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Get Found Playbook · Part 1

Get the basics right: phone, address, hours.

70%

More visits from a complete Google profile.

Google/Ipsos · Your EDC

Complete Google profiles get up to 70% more visits (Google/Ipsos). The basics take one sitting to fix, and they're the foundation everything else in this series builds on.

Do this once

  1. Claim your listing. Go to google.com/business, sign in, and verify you own your business. If someone set it up years ago, recover it. An unclaimed listing can be edited by strangers.
  2. Add your phone number. Mobile searchers tap to call. No number, no call. They move to the next result.
  3. Confirm your street address. Exactly as it appears on your building and your website. Without it you don't show properly on the map at all.
  4. Set your hours, all seven days. "Is it open right now?" is the #1 thing searchers check. Include the days you're closed.
  5. Pick the right primary category. "Taqueria" beats "Restaurant." The more specific, the better Google matches you to searches.
  6. Write a plain-words description. What you sell, who it's for, what part of town you're in. No slogans needed.
Make it a routine: the holiday-hours check Four times a year, spend ten minutes setting special hours for the holidays coming up: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, New Year's, Easter, July 4th. Customers checking "open now" on a holiday see the truth instead of driving to a locked door. Put a repeating reminder on your phone for the 1st of March, June, September, and December.
One phone number, one address, everywhere. Your listing, your website, and your Facebook should show the exact same phone and address. Mismatches make Google trust your info less, and customers too.

How does your facade look today?

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