product] to [target audience] in [city/neighborhood]. Known for our [unique selling point], we focus on [core value or benefit]. Whether you need [example of service] or [another service], we’re here to help.
3. High-Quality Visual Content
Upload high-resolution photos and videos showcasing your products, services, and premises. Regularly updating visual content can increase engagement and provide customers with a better understanding of your business.
➡️What You Should Include? Here’s a Checklist:
Exterior shot (daylight)
Interior shot
Product or service in use
Team or staff photos
Before & after videos or photos (if applicable)
Video walkthrough or behind-the-scenes (30 to 45 seconds)
4. Customer Reviews
Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews. Respond to reviews promptly, addressing any concerns professionally. Authentic reviews can significantly impact your local search rankings and build trust with potential customers.
Let’s look at a few response templates.
➡️Template:
5. Regular Posts and Updates
Use the Posts feature to share updates, promotions, events, or news. This keeps your profile active and provides customers with timely information.
➡️Here’s a weekly content plan template that you can put to use:
Choosing the Best Google Business Categories
Selecting the right categories for your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the most important steps in improving your local SEO. Your business categories tell Google what your business does and help it show your listing to the right people when they search for products or services you offer.
➡️Choosing A Primary Category
For example, don’t just pick “Salon”, choose “Nail Salon” if that’s your specialty. Specific categories help Google understand your business much better.
If your business is a restaurant, select “Italian Restaurant” instead of just “Restaurant”. This ensures you're visible to people looking specifically for that type of cuisine.
Avoid general categories that are too broad. Categories like “Store” or “Service” won’t help much. The more precise you are, the more relevant your listing will be to users searching for your specific services.
✅To find the best fit, start typing in your business name or a few keywords in your Google Business profile’s category section. Google will suggest categories based on what you enter.
➡️Secondary Categories
Source: Search Engine Land
While your primary category is crucial, you can also add secondary categories to reflect additional services or products that you offer. These give Google a better understanding of your business, which helps match your profile with even more search queries.
If you own a bakery and also offer catering services, you could choose “Catering” as a secondary category, but avoid adding too many options like “Coffee Shop,” “Restaurant,” or “Event Venue” unless they truly reflect what you offer.
Too many categories can confuse Google and make your listing less focused. Stick to the top 2 or 3 secondary categories that complement your primary one.
❌Don’t choose categories that don’t reflect your actual services just to "cover all bases." This could mislead Google (and customers), and you risk ranking for irrelevant search terms.
➡️Keep Updating
Google’s algorithm and your business may evolve over time, so it’s important to check and update your categories periodically.
Services change: If you start offering a new service or product, you should adjust your categories to reflect that. For example, if you’re a coffee shop that recently started offering online orders, you might want to add “Online Ordering” as a secondary category.
Stay current: Businesses change and expand, so your categories should evolve to keep up with what your business is doing at any given time.
✅Set a reminder to revisit your GBP at least once a quarter to ensure your categories are still relevant.
Labels on Google Business Profile
Source: Google Business Profile
Labels are internal tags that help you organize and manage your business listings within your Google Business Profile. While these labels are not visible to the public, they are incredibly useful for businesses, especially if you manage multiple locations or services. Labels allow you to categorize and filter your listings so that you can easily track and manage them.
✅Labels are meant for your internal organization. They do not appear on your public-facing Google Business Profile, so customers won’t see them. Their purpose is purely for you to manage and filter your locations more effectively.
✅If you manage several locations, labels are a game-changer. You can group locations based on criteria such as region, service type, or specific promotions. This makes it much easier to organize and track performance for all your business locations.
✅With labels, you can quickly filter and sort your business locations based on different factors. This makes it easier to update and manage them individually or in groups. Whether you want to track performance by region or focus on a special promotion, labels make it seamless.
How Do Labels Help?
➡️Labels allow you to group your business locations and track performance metrics, such as customer interactions, reviews, and engagement. You could track how each group of locations is performing during certain times of the year or during a particular campaign.
