A potential customer takes out their phone and types “print shop Bonamoussadi” or “accounting firm Douala”. Google does not answer with a list of websites: it first shows a map and a few businesses, with their hours, their rating and their phone number.
If your business does not appear there, it does not exist for that search — even if your website is excellent.
That place has a name: the Google Business Profile, also called a fiche d'établissement Google. Creating it is free. For many companies in Cameroon, it is the most profitable acquisition channel they are not using.
What a Google Business Profile is
It is the public identity card of your business on Google. It feeds two surfaces: search results and Google Maps.
It is for businesses that welcome customers on site or that go to them. A shop, a firm, a workshop, a restaurant, an agency: all of them can have one. A provider who travels — a plumber, a trainer, a developer — declares a service area rather than a visible address.
The profile belongs to you once it is verified. Verification means proving to Google that you are responsible for this business, usually by postcard, by phone or by video, depending on the case. Until it is verified, you cannot edit it — and anyone can suggest corrections in your place.
Why it matters especially in Cameroon
Three concrete reasons.
Use is mobile. Local search happens in the street, in a car, between two appointments. The user wants a number to call and directions, not a home page to browse.
The profile comes before the website. A prospect who was referred to you often types your name before opening your website. What they see first is your profile: your hours, your photos, your reviews. It serves as a first impression.
Many profiles already exist without their owner. Google sometimes creates a profile automatically from public information. The result: a business can have an incomplete profile, with the wrong hours, that nobody manages. Claiming that profile is often the first action to take.
The six details you should not rush
1. The business category
This is the field that matters most, and the one most often filled in a hurry. “Business” means nothing. “Software developer”, “Digital marketing agency”, “Law firm”: the primary category must describe what you actually do, because it is what connects you to searches. Then add the useful secondary categories, without multiplying them.
2. The name
The name of your business, as it appears on your sign and your documents. Nothing more. Adding keywords — “Honowa Technologies – custom business application in Cameroon” — breaks Google’s rules and exposes the profile to suspension.
3. The address and the service area
An exact address, written the same way as on your website and your invoices. If you do not welcome customers, hide the address and declare the neighborhoods or cities where you work.
4. The hours
The real ones. Including special hours: public holidays, annual closure, a week of leave. A customer who travels and finds the door closed does not come back, and they say so in a review.
5. The phone and the website
A number that is actually answered, and the link to your website. These two details must be identical to those shown on your website: inconsistencies between your online presences blur your local ranking.
6. The description and the photos
A description that says, in a few lines, who you serve and what you solve. Then real photos: the storefront, the interior, the team at work, a few projects. Stock images are spotted immediately and cost in credibility what they save in time.
What keeps a profile alive
A profile filled in once and then forgotten loses its effect. Three habits maintain it.
- Reply to reviews, every review. A short thank-you for a positive review. For a negative review: acknowledge the fact, say what you corrected, offer to continue offline. A calm reply to criticism often convinces better than ten five-star reviews. Never ask for a review in exchange for a benefit: it is forbidden and detectable.
- Reply to questions. The questions section is public and open: anyone can ask a question, and anyone can answer it. Better that it be you. Ask yourself the questions people ask you on the phone, and answer them.
- Keep the information up to date. A move, a new number, a change of hours: the profile is updated the same day, not the following month.
The mistakes that cost you calls
- Creating a second profile instead of claiming the existing one. Duplicates cancel each other out and blur your visibility.
- Giving a domiciliation address where nobody works. Google asks that the profile faithfully reflect your activity; a profile that does not follow the guidelines can be suspended.
- Leaving a review unanswered for months. Silence reads as indifference.
- Stuffing the name or the description with keywords. The gain is nil, the risk is real.
- Forgetting special hours. It is the most common mistake, and the easiest to avoid.
Where to start this week
Three steps, doable without technical skill.
- Search for your business on Google, from a phone, without being signed in to your account. Note what a customer actually sees: does the profile exist? Are the hours right? Are there photos?
- Claim or create the profile, then finish verification. Until it is verified, nothing is yours.
- Fill in the six fields above, add five real photos, and reply to the reviews already there.
Count one to two hours for the setup, then a few minutes a week.
What comes next
The profile does not replace a website: it feeds it. A visitor convinced by your reviews will click through to your website to understand your offer. If that page does not clearly say what you do and for whom, the work on the profile is half lost.
At Honowa Technologies, we support businesses on both sides: local presence and the website that extends it. If you want to know what a customer finds today when they look for you, write to us — we go through your online presence with you and hand you the points to correct, in order of priority.
Honowa Technologies SARL
Makepe, Douala, Littoral
Cameroon.
Source: Official Google guidelines for business profiles
Author: Michèle Njikam, Community Manager @ Honowa Technologies