Step by step
- 1
Search for your business first
Open Google Maps and search your business name and town. If a listing already exists (Google often creates them from map data), you will claim it rather than create a duplicate.
- 2
Create or claim the profile
Go to google.com/business, sign in with a Google account you will keep, and add your business. Use the exact registered trading name, not a keyword-stuffed one, or the profile can be suspended.
- 3
Choose the right category
Pick the most specific primary category ("Hair salon", not "Beauty"). Add secondary categories only if you genuinely offer those services.
- 4
Set your location and service area
Drop the pin on your actual door. If you deliver or visit customers, tick the option to serve customers outside your address and list the towns you cover.
- 5
Verify the listing
Google will offer phone, email, video or postcard verification depending on the business. Do not edit the name, address or category while verification is pending or it restarts.
- 6
Fill in everything
Hours (including public holidays), phone, WhatsApp, a description, at least ten real photos, your menu or services with prices, and a website link. Profiles with a website and photos get more calls and direction requests.
- 7
Ask for reviews and answer them
Send your review link to happy customers by WhatsApp. Reply to every review, including the bad ones. Reviews are a large part of how Maps ranks you.
- 8
Give Google and AI assistants a real page to read
A Facebook page is a weak website link. A simple page with your hours, menu, location and a deal is what search engines and assistants can actually read. eCity gives you one for free in about 30 seconds.
Why this matters more in Fiji than it used to
Two things changed. First, mobile data got cheap enough that "café near me" is now a normal thing to type in Suva, Nadi or Lautoka. Second, a growing share of those questions go to AI assistants, which read the open web and Google's listings, not Facebook. A business with no listing and no page simply does not exist to those tools.
The good news is that the competition is thin. Most Fiji small businesses have an unclaimed or half-finished listing, so a complete profile with photos and reviews often ranks within weeks.
After you are listed: keep the listing alive
Post an update or offer every couple of weeks, add new photos, keep hours accurate for holidays and answer the questions people leave. Then connect the listing to a customer list of your own, so the people Google sends you can be brought back without paying for them twice. That is what the eCity QR deal is for.
Start free today
A business page and a QR deal, in about 30 seconds.
No credit card, no contract. Add loyalty, referrals and WhatsApp campaigns when they would pay for themselves. The first 100 Fiji businesses lock their Growth rate and get a dedicated local consultant.
Questions, answered
- Does a Google Business Profile cost anything in Fiji?
- No. Creating, verifying and managing the listing is free. You only pay if you choose to run Google Ads, which is separate.
- My business is at home or mobile. Can I still be on Maps?
- Yes. Set it up as a service-area business, hide the street address and list the towns you serve.
- How long until I show up?
- Verified listings usually appear within a few days. Ranking higher than competitors takes weeks of reviews, photos and accurate details.
- Do I need a website as well as the listing?
- Strongly recommended. Google and AI assistants treat a real page as a stronger signal than a social profile, and it is where you can put a deal that builds your own customer list.