To set up a Google Business Profile, check that your business is eligible, claim or create the profile with your exact real-world name and a precise street address, choose a few specific categories, set accurate hours, then verify. The details below follow Google’s own guidelines, with notes on how they play out for Brisbane and Queensland businesses.
Step 1: Check eligibility
Google’s guidelines say a business can have a profile if it has a physical location customers can visit, or if it travels to customers. Virtual offices are not eligible, and each business should have only one profile (Google guidelines).
Examples of how this applies:
- A Newstead design studio with a front door clients visit: storefront profile.
- A Brisbane mobile electrician with no shopfront: service-area profile.
- A business using a shared address with no staffed premises: check against the guidelines before proceeding, because virtual offices are excluded.
Step 2: Prepare your details first
Gather these before starting, so everything matches:
| Item | Rule from Google’s guidelines |
|---|---|
| Name | Your real-world name as on signage and your website. No taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers or location details such as “near” a landmark |
| Address | A precise street address; P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable |
| Suite or unit | Street address on line 1, unit or suite on line 2 |
| Phone and website | A working phone number and your main site |
| Categories | The fewest that describe your core business, as specific as possible |
| Hours | Regular customer-facing hours |
For Australian addresses, use street number, street name, suburb, state (QLD) and four-digit postcode, exactly as on your signage or invoices, with any unit detail on line 2.
Step 3: Create or claim the profile
Sign in to a Google account you control for the business, ideally not the personal account of one staff member. Search for your business name and city. If it exists and is unclaimed, claim it. If not, add it (Verify your business).
Step 4: Choose categories and services
Select one primary category that matches how customers describe you, then add others only if they describe genuinely distinct parts of the business. Do not choose categories that belong to a co-located business you do not own. Fill in services or products where the profile allows it.
Step 5: Set service areas correctly
If you travel to customers and they do not visit you, set a service area and hide the address. Google’s guidance says service areas should generally not extend beyond about two hours’ driving from the base. A Brisbane plumber might reasonably list Brisbane, Ipswich and Moreton Bay suburbs, but listing the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and Rockhampton would not fit the guideline. Hybrid businesses with a storefront can show the address and set a service area as well.
Step 6: Hours
List regular, customer-facing hours and use special hours for public holidays. Queensland holiday dates differ from other states, so check them each year. Google says some business types, such as appointment-only businesses, should not list hours.
Step 7: Verify
Google decides which verification methods are offered, and you cannot change that choice. Options may include phone or text, email, live video call and postcard. Postcards usually arrive within 14 days and codes expire after 30, and requesting a second code invalidates the first. Reviews of verification can take up to 5 business days. Never share your code with anyone (Verify your business).
Step 8: Complete and maintain
- Add genuine photos of premises and work.
- Write a clear business description in plain Australian English.
- Update the profile whenever hours, address or services change.
- Reply to reviews, and see managing Google reviews.
Ranking depends on relevance, distance and prominence, covered in local SEO fundamentals. Short videos of your premises or work can also support the profile, as discussed in video marketing for small businesses in Australia.
Common setup mistakes
- Adding keywords or suburb names to the business name.
- Using a virtual office or mailbox address.
- Creating duplicate profiles after a move instead of updating the old one.
- Selecting many categories “to cover everything”.
- Letting a former agency or employee remain the only owner.
Where Radiance Impact fits
Radiance Impact’s Growth division supports search visibility and marketing planning for businesses. If you would like help aligning your profile, website and wider plan, contact us.
Sources
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Verify your business, Google Business Profile Help
- Improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
