THE FUTURE MARKETACADEMY
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School of Marketing

Google Business Profile & Local Marketing

Step 3 of 7 in Marketing Studio

Next in your path: 3.5 Email Marketing & building a list

What you'll be able to do
  • Check whether your business qualifies for a free Google Business Profile.
  • Set up and verify a profile that follows Google's rules.
  • Explain the three things Google says decide local rankings.
  • Get more honest reviews and reply to them well.
  • Keep your profile active with posts, photos and correct hours.
  • Show up on other maps and in your local community too.
Words in this course 31Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

What a Business Profile is and who can have one

In simple words

When someone asks Google "Where can I get pizza near me?", Google shows a little card for each shop with the hours, phone number and stars. A Business Profile is your shop's card.

Key facts
  • Creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free.
  • It appears in Google Search and Google Maps. You can manage reviews, publish posts about offers, events and news, add photos, and keep hours and contact details current.
  • Who qualifies: a business that has a physical location customers can visit, or that travels to customers where they are (a "service-area business," like a mobile coach or a plumber).
  • A virtual office is not eligible.
  • Service-area businesses should create one profile for their central office, set a service area, and hide their address from customers if they don't serve people there.
  • One profile per business location. P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable addresses.
Step by step
  1. Ask yourself: do customers come to my place, or do I go to them?
  2. Write your exact street address, or the list of towns and areas you serve.
  3. Check that the address is not a virtual office, P.O. box or remote mailbox.
  4. If you travel to customers, plan to set a service area and hide your address.
  5. Check: you can say in one sentence whether you are a storefront or a service-area business.
LESSON 01What a Business Profile is and who can have one
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Screen: Google Maps search 'tennis lessons near me' showing business cards] "These cards are Google Business Profiles. They're free."
[Host] "You qualify if customers can visit you, or if you travel to them."
[Text on screen: Service-area business = hide your address] "Coach at public courts or visit people's homes? You're a service-area business. Set your area and hide your home address."
[Host] "Virtual offices and P.O. boxes don't count. One real location, one profile."
Try it now

Answer: Do customers come to you, or do you go to them? Write your exact address or the list of towns/areas you serve.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Google Business Profile & Local Marketing" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "What a Business Profile is and who can have one".

What the lesson teaches:
- Creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free.
- It appears in Google Search and Google Maps. You can manage reviews, publish posts about offers, events and news, add photos, and keep hours and contact details current.
- Who qualifies: a business that has a physical location customers can visit, or that travels to customers where they are (a "service-area business," like a mobile coach or a plumber).
- A virtual office is not eligible.
- Service-area businesses should create one profile for their central office, set a service area, and hide their address from customers if they don't serve people there.
- One profile per business location. P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable addresses.

The exercise I'm working on:
Answer: Do customers come to you, or do you go to them? Write your exact address or the list of towns/areas you serve.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "What a Business Profile is and who can have one" from the course "Google Business Profile & Local Marketing".

Here's what the lesson says:
When someone asks Google "Where can I get pizza near me?", Google shows a little card for each shop with the hours, phone number and stars. A Business Profile is your shop's card.

The activity:
Answer: Do customers come to you, or do you go to them? Write your exact address or the list of towns/areas you serve.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Set up and verify it the right way

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

How Google decides who shows up first

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

Reviews: getting them and replying

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

05

Keep your profile alive

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

Local marketing beyond Google

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

++

Final project

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

??

Quiz

  1. Does a Google Business Profile cost money?

  2. Can a virtual office have a Business Profile?

  3. What should a mobile coach who works from home do with the address?

  4. What three things does Google say decide local ranking?

  5. Can you pay Google for a better local ranking?

  6. Can you give a 10% discount in exchange for a review?

  7. Is it okay to only send the review link to customers who seemed happy?

  8. How long is a Google postcard verification code valid?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.