Lewis SelbyCo-Founder, Maxme11 min read
To add your business to Google Maps in Ghana, sign in at business.google.com/add, enter your business name, category and location, then verify that you run it. Google says listing is free. It picks the verification method for you, recommends a live video when it offers one, and says reviews take up to 5 business days. Then add photos and hours, and ask buyers for reviews.
Can every business in Ghana get on Google Maps?
Ghana is on Google's list of countries where you can add a Business Profile, and Google says creating one and listing your business on Search and Maps is free. Once verified, the profile shows your hours, phone number, photos, directions and reviews. Statcounter puts Google at 96.79% of search engine use in Ghana in September 2026, so the buyer looking for you is on Google.
One rule comes first. Google says a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. A shop, salon, clinic, office or workshop qualifies. Brands, online-only businesses and virtual offices do not, so a seller who meets buyers only through Instagram and WhatsApp cannot list on Maps.
If you travel to customers, list as a service-area business. Google tells service-area businesses to hide their address and list the areas they serve instead, up to 20 of them. A caterer or a mobile mechanic working from home fits here, and Google says a business without signage should list this way rather than as a storefront.
How do you add your business to Google Maps, step by step?
Search for your business on Google Maps first. If a listing already exists and nobody has verified it, open it in the Maps app, tap About, then Claim this business. If someone else has verified it, Google lets you request ownership. Otherwise, start a new profile:
Keep the name clean. Google says the name must match the business's real-world name as used on the storefront, website and stationery, and that taglines, product descriptions, locations or extras such as "Ltd" that are not part of the real name can get the profile suspended. "Ama Shoes" is right; "Ama Shoes Best Ladies Shoes Madina" puts the profile at risk.
- Sign in with a Google account made for the business, and go to business.google.com/add.
- Click Add your business to Google and enter the name as it appears on your signboard and receipts, letter for letter.
- Choose a primary category that describes the core business. You can add up to 9 more, but Google advises using as few as possible.
- Add the location customers visit, or choose service areas and hide your address.
- Add a phone number that reaches this location and your website if you have one, then select a verification option and follow the steps.
What if Google cannot find your street?
If your street has no number, or Google cannot find the address, Google's help centre tells you to pin your location on the map: select Adjust and drag the pin to where the business stands. If the official address is not accurate, Google lets you add nearby cross-streets or landmarks to the address lines.
Keep landmarks in the address lines, never in the business name, and avoid an address that is only a direction. Google gives "Across from Central Park" as an example of what not to write, so "Opposite the Total filling station" on its own breaks the same rule. If the road itself is missing from Maps, Google says to add the road first.
Google publishes no guidance on GhanaPost GPS digital addresses, the national system that splits Ghana into 5 by 5 metre squares, each with its own code. Google has its own short digital addresses, called Plus Codes, which Maps reads. Put your Plus Code on your website and flyers for people using Maps, and your GhanaPost GPS address on receipts and delivery messages.
How does Google verify a business in Ghana?
Google decides how you verify, and you cannot change its choice. The options depend on your business type, public information, region and hours, and can include a phone call or text, email, a live video call, a postcard or a recorded video. Codes by phone or text do not reach automated phone menus, and Google says most postcard codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30.
If Google offers a recorded video, it recommends that option. The rules are strict: you record live from a phone through your Business Profile, in one unedited take of at least 30 seconds. Pre-recorded clips are not allowed. In that one take, show:
Keep bank, tax and ID numbers, and other people's faces, out of the video. Google says reviews take up to 5 business days and that it tells you why a video was not accepted. If verification fails, try another method Google offers. Google publishes no way around verification, and its advice when nothing works is to contact Business Profile support; its verification status tool shows where you stand.
- Where you are: the street sign, the building number or the businesses next door.
- Your business: the signboard, with the same name as your profile.
- That you run it: open the till, the stockroom or the kitchen. If you serve customers at their location, show your tools, branded vehicle, business permit, invoice or utility bill.
What should you add once you are verified?
Fill in everything that helps a buyer decide: your regular customer-facing hours, a description of up to 750 characters, up to 2 extra phone numbers and any attributes Google offers for your category. Add your website or online store. Google switched off its free Business Profile websites on 5 March 2024, so link to a site you own.
Photos follow simple rules: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels, with 720 by 720 recommended. Videos can run up to 30 seconds and 75 MB. Show the shopfront as people see it from the road, the inside, your best sellers and your team at work.
Google lets verified businesses add a WhatsApp or text-message option under Edit profile, then Contact, then Chat, but only in select regions. If Chat shows for your profile, add your WhatsApp link in international format: wa.me/233 followed by your number without the first zero. Google ended its own Business Profile chat and call history on 31 July 2024.
Posts let you share updates, offers and events on the profile, and Google archives posts older than six months unless you set a date range. A post about new stock or a weekend offer gives returning searchers a reason to call.
How do you get Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every happy buyer, and make it easy. In your profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy your review link; Google says the QR code version can only be made in a computer browser for now. Buyers need a Google account to leave a review. Google's rules bar pressuring people to review while they are still on your premises, so send the link on WhatsApp after delivery.
Google treats bought reviews as fake. Offering free or discounted goods for a review, or to change or remove one, is banned. Google also bans asking only happy customers while steering unhappy ones away, giving staff targets for a number of reviews, and reviews from current or former employees. A profile caught breaking these rules can lose the ability to receive new reviews for a set period.
Reply to reviews once you are verified, the good and the bad. A calm reply that names the fix shows the next buyer how you handle problems. Report a review only if it breaks Google's content rules; Google says not to report one because you disagree with it.
How does Google decide who ranks on Maps?
Google says three things decide local results: relevance, how well your profile matches the search; distance, how far you are from the person searching; and prominence, how well known the business is. Prominence draws on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help. It also says nobody can pay or ask for a better local ranking.
You control relevance and much of prominence. Pick the right primary category, because Google says categories affect local ranking. Keep hours, phone number and address accurate, add photos, and collect genuine reviews week by week. Google says a new business can take up to a month to appear in local results.
Why do Business Profiles get suspended, and how do you appeal?
Google suspends or disables profiles that break its guidelines. Causes it names include a business name with extra keywords, an address where the business does not exist, a virtual office and a P.O. box address.
To appeal, use the Business Profile appeals tool and attach evidence such as an official business registration, a business licence or a tax certificate; your ORC certificate or a GRA document fits here. Google says you must submit the evidence form within 60 minutes of opening it, and that appeal decisions can take up to 5 business days.
Maxme's Store Launch sets up your Google Business Profile and points it to your new store, as part of a GHS 5,000 (about US$430) WooCommerce or GHS 6,000 (about US$517) Shopify build, one-off and excluding VAT; see our pricing page. To see where you stand first, Maxme's free Ads & Store Audit checks whether people looking for what you sell can find you on Instagram, Google Search and Maps, and sends a short video on WhatsApp within 2 working days, with the three fixes that matter most.
