How to set up your Google Business Profile in Jamaica

A Google Business Profile is the box that appears on Google Maps and on the right side of Search when someone looks for a business like yours. It is free. For many small businesses in Jamaica it is the first thing a customer sees, before they ever reach a website or an Instagram page.

Before you start

Have these ready so you can finish in one sitting:

• The business name exactly as it appears on your sign, invoices and social pages
• Your street address, or the parishes and towns you travel to
• A phone number you answer, ideally the one on your sign
• Your opening hours
• Your website address, if you have one
• 5 to 10 real photos: the outside, the inside, your work, your team

Step 1: use your real business name

Google's guidelines say the name should match what customers know you as, on your storefront, website and stationery. Do not add keywords, towns, phone numbers or slogans to the name. "Island Glow Studio" is right. "Island Glow Studio Best Nails Portmore 876" breaks the rules and can get the profile suspended.

Step 2: address or service area

If customers come to you, add the full address. Google asks for a real, staffed location with signage, not a P.O. box or a virtual office.

If you go to customers, like a mobile mechanic, a cleaner or a caterer, you are a service-area business. Google says to hide your address in that case (for example if you work from home) and list the areas you serve instead. Google also says a service area should not normally reach more than about 2 hours of driving from where the business is based.

Some businesses are both. An auto repair shop with a garage and roadside service can show the address and set a service area.

Step 3: pick the fewest, most specific categories

Choose categories that finish the sentence "This business IS a...", not "This business HAS a...". A barber shop is a "Barber shop". It is not also a "Beauty supply store" because it sells a few products. Google's advice is to use as few categories as possible and as specific as possible.

Step 4: hours, phone and website

Add the hours customers can actually reach you. Businesses that work only by appointment, or with very varied hours, may be better leaving hours off, as Google's guidelines explain. Use a phone number you control and answer. Link your own website, not a link-in-bio page that redirects somewhere else.

Step 5: description and photos

The description should say what you do and for whom, in plain words. Google does not allow links, prices or sale offers in the description. Add photos that show the real place and the real work. Customers trust what they can see.

Step 6: verify

Verification tells Google you are allowed to manage the business. Google says verified profiles are more likely to show in results. The method (video, phone, email or postcard) depends on your business and Google picks it, so follow the steps it shows you.

After it is live

• Reply to reviews, the good and the bad, briefly and politely
• Update hours for holidays
• Add new photos when you finish new work
• Keep the name, address and phone the same everywhere: your sign, website, Facebook and Instagram

If you have a website, link the two together. Your website can then explain each service in full, which a profile alone cannot do. That is part of the SEO set-up in every site I build.

Sources

• Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help
• Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help