Stop Losing Customers to Your Competitors Every Single Day
This guide is the most complete breakdown of how to use Google Business Profile in Nigeria to attract more customers and grow your business.
Let me ask you something: When was the last time you searched Google for “restaurant near me,” or “pharmacy in Lekki,” or “hair salon Victoria Island”? Probably this week, right?
Now, here’s the real question: When potential customers search for what you sell, does your business show up, or are they calling your competitor instead?
Every day in Nigeria, thousands search Google for businesses like yours: “best shawarma in Abuja,” “generator repair Lagos,” “event hall in Ibadan,” “boutique in Port Harcourt.”
These people are ready to buy NOW. If your business doesn’t appear, you’re watching money go to your competitor.
The good news? There’s a free tool from Google that puts your business directly in front of these customers, the exact moment they’re searching.
It’s called Google Business Profile (GBP), and Nigerian businesses using it properly are getting 50-200+ new customer calls, walk-ins, and directions requests EVERY SINGLE MONTH, all completely free.
No paid ads, no expensive marketing agency.
This guide will show you exactly how to set it up, step by step, and start getting those customers. Let’s get your phone ringing.
Google Business Profile in Nigeria: Why Every Business Owner Needs It.
It’s Not About Being “Online”, It’s About Not Losing Money
Here’s what’s happening right now: Your potential customers are searching Google on their phones.
Maybe they’re searching for “best pepper soup joint in Ikeja” while they’re hungry at 8pm. Or “laptop repair near me” while their laptop just crashed.
Or “makeup artist in Enugu” three weeks before their wedding.
When they search, Google shows a map with businesses, numbers, reviews, photos, and directions.
Those who appear get the calls, walk-ins, and sales. If you don’t appear, customers won’t know your business exists.
This is not a theory. After Abuja Culinary School set up her Google Business Profile properly, she went from no students to getting calls daily within months, all from Google.
Why? Because when potential students nearby searched “culinary school near me,” Abuja Culinary School popped up with their, 197 five-star reviews, and one-click directions.
They didn’t even know the school existed before Google showed it to them.
The Three Types of Customers Google Brings You
1. The “Right Now” Customer. These people are searching for “open now” or “near me.” They want to buy within the next 30 minutes.
When your business appears with “Open until 9pm” and they can click one button to call you, that’s money in your pocket today. Not next week. Today.
2. The Research Customer They’re comparing options. “Best dry cleaner in Yaba.” “Top-rated phone repair Lagos.” They’re reading reviews, looking at photos, and checking your services.
If your Google Business Profile looks better than your competitor’s, they will call you, and not them.
3. The Accidental Customer. They didn’t even know they needed you until Google showed them. Someone searches “things to do in Calabar this weekend,” and your restaurant appears in the results.
Boom, new customer you would never have gotten otherwise.
Why Nigerian Businesses Specifically Need This
Nigeria is mobile-first. Your customers are not sitting at desktops browsing business directories.
They’re on their phones, using Google Maps to navigate Lagos traffic, searching Google while stuck in a go-slow, quickly looking up “where can I buy a power bank now” when their phone is dying.
Google Business Profile is built for mobile. It’s built for the exact way Nigerians search and find businesses. And it’s free. No subscription. No hidden fees. Free.
The only cost is your time to set it up properly, and if you’re reading this guide, you’re already investing that time. Smart move.
The Step-by-Step Setup Process.
Step 1: Claim Your Business (Even If It Already Exists on Google)
This is the foundation of every Google Business Profile in Nigeria setup. Claiming your profile ensures you control your business information.”
Here’s something most Nigerian business owners don’t know: Your business might already be on Google. Seriously. Google creates business listings automatically from public information.
But if you haven’t “claimed” it, you don’t control it. You can’t add photos, respond to reviews, or update your hours.
You’re basically letting Google tell your story wrong.
How to check:
- Go to google.com/business
- Search for your business name and location.
- If it appears, you’ll see an option to “Claim this business” or “Own this business?”
- If it doesn’t appear, you’ll create it from scratch.
What you’ll need before you start:
- Your business name (exactly as it appears on your signboard)
- Physical address (the actual location customers visit, not a PO Box)
- Phone number that you actually answer
- Business category (be specific: not just “Restaurant,” but “Nigerian Restaurant” or “Chinese Restaurant”)
- Business hours (when you open, when you close, every day)
- Website (if you have one, not required)
Important for Nigerian businesses: Use your real address with recognizable landmarks. Don’t just put “No 45, XYZ Street.” Put “No 45, XYZ Street, beside GTBank, opposite Shoprite, Ikeja.”
Why? Because that’s how Nigerians give directions. Google might want the formal address, but in your description and posts, use landmarks liberally.
