Quick Start Guide: Optimising Your Google Business Profile & Bing Places

If you’re a small business owner who is short on time but want to kickstart your local visibility efforts, this guide is for you.

I’m going to cut straight to the chase on optimising your local listings, such as Google Business Profile and Bing Places.

If you’re wondering what local listings are, then I suggest you have a look at my other resource, where I explain the importance of a local listing.

Why These Two Platforms?

Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business is non-negotiable. It allows businesses to show up on Google Search and Google Maps when customers are searching for goods and services that they offer. It allows administrators to control business related information, such as opening hours, services offered, and gives the necessary info to let local customers find businesses relevant to their needs.

Bing Places is the equivalent of Google My Business, but it powers other platforms. It only takes twenty minutes to set up and it feeds data to platforms including Apple Maps and Amazon Alexa. Take it from an local SEO expert… many businesses skip this, and it’s a shame. It requires low effort, but can provide high return.

These two platforms alone will help cover most of your local search presence.

Optimising Your Google Business Profile

Step 1: Claim and Verify Your Listing

Search for your business on Google. If a listing exists, claim it. If not, create one here.

Google will send a verification postcard to your business address with a code. This usually takes 5-7 days. You can’t fully optimise until you’re verified, so start this immediately.

Step 2: Complete Your Core Information

Business name – Use your exact legal business name. Don’t add keywords. Say you own a bakery located in Manchester. If your actual brand name is “Smith’s Bakery”, then just write that. “Smith’s Bakery – Fresh Loaves Manchester ” will get you suspended. What you’re doing there is stuffing your business name with relevant keywords, and Google is smart enough to recognise when this happens. This is part of the NAP, which has to remain constant everywhere, be it your website, your local listings or your social media accounts.

Address and phone number – Use exactly the same format you use everywhere else online. This consistency is critical as it may create confusion among your potential clients.

Website – Add your website URL. Make sure it works and goes to the right page. I suggest linking your homepage. If not, make sure you’re not linking to a time-sensitive page, which may be deactivated after some time.

Business Hours – Keep these accurate. Trust me when I say this, it is a HUGE red flag 🚩 for clients to find a business closed when the local listing says otherwise. It instills an element of distrust that might put off the user from purchasing from that business, especially if they are first time buyers. They will see you as the entity that wasted their time by coming to your store, only to find it closed.

Categories – Choose your primary category carefully. Be specific. “Italian Restaurant” is better than just “Restaurant.” And most importantly, stick to just one. After all, it is your primary category. You can add up to 9 additional categories, but only add ones that genuinely apply. And do not overdo it, better to have quality over quantity.

Step 3: Write Your Business Description

You have 750 characters to explain what you do and why customers should choose you.

Here, you should write for humans, not to please Google. You can include relevant keywords naturally, but make it readable and compelling. Think of this excerpt as the trailer to a movie, if it sucks you’re not going to want to watch it.

Here’s a great example: “Smith’s Bakery has been serving freshly baked bread, pastries, and cakes to the Manchester community since 1995. We specialise in traditional sourdough, custom celebration cakes, and gluten-free options made daily with locally sourced ingredients.”

And here’s what you want to avoid doing: “Manchester bakery, best bakery Manchester, fresh bread Manchester, cakes Manchester…”

I mean you see the difference, right?

Step 4: Add Quality Photos

Did you know that businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks than those without. This is not coming from me, but data that Google has made public in their Small Business Bulletin.

The following are photo ideas that you can upload on your listing:

In total, I would suggest having at least 5 photos, but the optimal is 7 to 10 photos as a starter. They don’t need to be professionally shot, but they should be clear, well-lit, and in focus. Your phone is good enough for this!

What I do suggest is to update the photos regularly. This indicates that your business is active. This is a sign both Google and the user look out for.

Step 5: Fill Out Attributes

Attributes are features like “wheelchair accessible,” “free Wi-Fi,” “outdoor seating,” “women-led,” etc.

