How to Write a Google Business Profile Description That Customers Actually Read

Most descriptions I read on Google listings fall into two groups. The first is empty. The second begins with "Welcome to" and ends with "your satisfaction is our priority", which says nothing a customer can use. A good Google Business Profile description takes fifteen minutes to write, once you know what it is for.

What is the description for?

It answers a visitor who has opened your listing and wonders whether you are the right choice. They already see your name, your category, your rating and your photos. The description adds what those do not say: what exactly you do, for whom, and what sets you apart in fact.

Google's guidelines describe this field as a place to give useful information about your services, your products, your mission and your history.

How long can it be?

Google allows up to 750 characters. Only the beginning is shown before a visitor taps to read more, so the first two sentences carry most of the weight. Put the main information there and let the rest add detail.

What should the first sentences say?

Three things, in this order:

1. What you do: the trade, in plain words.
2. For whom and where: the customers and the area you serve.
3. One fact that sets you apart: a speciality, a number of years, a way of working that can be checked.

An example for a plumber:

"Dumas Plumbing repairs leaks, boilers and bathrooms for homes in Austin and the surrounding area. Family business since 2009, with a written quote before any work begins."

A customer knows in two sentences whether to call.

What does Google forbid in a description?

Its guidelines exclude, among other things:

• links and web addresses;
• promotions, prices and special offers: those belong in posts, see what to publish in posts;
• misleading or unverifiable claims;
• text that is only there to place keywords.

A description that breaks these rules can be rejected, and repeated violations put the profile at risk.

Should you fill it with keywords?

No. Name your trade and your main services naturally, because that is how a customer recognises what they came for. A line such as "plumber Austin best plumber cheap plumber emergency plumber" helps nobody and is exactly what the guidelines exclude.

Google does not present the description as a ranking factor. What it names for local ranking is relevance, distance and prominence, and relevance is carried first by your category and the services you list. See how to choose your category.

How do you write it in fifteen minutes?

1. Write down how you describe your work to a new customer on the phone. That is usually your first sentence.
2. List the three services that bring you the most customers.
3. Add one fact that can be checked: year founded, a qualification, a guarantee you really give.
4. Remove every adjective you could not prove: "best", "leading", "unbeatable".
5. Read it aloud. If it sounds like a brochure, cut it.

Then read it again in six months. Services change, and a description that mentions a service you no longer offer brings calls you have to decline.

What about the rest of the profile?

The description is one field among many. Hours, services, photos and replies to reviews do more to convince. If you have fifteen minutes only, check your hours first: see how to set your hours.

Summary

My opinion: write the description for a customer in a hurry, not for a search engine. Two honest sentences do more than 750 characters of adjectives.