# How to Write a Google Business Profile Description (With Examples) > Google gives you 750 characters for your business description, but its own example runs under 400. Here is what to say, what to leave out, and three full descriptions you can adapt for a bakery, a plumber, and a salon. *Roald, Founder Fonzy · Jul 31, 2026 · 7 min read* Source: https://www.fonzy.ai/blog/google-business-profile-description --- **Short answer:** You have 750 characters for your Google Business Profile description, but you do not need all of them. Google's own example runs under 400. Say what you do, who you serve, where you are, and what makes you different. Skip URLs, prices, and keyword stuffing, because Google reviews every description and rejects the ones that break its rules. That description sits in the "From the business" section of your profile. It is one of the few parts you write in your own words, and most owners either leave it blank or cram it with keywords. Both are a waste. Here is how to write one that reads well and gets approved the first time. ## What is the Google Business Profile description, and how long can it be? The description is the paragraph Google shows under "From the business" when someone opens your profile. Google's official help page tells you to "Enter a brief description of your business" and, under "Things to avoid," states plainly: "Do not exceed 750 characters in the description field." So 750 is the ceiling. It is not the target. Google's own model description, the one it prints as an example on that same help page, is about 370 characters. It reads: "We're an independent ice cream shop located steps from the center of town. We're proud to be the favorite for locals to meet friends for a cone or call for a fresh pizza, delivered straight to their home. We serve 35 flavors of homemade, hand-churned ice creams and sorbets year-round. The pizza oven turns out New York-style pies every day from midday until close. Come visit us today!" Look at what that little paragraph does. It says what they are, where they are, who they serve, what they make, when they are open, and it ends with a friendly nudge. No keywords stuffed anywhere. If Google itself stops at 370 characters, you can too. Fill the space you need and stop. ## Lead with what you do, because your opening lines are what people read Your description does not appear all at once. On a phone, the first line or two show, and the rest hides behind a "more" link that most people never tap. The exact cutoff is not a number Google publishes, so do not treat it as a rule. Treat it as a habit: your opening lines are what most people actually read. That means the front of your description carries the weight. Lead with what you do and who you serve, not with your founding story. "We're an independent ice cream shop located steps from the center of town" tells you everything in eleven words. Compare that to a description that opens with "Established in 1998 with a passion for excellence." One tells a customer whether to keep reading. The other makes them work for it. Write the first sentence as if it is the only one anyone will see. Then add the rest for the people who care enough to tap "more." ## What Google tells you to include Google is not shy about what belongs here. Its help page says to describe "what you offer, what makes you special, how long you've been in business, and anything else that's helpful for customers to know." Its representation guidelines go further: use the field "to provide useful information on services and products offered, as well as the mission and history of your business," and "be upfront and honest," focusing on content that is "relevant and useful to your customers." Boil that down and you get four things a customer wants to know before they call or drive over: - What you actually do, in plain words. - Who you serve and where. - What sets you apart from the shop down the road. - How long you have been at it, if that builds trust. Notice what is not on that list. Keywords. Slogans. A wall of services copied from your homepage. Google asks for useful information about your business, and useful is the word to hold onto. ## What Google prohibits, and what gets descriptions rejected The faster way to write a good description is to know what gets one killed. Google's guidelines are specific here. No links. Google's representation guidelines say the field must not "Display links. No links of any type are allowed." The help page repeats it: "Do not include URLs or HTML code." So no web address, no email, no formatting tags. Your profile already links to your site elsewhere. The description is not the place. No prices or promotions. Google tells you to "Focus primarily on details about your business instead of details about promotions, prices, or sales." Its guidelines list the kind of thing to avoid by example: "Everything on sale, -50%" and "Best bagels in town for $5!" A discount you run this month does not belong in a field meant to describe your business for the long run. No low-quality filler. The guidelines bar content that is "low-quality, irrelevant, or distracting," and name the offenders: "misspellings, gimmicky character use, gibberish." Spelling your business name with stars and symbols to catch the eye works against you here. No irrelevant content. Anything "with no clear association" with your business is not allowed. That includes keyword lists dressed up as sentences. A plumber writing "plumber plumbing drain repair emergency plumber near me" is not describing anything. Google can see that, and so can the customer. ## A simple fill-in structure you can copy You do not need to be a writer. You need a shape. Here is one that follows Google's own example, in the order that reads well: 1. **What you do plus where.