Step 2: Verify Your Business (This Makes You Official)
Google needs to confirm you’re actually a real business at that location.
They do this by sending you a verification code. There are several ways to verify:
Postcard by mail (most common in Nigeria): Google mails a physical postcard to your business address with a 5-digit code.
Takes 5-14 days to arrive. When it comes, you log in and enter the code. Done.
Phone verification (if available): Google calls or texts your business phone with a code. Enter it immediately. Verified in 5 minutes.
Email verification (rare, but available for some): Google emails a code to your business email. Click, verify, done.
Video verification (sometimes offered): You record a short video of your business location showing your signage, the inside, and you explaining what you do. Google reviews it and verifies you.
Critical tip for Nigerian businesses: If choosing postcard verification, make sure your address is complete and accurate.
Nigerian postal service can be… challenging. If you’re in an area with unreliable mail delivery, ask neighbors in other businesses if they’ve successfully received verification postcards.
Consider using a more reliable address if needed (but it must be where your business actually operates).
Step 3: Complete Your Business Information
This Is Where You Make Money
Once verified, you have a skeleton profile. Now you flesh it out.
Every field you complete is another way customers find you and another reason they choose you over competitors.
Business Name: Use your actual registered business name. Don’t keyword-stuff. Google penalizes this.
So “Adaeze Hair Salon” is good. “Adaeze Hair Salon Best Braids Weaves Lekki Lagos” is bad and will get you suspended.
Business Category: Choose the most specific category that describes your main business. You can add secondary categories, too.
Example: Primary category “Beauty Salon,” secondary categories “Hair Salon,” “Makeup Artist,” “Nail Salon.”
This determines what searches you appear in, so be strategic.
Business Description: You have 750 characters. Use them. Explain what you do, what makes you different, who you serve, and why someone should choose you.
Use natural language that includes what people search for.
Bad example:
We are the best restaurant in Lagos offering quality food.
Good example:
Mama Cynthia’s Bukka in Surulere serves authentic Nigerian dishes, jollof rice, egusi soup, pepper soup, pounded yam, made fresh daily just like home cooking. We’ve been feeding hungry office workers and families in this neighborhood since 2018. Open 7am-9pm Mon-Sat. Dine in, takeaway, or we deliver within Surulere. We take orders by phone and serve hot meals within 15 minutes.
See the difference? The good example tells you exactly what they sell, where they are, when they’re open, who they serve, and how to order.
It includes terms people actually search for.
Phone Number: Use a number you WILL answer.
Not your personal line if you don’t want business calls at midnight, but a dedicated business line that someone picks up during business hours.
Every missed call is a lost customer.
Website: If you have one, add it. If not, don’t stress, it’s not required.
Most Nigerian small businesses don’t have websites and still get tons of customers from Google Business Profile.
Business Hours: Be accurate. If you close at 6pm, don’t list 7pm, hoping to attract late customers.
Why? Because someone will drive 30 minutes to reach you at 6:30pm, find you closed, get angry, and leave a 1-star review. Be honest about your hours.
Add special hours for public holidays. If you’re closed on December 25th, mark it.
If you’re open late during Ramadan, update it. Accuracy builds trust.
Step 4: Add Photos
This is the Difference Between Getting Chosen and Getting Ignored, and it is where most Nigerian businesses drop the ball, and it’s costing them sales.
Here’s the truth: A customer is comparing three businesses on Google. They all have good reviews, all are nearby, and they all offer similar services. The business with great photos gets the call.
Why? Because photos prove you’re real, show quality, and build trust before the customer even contacts you.
Photos you absolutely must upload:
Your storefront: Take a clear photo of your business from the outside during the day.
Show your sign, your entrance, what the building looks like.
Why? So when customers are navigating to you, they recognize your place instantly. “Oh, that’s the yellow building with the red sign, I see it!”
Inside your business: Show your space. If it’s a restaurant, show tables and seating.
For a a salon, show your chairs and stations. If it’s a shop, show your products on shelves.
Make it inviting. Clean, well-lit photos work best.
Your products/services: This is your money-maker. If you sell food, upload photos of your BEST dishes.
Not all 50 items on your menu, just the 10-15 that look most appetizing. If you’re a tailor, show completed outfits on people (with permission).
For makeup artists, show your best makeovers.
Your team: Show real people who work there. Nigerians trust businesses with familiar faces.
Oh, that’s Uncle Emeka who fixed my generator last time.
It humanizes your business.
Photo quality tips for Nigerian businesses:
- Use your phone camera, it’s good enough. No need for a professional photographer (though if you can afford one, go for it).
- Take photos during the day or in bright lighting. Dark, grainy photos hurt more than help.
