Try it today: open Google Maps and type your type of business and your city. If your shop doesn’t show up, the customer searching right now goes to the one that does. The fix is free, and it’s called a Google Business Profile.
Step 1: create the profile, or claim it
Go to Google Business Profile with a Google account and type your shop’s name. If it already exists (sometimes someone adds a business to the map before its owner does), request ownership instead of creating a new one. Google will ask you to verify that the business is yours. The method depends on the business: a call, a text, an email, or a short video of the shop.
Step 2: get the basics 100% right
- Name: your shop’s name exactly as it appears on the sign. Don’t add extra search keywords; Google can suspend a profile for it
- Category: choose the most precise one (“Pharmacy”, not “Store”)
- Address and pin: put the pin right on your front door
- Phone, WhatsApp and opening hours: and update the hours for holidays and Ramadan
Step 3: photos
Profiles with photos get far more visits than profiles without them. Upload at least:
- The shopfront from outside (so customers recognize it when they arrive)
- Photos of the inside
- Your five best-known products or services
Step 4: reviews
Reviews are the most powerful part of the profile. After every happy customer, send them the review link on WhatsApp and ask politely. Most importantly, reply to every review: thank people for good ones, and answer bad ones calmly with a solution. People read your replies more closely than the reviews themselves.
Step 5: keep it alive
Post an offer or an update every two weeks, and answer the questions people ask on your profile. Google treats a regularly updated profile as a business that is actually open.
Google isn’t the only place to be listed. Local city directories are another, and at Bawsala we build Dalili, a city-directory platform that can launch in your city. And if you’d like someone to set up and look after your profile, talk to us.