The essentials
- High impact: an exact primary category, regular reviews with responses, complete and accurate information, consistent contact details.
- Medium impact: detailed services and products, regular photos, attributes, the description, a link to a local page of the site.
- Indirect impact: posts, questions and answers, messaging, which raise engagement and click-through rate.
- Never do: add keywords to the name, use a false address, buy reviews.
A Google Business Profile listing exists for most businesses; an optimised listing is rarer. Between the two, the difference is measured in local packpositions, in calls and in direction requests. Here are the fifteen actions that count, ranked by impact on ranking, based on the criteria Google states (relevance, distance, prominence) and on what we observe on the listings we work with.
High impact: the foundations
| # | Action | Why | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Choose the most precise primary category | The first relevance signal | Compare with the listings at the top of the pack; "Italian restaurant" rather than "Restaurant" |
| 2 | Add 2 to 5 genuine secondary categories | Widens the queries covered | Only activities you actually offer |
| 3 | Organise review collection | Prominence and click-through rate | A direct link sent after every job; see collecting quality reviews |
| 4 | Respond to every review | A signal of activity, and of trust | Within 48 h, personalised; see responding to reviews |
| 5 | Complete 100% of the information | Google favours complete listings | Hours, phone, site, address, description, opening date |
| 6 | Align the name, address and phone everywhere | Trust and cross-checking | The site, directories, social profiles; see NAP |
Medium impact: the richness of the listing
| # | Action | How |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Detail the services | One entry per service, with a description and an indicative price; Google matches them to queries |
| 8 | Add the products (retail) | Photo, price, description; visible on the listing and in Maps |
| 9 | Fill in the attributes | Accessibility, payments, options, "women-owned" and so on; see the attributes |
| 10 | Write the description | 750 characters: the activity, the area, specialisms, what makes you different; with no promotions and no links |
| 11 | Publish photos every month | Exterior, interior, team, completed jobs, products; real photos, of good quality; see geotagging your images |
| 12 | Link a local page of the site | A page dedicated to the location (not a generic home page for a multi-location business), with UTMs for measurement |
Indirect impact: keeping it alive
| # | Action | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Post every week | News, an offer, a completed job; raises engagement and signals an active listing; see posting regularly |
| 14 | Feed the questions and answers | Post and answer the 5 most frequent questions; avoids wrong answers from users |
| 15 | Turn on messaging and bookings | More actions from the listing, if you can reply quickly |
An example of progress
A physiotherapy practice on the outskirts of a large city started with a listing in the "Doctor" category, 9 reviews and two photos. Within six weeks: a move to "Physiotherapist" with "Osteopath" as secondary, detailed services, fifteen photos, review collection by SMS after every session (38 reviews at 4.9 in two months), one post a week. The result: entry into the local pack on "physio" and "physiotherapist + town" across a 4 km radius, and a doubling of calls from the listing. No advertising budget, about three hours of initial work then thirty minutes a week.
The mistakes that set a listing back or get it suspended
- Keywords or a town in the name ("Dupont Plumbing Nantes 24/7"): effective in the short term, punished with suspension.
- A false address or a PO box, or coworking with no real presence.
- Duplicates listings for the same location.
- Reviews bought, exchanged or written in-house : detected by Google, unlawful in France.
- Wrong hours : the number one source of negative reviews.
- Stock photos or irrelevant ones.
- An unmonitored listing : Google and users can suggest changes (hours, category) that are applied without approval if you don't react.
Measuring the effect of your optimisations
Three measurements: local pack position on your key queries from several points in the area (see tracking your position on Google Maps), actions from the listing (calls, directions, clicks to the site, in the listing's statistics, see tracking performance), and conversions from the traffic coming from the listing in GA4 thanks to UTM. Allow two to six weeks to see the effect of a category change or a review campaign.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's Google Business Profile module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important optimisation on a Google Business Profile listing?
The primary category: it is the first relevance signal Google uses to match a listing to a query. Regular review collection with responses comes next. Those two actions produce the fastest ranking gains in most cases.
Should you put keywords in the listing name?
No. The name must be the business's real name, as it appears on the sign and on official documents. Adding a town, an activity or a slogan breaks Google's guidelines and exposes the listing to a suspension that takes a long time to lift.
How many photos does a Google listing need?
Around ten to start (logo, cover, exterior, interior, team, completed jobs or products), then a few real photos every month. Listings with recent photos get more clicks and direction requests. Avoid stock images.
Do Google Business Profile posts improve ranking?
Their direct effect on position is small, but they raise engagement (clicks, time spent on the listing) and signal an active listing, both of which weigh indirectly. A weekly post is a good pace; posts expire after six months.