How to Manage Your Google Business Profile on Google Search and Maps

Google has moved the management of individual Google Business Profiles to Google Search and Google Maps as of November 2022. The legacy Google Business Profile dashboard on the business.google.com website that was previously used to manage Google Business Profiles is no longer available to small businesses.

What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business) is a free business listing on Google. It enables you to list your business on Google Search and Google Maps and manage the information about your business that is shown on Google search results. It helps customers find your business when they search online on Google.

Why do I need a Google Business Profile for my business?

If you are a local business, having an optimized Google Business Profile is the most important local marketing strategy to improve your local SEO (search engine optimization) or search rankings on Google. It increases your online visibility and enables local customers to find your business on the Google search results when they search online for products and services in their local area.

Having a Google Business Profile is also necessary to qualify your business to be shown in the local pack. The local pack is the listing of 3 local businesses shown on the top of the search results for a Google Search. The local pack is a very visible section of the search results for a specific search query that is estimated to receive the majority of clicks.

A local business should utilize their Google Business Profile to its full potential to reach local customers.

What are the Google Business Profile management changes?

There have been several changes made to the Google Business Profile interface in 2022.

• The Google Business Profile mobile app was retired in July 2022.
• The Google Maps app now supports most of the features that were available on the Google Business Profile mobile app.
• As of November 3, 2022, access to the Google Business Profile Manager dashboard on the business.google.com website is no longer available to small businesses to manage their Google Business Profiles. It is available only to large businesses with multiple locations.
• When logging into the legacy Google Business Profile dashboard on the business.google.com website, small businesses are automatically being re-directed to Google Search to manage their individual Google Business Profiles.
• Additionally, photo insights are no longer available.

How can I manage my Google Business Profile directly on Google Search and Maps?

If you have a verified Google Business Profile, you can now access your Google Business Profile directly on Google Search.

If you need to set up a Google Business Profile, please read our blog post for tips on How to Set Up and Optimize a Google Business Profile.

How to access your Google Business Profile from Google Search or Maps

• Go to Google Search or Maps and search for your business name and city.
• On Google Search, you can also search for “my business” if you are logged into the google account that you use to manage your business. You may have to click on “Manage Profile” under “You manage this business profile” to access your Google Business Profile.
• On the Google Maps app, tap your profile photo or initial on the top right, then select “Your Business Profile”.

Google Business Profile management on Google Search

You will see your google business profile information on the left and your business knowledge panel information on the right.

How to edit your Google Business Profile on Google Search

On your Google Business Profile, you can use the menu options to manage your business profile directly from Google Search.

You can:

• Edit your profile information
  You can edit your business description, category, hours, location, contact information, attributes and service options.

  Several new business attributes have been added in 2022 including Asian-owned, Hispanic-owned and Black-owned. Select all that apply to your business.



Google Business Profile edit menu

• Read and respond to reviews

You can read and respond to customer reviews on google search.

• Check and respond to messages
  Messages were added in March 2022. In addition to messages, you can also check the message response rate and the average response time. You can also set up FAQs with frequently asked questions to provide people with automated answers.
• Add photos
  Add photos to your Google Business Profile regularly. This should include photos of your business, business location, products and services. Photo insights and photo tags which were previously available have been removed.

  Photos must be:
  Format: JPG or PNG
  Size: 10KB to 5MB
  Resolution recommended: 720px tall, 720px wide
  Minimum resolution: 250px tall, 250px wide

  You can also add videos as long as they follow Google’s video guidelines.
  Duration: 30 seconds,
  File Size: upto 75 MB
  Resolution: 720px or more

• View profile performance
  Check performance insights, calls, messages, bookings and website clicks made from your business profile.

  Select time period on the top of the graph and click ‘Apply’ to view your profile performance. It also shows you how people discovered you, the platform and devices used, and the top search terms that were used to find your profile on Google Search.



Google Business Profile Performance Insights



Google Business Profile performance insights on how people viewed your profile

• Advertise on Google
  If you are running Google Ads, you will be able to select your Google Ads account here.
• Edit products
  Retail businesses can add in-store products to Google Business Profile. Products can be added manually with Product Editor or automatically with the Pointy app. You can show customers what products you carry in your store directly on your Google Business Profile.
• Edit services
  You can add and edit services to your profile. You should check this section often because Google will sometimes add services here based on user feedback (which may not always match the services you offer).
• Check bookings
  If you offer online bookings, you can link to your online booking tools here.
• Check calls
  Check the call history of calls received from your Google Business Profile. Customers who call your business from Google Search or Maps by clicking on the “Call button” on your business profile will be connected through a call forwarding number assigned by Google.
• Respond to Q & A
  Check and respond to questions from customers. It is good to check this section frequently.

In addition, you can also:

• Add Updates
  Add Posts and Updates about the latest news or blog posts from your business.


Add update to Google Business Profile

• Create an Offer
  You can share information about Sales, Special offers and Discounts on your business profile. You can include the dates of the offer or sale.


Add an offer on Google Business Profile

• Get more Reviews
  Send customers a link to leave reviews for your business on Google. Reviews and review ratings are important both to inspire customer trust and to improve local SEO rankings.
• Get chat alerts by text
  You can set up a text alert when customers send you a message.
• Get a custom email address
  You can get a custom email address by using Google Workspace.

How can I manage my Google Business Profile directly on the Google Maps App?

According to Google, the Google Maps app supports most of the features that were previously available on the Google My Business app.

You can download the Google Maps app from the Google Play store.

On the Google Maps app,

• Click on your initial or profile photo on the top right
• Click on “Your Business Profiles”
• Select your business to edit your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile management on the Google Maps app

On the Google Maps app, you can:

• Edit business information like hours, address, logo, photos etc.
• Set up notifications
• Respond to messages and calls
• Respond to reviews
• Add updates and offers

Google Business Profile management menu on Google Maps app

Conclusion

Your Google Business Profile can be easily managed and edited directly on Google Search and Google Maps.

It is important to keep your Google Business Profile up-to-date and optimized with the latest business information and photos. This will help you gain the maximum online visibility from your Google Business Profile both to reach your target customers on Google Search, and to improve your local SEO or search performance.

Related Articles

1. How to Setup and Optimize a Google Business Profile
2. What is Local SEO? Why is Local Search Important?
3. Gold Mango Design, 10 Local SEO Tips to Boost Local Search Rankings
4. How to Use Google Business Profile Posts to Connect with Customers
5. How to Use Google Business Profile Insights to Analyze Performance

Need Help with SEO?

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