Google Business Profile: how to do it properly

A Google Business Profile is free, and you cannot buy your ranking — Google says so itself. Yet for most local businesses, it is more effective than any single search engine optimisation measure. This article goes through the three factors that, according to Google’s own documentation, determine your ranking, and the two rules whose violation is the most common reason for a profile being suspended.

How much does it cost?

Zero. Creating and maintaining a profile, along with all its features, is free of charge.

It’s worth saying this out loud, because there’s a lot of hype surrounding this topic. Google states quite clearly in its guidelines: “You cannot ask for or buy a better local ranking.” If someone offers to sell you a Google ranking, they are selling something that does not exist.

You pay for the work that someone does on your behalf. This is different from an investment, and it’s worth knowing this before you buy either.

Three factors that determine the placement

In its documentation, Google names three authors. No more, no less — everything else in this field is speculation based on these.

Designer	What is it?	Can you make a difference?
Relevance	How well does the profile match what was searched for?	Yes — please fill in all the details
Distance	How far are you from the applicant?	Hardly at all
Brand awareness	How well-known is the site: links to your site, number of reviews	Yes, but slowly

The middle line is the one that is rarely spoken aloud: distance is a factor you cannot influence. If your competitor is closer to the searcher, they are closer. This is why local rankings vary depending on the searcher’s location and are not a single figure that can be tracked.

In practice, the greatest benefit comes from relevance, and that simply comes down to careful completion:

• Industry category as precisely as possible, followed by additional categories
• Services listed in detail — no single line stating ‘all work in the sector’
• Opening hours, including any exceptions. Incorrect opening hours are worse than no opening hours at all
• The same name, address and telephone number as on your website, letter for letter
• A link to the site — it’s also a building block for brand awareness

Name: the rule that’s broken most often

The most common ‘tip’ you hear is to add a search term to the company name: Rantalan Rakennus — renovations Oulu. This goes directly against Google’s guidelines.

The name must be the one you actually use — on signs, on the website and on documents. Google explicitly lists the following as prohibited:

• marketing slogans
• location information not included in the name
• service descriptions
• telephone numbers and web addresses
• words written entirely in capital letters, unless it is an established name

The penalty is not a warning but the closure of the profile. When that happens, the business disappears from the map entirely, and restoring it takes longer than it did to set it up in the first place. Adding a keyword to the name may boost your ranking for a short while — and that’s a bad trade-off.

A service company without a physical office — in other words, most Finnish companies

If you visit a customer rather than receiving them at your own premises, you are, according to Google’s definition, a local service business. The vast majority of Finnish sole traders and small businesses fall into this category.

There are two rules that apply to you:

• Hide your address. Google advises service-based businesses to hide their address if they are not accepting customers. Displaying your home address on a map is not just a matter of privacy — it also contravenes the guidelines.
• The service area must not be more than approximately a two-hour drive from your base.

The latter is a real issue in Finland. Two hours from Oulu isn’t Helsinki — it’s more like Kokkola or Kuusamo. If you operate nationwide, you can’t list the whole country as your service area, even if you have customers from Ivalo to Helsinki.

The practical solution is not to circumvent the rule but to accept it: the profile caters for the local area, whilst demand from further afield comes via the website and search results. These are different channels, and mixing them up is the reason why many people are disappointed with their profile.

Reviews: what you can and cannot ask for

The number of reviews affects your visibility, so it’s worth asking for them. However, there is a clear line to be drawn, and this is set out in detail.

Available	Not allowed
Ask a customer with genuine experience to leave a review	Offer a discount, a free product or money in exchange for a review
Send a reminder later, for example by email	Puts pressure on the customer to write on the spot
Respond to reviews, including negative ones	Asks for reviews only from satisfied customers
Report a review that contravenes the guidelines	Delete a negative review yourself

Two points tend to cause the most surprise. Discounts in exchange for reviews are prohibited — even when they are offered as a well-intentioned thank you. And it is prohibited to solicit reviews exclusively from satisfied customers, even if every single review were genuine.

Reviews written by current or former employees, subcontractors or other professional partners are also prohibited. This constitutes a conflict of interest, regardless of whether the experience was genuine.

What a profile doesn’t do

Three expectations that are worth addressing in advance:

• It is no substitute for a website. The profile shows your contact details and opening hours. It doesn’t tell people what you’re selling or why they should buy from you – nor can you add that information to it.
• That won’t help with a nationwide search. A profile is a local tool. If your customers could be anywhere in Finland, the best channels are search results and your website.
• It’s not a one-off job. Opening hours, services and images become out of date. Incorrect information on a profile is worse than no profile at all, as it leads customers to visit for no reason.

In demand

Is it worth having a profile if I don’t have business premises?

This is worth it if your customers are mainly from the local area. List yourself as a local business and hide your address. If your customers come from all over the country and you work remotely, the benefits of the profile are limited — in which case, it’s better to spend that time on your website instead.

Why can’t I be seen on the map, even though my profile exists?

The most common reasons: the profile hasn’t been verified, the information is incomplete, or the applicant is based far away. You can’t do anything about the third one. Also check that there aren’t two profiles for the same company — this goes against the guidelines and splits the reviews between them.

Can a negative review be removed?

You cannot remove it yourself. You can report a review if it breaches the guidelines — for example, if it is not based on a genuine experience. A mere difference of opinion is not grounds for removal. In practice, the best response to a negative review is a public and objective reply: it’s aimed at the next reader, not the reviewer.

How often should you update your profile?

Any changes to opening hours will always be announced in advance — public holidays and holidays. Other information will be updated as and when it changes. You can add photos and updates more frequently, but as there is no information documented by Google regarding their impact on search rankings, it is not worth doing so solely for the sake of improving your ranking.