Fill out every one that applies to your business. These help Google match you to specific searches.

And make sure you don’t over do it. Don’t claim attributes that don’t apply. False information will damage a client’s trust and may lead to negative reviews.

Step 6: Add Products or Services

List individual products or services with descriptions and prices where appropriate.

This serves three purposes:

Step 7: Set Up Your Q&A Section

Anyone can ask questions on your Google Business Profile. Anyone can answer them, including your competitors.

Don’t leave this section unmanaged.

Add 3-5 common questions yourself and answer them. This controls the narrative and provides useful information proactively.

Check this section monthly and answer any new questions promptly.

Step 8: Use Google Posts

Google Posts let you publish updates directly to your listing. They appear when people view your profile. That being said, it’s a good place to reach out to potential customers. If a user is seeing your Google post, it’s because they’re interested in one of your offerings.

Post at least weekly if you can manage it. Share:

This keeps your profile active and engaging, which helps your rankings.

Step 9: Manage Reviews

Encourage reviews – Make it easy for satisfied customers by sending them direct links to leave reviews via email, or even by providing a QR code at your physical store. This can be placed at the checkout counter or before an exit. Remember that the best time to present the user with an opportunity to leave a review is during the first 48 hours after their purchase, or the first 48 hours since the items were delivered to the user. During this time, the customer experiences a high in terms of happiness that is derived from the product.

Respond to every review – Thank people for positive reviews. Address concerns in negative reviews professionally. Never stoop low and attack customers, even if they seem rude. Losing your cool will make you look unprofessional.

Never buy fake reviews – If you do this, you may end up with a permanently suspended listing.

Your responses to reviews are public. Potential customers will hover over your reviews, because this is the best way to understand how they will be treated.

Optimising Your Bing Places Listing

Once you’ve optimised Google, doing the same for Bing takes minimal additional time since you’re mostly copying information across.

Getting Started

To get started, you can access Bing Places here. Go ahead and search for your business. If it exists, claim it. If not, add it.

Verification happens via phone or postcard, similar to Google.

What to Complete for Bing Places

Core information – Business name, address, phone, website, description, categories, and hours. Use exactly the same information as Google. Achieving consistency in your NAP across platforms is critical.

Photos – Add the same photos you used for Google. Bing also supports videos, just like Google, in the main listing, so if you have promotional videos, add them here.

Business Description – You can reuse your Google description or adapt it slightly. Bing allows for longer descriptions in some fields.

Categories – Choose the most specific categories available that match your business. The same tips apply, make sure they are as descriptive & accurate as possible. If you’re a bakery, then select the category that states “bakery”, not “food manufacturer”, or “supermarket”.

Hours / Special Dates – Keep these identical to Google and always accurate.

Why Bother With Bing?

I know what you’re thinking – “Does anyone use Bing?”

Yes, more than you’d expect, particularly on desktop and in business environments.

Apart from that Bing also powers other search engines, such as DuckDuckGo and Yahoo Search. It also feeds data to Apple Maps, Amazon Alexa, Cortana, and other platforms. Thus, optimising for Bing creates a certain ripple effect that can be felt across multiple platforms.

Things To Watch Out For

No matter which platform you’re optimising, these rules always apply:

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The Reality Check

Here’s what I need you to understand, having a listing isn’t enough. Having an optimised listing isn’t enough if you only do it once.

Your competitors are maintaining their listings monthly. They’re responding to reviews, posting updates, adding fresh photos.

Local SEO isn’t complicated, but it does require consistency. Ignoring your listings for six months can undo all your initial work.

The Bottom Line

Google Business Profile and Bing Places are free marketing channels that put you in front of customers actively searching for what you offer.

Most businesses claim these listings but never properly optimise them. Even fewer maintain them consistently.

That creates an opportunity for you.

Start today. Claim your listings. Complete them thoroughly. Maintain them consistently.

Feel free to browse through my services to boost your SEO efforts, whether it’s for local SEO or any other work related to boosting your online presence.