How to Get Your Business on Google Maps (Google Business Profile Guide)

Search “laundry near me” or “aircon servicing” on your phone. The first thing you usually see isn’t a website. It’s a map with a list of businesses, star ratings and a directions button. That list comes from Google Business Profile, and putting your business on it is free. This guide walks you through it from start to finish.

Why it matters

For any business that serves people nearby, like cafés, workshops, salons, laundries or home bakeries, Google Maps is often the first place customers look. A complete profile shows your opening hours, phone number, directions, photos and reviews, so people can decide to visit without opening another app.

A profile and a website work together. The profile helps people find you; the website answers the detailed questions, like full price lists, a catalogue or how to order. Note that Google no longer offers free websites through Business Profile: the old business.site sites were shut down in 2024, so you’ll need your own website if you want one.

What to prepare

• A Google account for the business, ideally one the owner controls, not an employee’s personal email.
• Your business name exactly as it appears on your signboard or as customers know it.
• Your full address and an exact map pin, or a list of service areas if customers don’t come to you.
• A business category, such as “bakery”, “motorcycle repair shop” or “caterer”.
• A working phone number and your opening hours.
• A few real photos: the shopfront, the inside, and your products or work.
• Your website address, if you have one.

Step-by-step setup

Google changes its menus often, so button names may differ slightly. The flow is roughly this:

1. Open Google Business Profile. Go to google.com/business, or in the Google Maps app look for “Add your business”. Sign in with the business Google account.
2. Type your business name. If a business with the same name and location already appears, a profile may already exist (customers can suggest places). Claim that one instead of creating a duplicate.
3. Choose the main category. Pick the most specific one. “Laundromat” is better than “Service”. You can add more categories later.
4. Set the location. If customers visit you, enter your address and drag the pin to your actual entrance. If you travel to customers or only deliver, choose the service-area option so your home address isn’t shown.
5. Add contact details. Use the same phone number as on your Instagram and website, so everything matches.
6. Verify. Google needs to confirm the business is real and that you manage it. More on this below.
7. Complete the profile with hours, description, photos and services or products.

Verification, including video

Google decides which verification methods you’re offered, and it differs per business. Options include phone or text, email, a live video call, a video recording and, for some businesses, a postcard. For many small businesses today, a video recording is what comes up. Google says reviews can take up to five business days.

Google’s current rules for video recordings:

• Record it in the app on your phone or tablet, through your Business Profile. Pre-recorded videos can’t be uploaded.
• One continuous take of at least 30 seconds, unedited, with no cuts.
• Show where you are: street signs, building numbers, nearby shops or landmarks that match your address.
• Show the business exists: signage, equipment, stock, the kitchen or tools.
• Show you manage it: unlock the shutter or door, open the cash drawer, enter a staff-only area, or show business documents.
• Leave out ID, bank or tax numbers, other people’s private information, and other people’s faces.

If the video is rejected, read the reason, then record again making the missing part clearer. Film in daylight and move slowly.

Tips for Singapore and Malaysia

• Write the address the way the post would. Include the block or building, the unit number (for example #01-23) and the postal code, so customers find the right unit in a mall, HDB block or shophouse row.
• Home-based businesses such as home bakers or tutors usually shouldn’t show their home address. Use the service-area option and list the areas you deliver to or cover.
• Malaysian shop lots can be confusing to find. Drag the pin to your actual unit, and add a clear shopfront photo taken from the road.
• Use your real trading name. If your signboard is in English and Chinese, use the name customers actually see; don’t add extra keywords.
• Public holidays. Set special hours for Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas, so nobody arrives to a closed shutter.

Completing your profile

• Opening hours, including special hours for holidays.
• A short, honest description: what you sell, who it’s for and what makes you different. No keyword stuffing.
• Services or products, with prices where possible.
• Attributes such as payment methods, wheelchair access or parking.
• Links to your website and WhatsApp, so people can get the full details.

Photos and reviews

Use real photos, not images from the internet. A phone camera is fine if the photos are bright and sharp. Add a shopfront photo from the street, the inside, your products or work, and a clean logo. Add new photos when something changes, like a new menu.

Reviews influence decisions and help your profile show up. To get them the right way:

• Ask real customers at a good moment, such as when they collect an order and seem happy.
• Share your review link directly. Your profile has a button to share a review form. Send the link on WhatsApp or print it as a QR code at the counter.
• Reply to every review, including negative ones, politely and with a solution. Future customers read your replies.

Common mistakes

• Adding keywords to the business name, like “Best Cheap Laundry 24 Hours Tampines”. This breaks Google’s guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
• Creating a duplicate profile instead of claiming the existing one.
• A misplaced pin that sends customers to the wrong block or lane.
• Forgetting holiday hours.
• Registering with an employee’s email. If they leave, access leaves with them. Use the owner’s account and add staff as managers.
• Different phone numbers on Google, Instagram and your website.
• Never checking the profile again, so questions and reviews go unanswered.

Want a hand?

If you don’t have time to do it yourself, we offer Google Business Profile setup for S$150 in Singapore or RM250 in Malaysia, one-time. We create or claim the profile, fill it in completely, arrange the photos and guide you through verification. The verification video or code still comes from you, because Google needs to hear from the owner directly.

If you also need a website to link from your profile, our website plans start from S$690 in Singapore or RM990 in Malaysia, with a free homepage mockup first and the yearly renewal written on every plan. Wondering whether you need a website at all? Read Is Instagram enough?