- Clean up before photographing. Wipe down surfaces, arrange products nicely, and remove clutter.
- For food businesses: Make the food look appetizing. Garnish it, plate it nicely. That’s the photo that gets customers salivating and driving to your place.
- Upload at least 10-15 photos initially, then add new ones monthly. Fresh photos signal an active, current business.
Step 5: Get Your First Reviews
Reviews are currency in local business. A business with 50+ positive reviews will get chosen over a business with 3 reviews, even if the second business is slightly closer or cheaper.
Your review is your way to convert browsers to buyers
How to get reviews from Nigerian customers:
The immediate after-service ask: Right after you’ve served a happy customer, while they’re still smiling, say:
I’m so glad you enjoyed our [food/service/product]. We’re trying to help more people discover us on Google. Would you be willing to leave us a quick review? I can send you the link on WhatsApp right now, it takes just 2 minutes.
Most happy customers will say yes. Some will forget. That’s okay, the ones who do it are golden.
The WhatsApp follow-up: Get permission to message customers on WhatsApp after service. The next day or two days later, send a friendly message:
Hello [Name], thank you for visiting [Business Name]. We hope you enjoyed our [service]. If you have a moment, we’d really appreciate a Google review. Here’s the link: [your Google review link]. Thank you, and we look forward to serving you again!
The incentive (use carefully): Some businesses offer small incentives:
Leave us a review and get 10% off your next visit.”
This can work, but don’t make it conditional on a positive review, just for leaving honest feedback. Google’s policies are strict about fake or incentivized reviews.
Responding to reviews: Reply to EVERY review. Positive ones: Thank them warmly, mention something specific they wrote about, and invite them back.
Negative ones: Apologize sincerely, explain what happened (briefly), say how you’re fixing it, offer to make it right offline (share your phone number).
Why respond? Because future customers read your responses.
A business that handles negative reviews professionally actually builds MORE trust than a business with only positive reviews and no responses.
Common Mistakes Nigerian Businesses Make (And How to Avoid Them)
Mistake 1: Setting Up Then Abandoning It
You can’t just set up your Google Business Profile and forget it. It’s not a “set and forget” tool. It needs regular feeding, like a plant.
Post updates weekly, add new photos monthly, respond to reviews within 24-48 hours, and update information when anything changes.
Businesses that post regularly (2-4 times per week) get significantly more customer actions (calls, direction requests, website clicks) than businesses that post rarely or never.
Mistake 2: Using Incorrect or Inconsistent Information
Your business name on Google must match your signboard, it must match your receipts, and everywhere else online.
This is the same for your phone number and address..
Why? Google checks consistency. If your business is called “Ada Beauty Salon” on Google but “Ada’s Beauty World” on Facebook and “Adaeze Salon” on Instagram, Google gets confused and ranks you lower. Consistency = credibility.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Reviews (Especially Negative Ones)
When a customer leaves a 1-star review and you don’t respond, every future customer sees that and thinks, “Wow, they don’t care about complaints.”
But when you respond professionally, apologizing, explaining, offering solutions, future customers think “Okay, they made a mistake but they care about fixing it. I’ll give them a chance.”
Negative reviews aren’t business-killers. Ignored negative reviews are.
Mistake 4: Using Low-Quality or Irrelevant Photos
Don’t upload blurry photos taken at night, or photos that don’t show your actual business.
Google Business Profile photos should be real photos of your real business. Clear, bright, inviting. That’s it.
Mistake 5: Keyword Stuffing the Business Name
“Chinedu’s Auto Repair, Lagos’ Best Mechanic Car Service, Cheap”
This will get your profile suspended. Use your actual business name only.
Mistake 6: Creating Multiple Listings for One Location
Don’t create separate listings for different services at the same address. If you run a salon that also does makeup and nails, it’s ONE listing with multiple service categories.
Creating 3 separate listings will get them all suspended.
Mistake 7: Not Using Google Posts
Google Posts are free mini-ads that appear in your business listing. You can post about new products, special offers, events, updates, anything.
They last 7 days, then expire, so you need to post regularly.
Why bother? Because businesses that use Google Posts get more engagement.
It shows you’re active, current, and gives customers more reasons to choose you.
How to Optimize After Setup (Taking It From Good to Great)
Week 1-2: Focus on Reviews
Your first mission is to get to 10+ reviews. This moves you from “new business nobody trusts” to “established business people consider.”
Ask every happy customer. Send WhatsApp messages. Make it your goal: 10 reviews in two weeks.
Week 3-4: Upload More Photos
Add at least 20-30 photos covering everything: storefront, interior, products/services, team, customers enjoying your service (with permission), events, special moments.
The businesses with 100+ photos massively outperform businesses with 5-10 photos.
