Google Business Profile: why a business abroad needs one and how to set it up

When someone is looking for a tradesperson, a café or a translator in a new city, they often simply type a query into Google and see what comes up nearby on the map. If your business is not there, the customer will not see you — even if you are two steps away. The free Google Business Profile (formerly “Google My Business”) exists precisely so that you appear in that search and on Maps.

A note up front: this is general guidance, not legal or tax advice. Google’s rules and interface change from time to time, so always check the final steps on the official Google Business Profile page.

What a profile on Google gives you

The profile is your free card in Search and on Maps. When it is filled in, a potential customer sees the essentials before they even open your website:

• the name, the category (for example, “hairdresser” or “tax consultant”) and the address or the area you work in;
• opening hours, phone number and links;
• photos of your work, reviews and ratings;
• directions to you with a single tap.

The more useful details you add — a description of your services, recent photos, up-to-date hours — the more readily Google shows your profile to people nearby. It is no guarantee of a position in the search results, but for a tradesperson or a small business it is often the first “face” online — and it costs nothing.

How to create and verify it

The general logic is this: go to the official Google Business Profile page while signed in to your Google account, enter the business name and choose the category that most precisely describes what you do. Then give the address (if you receive customers on site) or the service area (if you travel to them yourself), and add a phone number and opening hours.

For the profile to become visible, Google usually asks you to verify that the business really is yours. The method of verification depends on the country and the type of business: it may be a postcard with a code sent by mail, a video, a phone call or an email. The service itself will show which option is available to you during registration. Do not give a made-up address and do not overstate your activity: breaking the rules can get the profile suspended. An existing profile is worth updating from time to time — adding photos, replying to reviews, adjusting the hours before holidays.

A profile on Google and a profile on «Свої» — together

These two tools do not compete; they complement each other. Google helps when someone searches for something “near me” in any language. The Ukrainian diaspora, however, is often driven by a different question — “I want to go to one of my own, someone who will understand both the language and the context.” This is exactly where your profile in the catalogue comes in handy: fellow Ukrainians deliberately find you when they are looking for a Ukrainian specialist — an accountant, a translator or a tradesperson.

A practical tip: keep the same information in both places — the same name, the same phone number, the same hours. That way a customer who has seen you on Google and then on «Свої» (or the other way round) will immediately recognise that it is you, and will trust you more easily.

A completed profile on Google means visibility for everyone, while a profile on «Свої» means warm recognition among your own; together they work better than separately.