➡️If you need to make changes across several locations, labels can simplify this process. Instead of updating locations one by one, you can filter and apply changes to groups of locations at once. This is especially helpful for businesses with many locations.
➡️Labels are also useful when it comes to reporting. By labeling locations, you can create reports based on different categories. For instance, you could generate a report for all locations under a specific promotion or region. This makes data analysis easier and more organized.
How to Create and Use Labels?
Using labels in your Google Business Profile is simple.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating and managing them:
Steps to Add Labels:
Sign in to your Google Business Profile account.
Select the business listing you want to label from your dashboard.
In the listing details, locate the ‘Labels’ section.
Click on ‘Add Label’ to create a new label. You can create up to 1,000 labels for each location.
For example, you might want to label your locations based on service types like “Premium Services,” “Discount Locations,” or even “Holiday Specials.”
Save and Organize: After creating your labels, save them and use them to filter your locations whenever you need to make updates or track performance.
How to Find Your Google Business Profile URL
Your Google Business Profile URL is a direct link to your business listing on Google. This link is important because it allows you to share your profile easily, drive traffic to it, and encourage customers to leave reviews. A well-optimized Google Business Profile is essential for local SEO, and your URL is one of the easiest ways to get people to engage with your business.
Why Your Google Business Profile URL Is Important:
Sharing your Google Business Profile URL on social media, your website, or in marketing emails makes it easy for customers to find you. It’s a quick and simple way to get your business in front of more people.
Directing customers to your Google Business Profile via the URL is an excellent way to encourage them to leave reviews. The more reviews you get, the better your chances of ranking higher in local search results.
When customers have your Google Business Profile URL, they can easily find your business hours, address, phone number, and other essential information. This improves the overall customer experience.
Steps to Find Your Google Business Profile URL:
Sign in to your Google Business Profile account.
Navigate to your business listing on the dashboard.
Once in your listing, click on “View on Maps.” This will open your business profile on Google Maps.
In the Google Maps view, look for the “Share” button, which is usually located in the left-hand panel.
Click “Copy Link” to copy the URL to your clipboard.
You can make use of external tools such as bitly and link shorterners to make your URL easier to share.
Summing It Up…
If you're managing local clients or your own agency's presence, optimizing a Google Business Profile isn't something you can afford to overlook.
It's not just a listing, it's your storefront on Google. From making sure your name, address, and hours are accurate, to choosing the right categories and uploading high-quality visuals, each part of your profile plays a role in how you're discovered and trusted online.
At the end of the day, Google wants to show users the most relevant and trustworthy businesses. When your profile is complete, consistent, and active, you give it every reason to show yours first.
If you’ve been treating your Google Business Profile like a set-it-and-forget-it tool, now’s the time to change that.
Show up, stay relevant, and keep optimizing. It’ll pay off in visibility, traffic, and real business growth.
And If you're looking to streamline everything we just covered, Synup can help you manage it all in one place.
From updating your business info across platforms to scheduling Google Posts, monitoring reviews, and tracking performance with real-time insights, Synup gives you the tools to optimize and maintain your Google Business Profile without the manual headaches. Whether you're managing one listing or a hundred, it’s built to save you time and help your clients get found faster.
How do I optimize my Google Business Profile? Fill out every section completely, choose the right categories, add photos, respond to reviews, and post updates regularly. Keep everything accurate and consistent with your website.
How much does Google Business Profile optimization cost? The profile itself is free. You can DIY the optimization or hire a pro or use a tool like Synup if you want to save time and scale across multiple locations.
How do I SEO my Google Business Profile? Use relevant keywords naturally in your description, posts, and services. Get consistent reviews, choose accurate categories, and make sure your info matches across the web.
What is GMB optimisation? It’s the process of improving your Google Business Profile so you show up more in local searches, get more clicks, and attract the right customers. It’s local SEO 101.
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