What You'll Need
Let's make sure you have everything ready before we start. Nothing complicated — just a few things to have handy so you can work through the guide without stopping.
Equipment You'll Need
What to do
You'll need a computer (not a phone) and a smartphone for taking photos. That's it for equipment.
Step by step
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A computer or laptop. You can technically do this on a phone, but it's much harder. The screens are too small, and you'll make mistakes. Use a proper computer — Windows, Mac, Chromebook, anything with a keyboard and decent-sized screen.If you absolutely must use a tablet, an iPad or large Android tablet will work, but a computer is still better.
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A smartphone. You'll need this for taking photos of your business, and possibly for the verification process. Any modern iPhone or Android phone is fine — the camera quality on phones these days is more than good enough.
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A web browser. Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox all work perfectly. Make sure it's reasonably up to date.We recommend Chrome simply because Google's tools tend to work best in Google's own browser, but any modern browser will do.
Business Information to Have Ready
What to do
Gather these details before you start. Having them written down will save you time and help you avoid mistakes.
Step by step
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Your exact business name. This needs to be your real trading name — exactly as it appears on your signage, invoices, or business registration. Not what you wish it was, not with extra keywords added. Just the real name.For example: "Smith's Plumbing" not "Smith's Plumbing - Emergency Plumber in Manchester 24/7"
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Your business address. If you have a physical location customers visit, you'll need the full address including postcode. If you're a service-area business (you go to customers), you'll still need your base address, but we'll hide it from public view.
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Your phone number. The main number you want customers to call. This should be a number you actually answer — there's no point sending customers to voicemail.
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Your website address (if you have one). The full URL including https:// — for example, https://www.smithsplumbing.co.uk. If you don't have a website, that's fine.
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Your opening hours. When are you available? Be accurate here — nothing frustrates customers more than turning up to find you're closed when Google said you'd be open.
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A brief description of what you do. Just a few sentences for now. We'll refine this later, but have a rough idea ready.
Examples by industry
Business name: "Aquaflow Plumbing Services Ltd" | Address: Your home address (will be hidden) | Phone: 07700 900123 | Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat 9am-1pm, emergency calls 24/7 | Services: Boiler repairs, bathroom fitting, emergency callouts
Business name: "The Corner Café" | Address: 42 High Street, Exeter, EX1 1AB | Phone: 01onal 234567 | Hours: Mon-Sat 7am-5pm, Sun 8am-4pm | Services: Breakfast, lunch, coffee, cakes, takeaway
Business name: "Riverside Dental Practice" | Address: 15 River Lane, Bristol, BS1 2CD | Phone: 0117 1234567 | Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-5pm | Services: NHS and private dentistry, emergency appointments, cosmetic dentistry
Business name: "Harrison & Co Solicitors" | Address: 3rd Floor, Oak House, 28 Queen Street, Birmingham, B1 3EF | Phone: 0121 1234567 | Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm | Services: Family law, conveyancing, wills and probate
**Get your business name right from the start.** Adding keywords to your business name (like "Best Plumber Manchester") violates Google's guidelines and can get your listing suspended. We'll cover this in detail later, but for now, just write down your actual legal or trading name.
Your Google Account
What to do
You'll need a Google account to manage your Business Profile. You probably already have one — if you use Gmail, YouTube, or Google Drive, you're already set.
Step by step
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Check if you already have a Google account. Go to google.com and click "Sign in" in the top right corner. If you can sign in with an email address, you have an account.
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Decide which account to use. You can use a personal Gmail account, or create a dedicated business one. There's no wrong answer here, but think about who else might need access in future.If you have staff who might manage your listing, consider creating a business-specific account like yourcompany@gmail.com that you can share access to.
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Don't have a Google account? No problem. Go to accounts.google.com and click "Create account". Follow the steps — it takes about 2 minutes. You can use your existing email address (it doesn't have to be Gmail).
Which account should own your listing?
Whoever's Google account "owns" the Business Profile has full control. If you're a business owner, make sure the listing is created under an account you control — not your web designer's or marketing agency's personal account. You can always add other people as managers later, but there should only be one owner, and it should be you (or your business). If an agency insists on owning your listing, that's a red flag.
Write all of this information down on a piece of paper or in a notes app before you start. It's annoying to have to stop mid-setup to hunt for your postcode or check your opening hours.
Time You'll Need
What to do
Set aside about 2-3 hours to complete the full guide. You don't have to do it all at once — you can stop and come back anytime.
Step by step
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Initial setup (claiming or creating your listing): About 15-30 minutes, depending on how quickly you're verified.
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Filling in your business information: About 30-45 minutes if you have everything ready.
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Photos and videos: This is the time-consuming bit. Allow 1-2 hours to take good photos and upload them properly. You might spread this over a couple of days.
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Reviews and ongoing maintenance: Setting up your review system takes about 15 minutes. After that, it's just a few minutes per week to respond to reviews and keep things updated.
The best time to take photos of your business is during daylight hours when you're not too busy. For a café, maybe Tuesday morning before the lunch rush. For a shop, perhaps just before opening when everything's clean and tidy. Think about when your business looks its best.