Month 2: Start Posting Regularly
Commit to posting 2-3 times per week. Posts can be:
- New products/services
- Special offers/discounts
- Customer testimonials
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Tips related to your industry
- Seasonal/holiday messages
- Events you’re hosting or attending
Mix it up. Keep it fresh. Stay consistent.
Month 3: Complete the Q&A Section
Google Business Profile has a Q&A section where customers can ask questions publicly.
Don’t wait for customers to ask, write and answer your own FAQs.
Questions to add:
- “Do you accept bank transfers or only cash?”
- “Is there parking available?”
- “What are your most popular dishes/services?”
- “Do you take appointments or accept walk-ins?”
- “Do you deliver?”
- “What’s your price range?”
Answering these preemptively reduces phone calls asking the same questions and helps customers decide faster.
Ongoing: Monitor Your Insights
Google Business Profile gives you data on:
- How many people saw your listing
- How many called you
- How many asked for directions
- How many people visited your website
- What searches led people to you
Check this monthly. It tells you what’s working. If certain posts get lots of engagement, do more like that. If certain photos get lots of views, upload similar ones. Let the data guide you.
Advanced: Use Booking/Messaging Features
If applicable to your business, enable appointment booking directly through Google.
Enable messaging so customers can text you right from your Google listing. Every barrier you remove between “customer sees your business” and “customer contacts you” increases conversions.
What Results to Expect (And When)
Let’s be realistic about timelines and outcomes, based on what Nigerian businesses are actually experiencing:
Week 1-2 (Just After Verification):
- You’ll start appearing in local searches.
- Expect 5-20 people to view your profile.
- Maybe 1-3 calls or direction requests
- This is the “Google is figuring out where to show you” phase.
Month 1:
- Profile views increase to 50-200 per month (depends on your industry and location)
- 5-15 phone calls from Google
- 10-30 direction requests (people navigating to your business)
- First few reviews coming in.
Month 2-3 (If You’re Actively Optimizing):
- Profile views: 200-500+ per month
- Phone calls: 15-40 per month
- Direction requests: 30-80 per month
- Website clicks: 10-50 per month.
- You’re now a “trusted” business in Google’s eyes.
For Months 4-6 (With Consistent Effort):
- Profile views: 500-2,000+ per month
- Phone calls: 40-100+ per month
- Direction requests: 80-200+ per month
- Reviews building to 30-50+
- You’re consistently appearing in the top results for your category.
Real Nigerian Business Examples:
Abuja Culinary School, Abuja: Before Google Business Profile: 2-3 walk-in customers per month, all from word-of-mouth.
After 3 months of active optimization, 4-8 walk-in customers daily, 5-8 phone inquiries daily, business revenue multiplied.
Sisi Eko Restaurant, Lagos: First month: 80 profile views, 6 calls, 12 direction requests.
Third month: 450 profile views, 35 calls, 89 direction requests. Sixth month: 1,200+ profile views, 80+ calls, 200+ direction requests. Owner’s words: “We had to hire two extra staff to handle the increase.”
What Won’t Happen (Managing Expectations):
You won’t get 1,000 customers overnight. This isn’t magic.
It’s a tool that puts you in front of people actively searching for what you sell. The better you optimize it, the more prominent you become, the more customers you get.
You won’t maintain results without effort.
If you set it up, then ignore it for 6 months, your competitors who are actively posting and engaging will outrank you.
You won’t please everyone. Some customers will leave bad reviews. Handle them professionally.
One bad review among 50 good ones is actually more trustworthy than all perfect reviews.
The Bottom Line: This Is About Money, Not Tech
Here’s what Google Business Profile really is: It’s the digital version of having your shop on the busiest street in your city, where thousands of potential customers walk past every single day.
Without it, your business is on a quiet side street where only people who already know you exist will find you.
With it , and with it done properly, you’re on the main road with a bright sign, clear directions, a crowd of happy customers vouching for you, and photos showing exactly why people should step inside.
Every day you delay setting this up is a day your competitors are getting customers that should have been yours.
Every week you don’t optimize is a week you’re leaving money on the table.
The setup takes 2-3 hours if you do it properly. The ongoing maintenance takes 2-3 hours per week.
In exchange, you get a consistent stream of new customers who are actively looking for what you sell, ready to buy, and Google is bringing them directly to you.
For free.
Start today. Set up your Google Business Profile. Follow this guide step by step.
In three months, count how many new customers you’ve gotten from it. Then come back and thank me.
Your competitors are doing it. Your customers are searching. The only question is: Will they find you, or will they find someone else?
The choice is yours. But the answer should be obvious.
Now go claim your business. Your next customer is searching for you right now.