Google Business Profile checklist for Indian small businesses
Ten things to check on your Google Business Profile so you show up on Maps when nearby customers search.
When someone searches for a shop, clinic or restaurant "near me", the Maps results usually appear above the websites. Those results come from Google Business Profile. A complete, active profile is one of the cheapest ways for a local business to be found.
The checklist
- Exact name. Use your real business name as it appears on your board — no extra keywords.
- Correct category. Choose the most specific primary category, then add a few relevant secondary ones.
- Pin and address. Check that the map pin sits on your entrance, not the middle of the road.
- Phone and WhatsApp. Add a number that is answered during opening hours.
- Hours, including holidays. Update special hours for festivals so customers don't arrive to a closed shutter.
- Real photos. Add the front of the shop, the inside, your team and your products. Refresh them every few months.
- Services and prices. List what you offer, with prices where you can. It answers questions before customers call.
- Description in your customers' language. Write a short, honest description. If most customers speak Tamil or Hindi, say it in Tamil or Hindi too.
- Reviews, answered. Ask happy customers for a review, and reply to every review — good or bad — politely and in the language it was written in.
- Regular posts. Share offers, new products and updates. An active profile signals that the business is open and cared for.
One rule to follow
Never buy reviews or post fake ones. Google can suspend profiles for it, and customers notice.
Doondo keeps your profile updated, drafts review replies in the customer's language and sends them to you for a quick "yes" on WhatsApp.