Start with the information Google cross-checks
Name, address, phone: these three lines must be written in exactly the same way everywhere your shop appears, on your site, in directories, on your social pages. Google cross-checks these mentions to verify that you really exist and that you really are where you say you are. An address with “bis” on the profile and without “bis” on the site, a mobile number here and a landline elsewhere: these are the small discrepancies that weaken a profile without anyone understanding why.
The name, in particular, is limited to your actual business name. Adding keywords like “Artisan bakery Lyon 7 organic bread” risks having your profile suspended. This is not a grey area, it is written in black and white in Google's guidelines.
The primary category, the setting with the heaviest consequences
This is the field that decides which searches you appear in. One main category only, as precise as possible: “butcher shop” rather than “grocery store”, “heating contractor” rather than “renovation company”. Then add secondary categories for your side activities, but only for what you actually do. A good test: go and look at the categories of two or three competitors who rank above you in the local pack. They are publicly visible and will tell you a lot about what Google expects from your trade.
Opening hours, including the ones nobody fills in
Everyone fills in their standard opening hours. Almost no one fills in special hours. Yet they are what prevents the worst case: a customer who travels over on a bank holiday and finds the door shut. Google lets you schedule special hours in advance: block out thirty minutes at the start of the year to enter every bank holiday, your summer closure and the festive period. Also think about the finer hours attributes if your trade suits them, such as order pickup or delivery hours.
Photos, the part everyone rushes
A Google Business Profile with no recent photo gives the impression of a shop that has closed. The useful minimum: the shopfront as it looks from the pavement, the inside, two or three products or finished jobs, and a portrait of the team. The shopfront photo is the most important, because it lets the customer recognise you on arrival. Add a few each month rather than forty at once: a profile that moves performs better than a frozen one. And keep an eye on photos added by customers, which sometimes appear first.
Description, products and services
The description should say what you do, for whom, and where, in human language. No comma-separated keyword list: it is read by customers before it is read by a machine. Then fill in the products or services section, line by line, with a price or a range. It is tedious, but it is what lets your profile answer precise searches, and it settles part of the calls you get asking about your prices.
Finally, fill in the attributes: wheelchair access, terrace, contactless payment, local business, online booking. They show up in the results and act as filters for customers searching on mobile.
Reviews, the fuel of your profile
No technical optimisation makes up for a profile with three reviews that are two years old. You need a steady flow: ask for the review at the right moment, while it is still fresh, and reply to every review, including the good ones. A profile where the owner replies signals to the visitor that the business is serious, and your replies are indexed as content. It is the most profitable subject for a shop, and I covered it in detail in managing your shop's Google reviews. For collecting on site, a plaque or NFC card placed at the till removes the most tedious step: typing the profile address.
Questions, messages and posts
The questions and answers section is open to everyone, including you. Post your own frequent questions and answer them: parking, payment methods, order lead times. This is perfectly allowed and it fills the space before a stranger answers in your place. Turn messaging on only if you can reply quickly, otherwise leave it off. Posts, for their part, are mainly for short-lived news: a closure, a new product, a seasonal offer.
What comes round every three months
A Google Business Profile needs upkeep. Every quarter: check that nothing has been changed by a third party, review the upcoming hours, add photos, re-read the products section, deal with pending reviews. The rest goes on autopilot: the review request after each visit, the follow-up for customers who did not respond, new reviews landing in your inbox. That is exactly what we set up when we automate a shop, and it is what makes the difference between a profile filled in once and a living one.