Editorial · July 11, 2014
Google My Business: Setting Up Your Local Profile
Google My Business is a free tool that puts your business information on Google Search, Maps and Google+. To set up your listing, add your business details and verify it. Google introduced the tool on June 11, 2014.
What Google My Business is
"Google Places for Business is now a part of Google My Business, which brings together the best of Google, all in one spot," says the welcome box on Google's My Business page. Google's FAQ page says accounts that used Google Places for Business or the Google+ Pages Dashboard before have been upgraded automatically. A Google launch FAQ said Google was still moving users from the old Places dashboard to Google My Business. Search Engine Roundtable quoted it on June 12.
Google says you can use the tool to edit your business info and share news with customers. You can also answer reviews and see how customers find you. The launch FAQ also said sign-up provides a Google+ page, but businesses can always choose which part of the Google My Business dashboard to use.
Step 1: Sign in and check for an existing listing
Go to google.com/business and click Get on Google. Google's FAQ page says to follow the steps to add your business information. Most rules below come from Google's older Places help, which is still online. The Places quality guidelines page tells users of the new Google My Business dashboard to visit the Google My Business help center.
The Places help says to sign in with a Google Account, or sign up for one. If several people will update the listing, the Places quality guidelines say to use a shared business email account. If possible, they say, use an email address that matches your website. For example, you@google.com matches www.google.com. The guidelines also say only business owners or authorized representatives may verify their business listings.
Before you add anything, see whether Google already lists you. The Places help has you search by phone number to see if Google already has information about your business. If none of the results is yours, the Places help says to add a new listing. The guidelines say not to create more than one listing for a location, in one account or several.
Step 2: Enter your name, address, phone and hours
Google says the tool helps you give customers the right info at the right time. Examples include hours in Search or a phone number they can click to call on a mobile phone.
Use your real-world business name. The guidelines allow one descriptor that helps customers locate you or understand what you offer. In "Joe's Pizza Restaurant," the descriptor is "Pizza Restaurant." Marketing taglines, phone numbers, store codes and web addresses are not valid descriptors.
Give a precise address. The guidelines say P.O. boxes are not considered accurate physical locations. The Places help says the address should look exactly the way you would write it on a standard mailing envelope. For a suite or mailbox number within your physical location, the guidelines say to use Address Line 2.
Add your phone number with the area code. The guidelines ask for a number that connects to your location as directly as possible. They say to use a local number instead of a call center number whenever possible. Give one website that represents the location.
Enter the hours you really keep. Except for self-serve spots such as ATMs, the guidelines say a business location should be staffed during its stated hours. The Places help FAQ adds that a listing with a description, several photos, business hours and a website link will help encourage potential customers to choose your service.
Step 3: Verify your listing
Google's FAQ page says any edits will not appear on Google until you verify your business. The Places help covers two of the three ways to verify: by phone and by postcard.
By phone, you get an automated call that gives you a PIN to enter online. The Places help says phone verification is currently available only when there is a high level of confidence that the listing data is correct. By postcard, Google mails a PIN to the business address. The PIN generally takes 2 to 3 weeks to arrive.
The Places help also says only one postcard PIN is valid at a time, so asking for a new postcard makes the old PIN invalid. The Places help adds that after five wrong PIN entries, you can no longer verify that listing and must delete it and start again.
Later changes can trigger the same step. If you edit your business name, address or phone number, the Places help says you will need to verify again before the changes can go live.
Step 4: Keep your details current
Google says you can update your business info as often as you like. From Google My Business, you can edit your contact information, business description, hours, website address and more. With the Google My Business app, you can update your business hours and share photos from a phone or tablet. You can also check customer insights, which show how people find your business.
Check what Google shows, too. The Places help FAQ says Google collects data such as reviews, business hours and photos from local directories and various websites. Google combines that data with what you enter in Google Places. Some sources may be out of date or incorrect, the Places help FAQ adds. You can correct errors that appear in Google's search results.
Our editors suggest searching for your business on a phone and a computer every few weeks. For matching your details on other sites, see our guide to local business listings.