** "We're a family-run bakery in Fishtown." 2. **Who you serve and what you offer.** "We bake fresh bread, pastries, and custom cakes." 3. **What makes you different.** "We mill our own flour and take same-day gluten-free orders." 4. **How long you have been around**, if it helps. "Baking here since 2009." 5. **A light, non-salesy nudge.** "Stop by before noon for the best selection." That is it. Five short moves. Say each one plainly, and you will land under 400 characters without trying. When we write these for owner-run businesses, the first draft an owner hands us is almost always the founding story up front and the actual service buried at the bottom. We flip it. The service goes first, the story goes last, and the description suddenly answers the question a customer was asking. The pattern repeats across trades so often that flipping the order is now the first edit we make. ## Three example descriptions you can adapt Here are three full descriptions, one for a bakery, one for a plumber, one for a salon. Each follows the same skeleton. Each is well under 750 characters, with no links, no HTML, and no prices, so they double as a demonstration of Google's rules. Swap in your own details. **Bakery.** "Rosewood Bakery has baked bread and pastries in Fishtown since 2009. We mill our own flour and bake everything fresh each morning, from sourdough loaves and croissants to custom birthday and wedding cakes. Families come to us for weekend breakfast, and a few local cafes buy our bread wholesale. We can handle gluten-free and vegan orders with a day's notice. Stop by before noon for the best pick of the shelf, or call ahead to reserve a cake for your celebration." **Plumber.** "Bright Star Plumbing has looked after homeowners across South Leeds for more than fifteen years. We fix leaks, clear blocked drains, install boilers, and fit out bathrooms, and we turn up when we say we will. Most repairs are done in a single visit, and we explain the problem in plain language before any work starts. We cover emergencies seven days a week. Give us a call and we will tell you honestly whether it is a quick fix or a bigger job." **Salon.** "Maple and Co is a hair salon in the heart of Didsbury, run by a small team who have cut and coloured here for over a decade. We do everything from a simple trim to full balayage, and we take time to talk through what actually suits you before we start. The chairs are calm, the coffee is good, and we welcome first-timers and regulars alike. Book online or ring the salon, and tell us if it is your first visit so we can plan a proper consultation." Read them back. Each one leads with what the business does and where. Each names a genuine difference: own-milled flour, single-visit repairs, a real consultation. None reaches for a keyword. That is the whole trick. ## Does the description help you rank on Google? The honest answer Here is the part most guides skip. The "From the business" description is not a direct Google ranking factor. Local-SEO practitioners who study this closely, including teams like Whitespark and Sterling Sky, are consistent on it: Google largely ignores keywords stuffed into the description, and stuffing them will not lift you in the map pack. What moves the map pack is your primary category, your reviews, and how close you are to the searcher. If you want the levers that actually change your ranking, that work sits in [choosing the right primary category](/blog/google-business-profile-categories) and [the steps that lift you in Google Maps](/blog/rank-higher-google-maps), not in this field. So why write the description at all? Because it is read by the person already looking at your profile, deciding whether to call you or the next shop. It is a conversion field, not a ranking field. Its job is to convince a human, the same job your [about page](/blog/how-to-write-an-about-page) does on your website. Write it for that person, in words they use, and you will get more out of it than any pile of keywords ever gave anyone. For the fuller picture of the fields that carry ranking weight, the [full profile optimization guide](/blog/google-business-profile-optimization) walks through them in order. ## How to edit your Google Business Profile description Editing it takes a minute. In your profile, choose Edit profile, find "Description," click Edit next to it, type or paste your text, and Save. Google confirms that profile edits "usually take about 10 minutes to show up," though in some cases it can take up to 30 days. One thing to expect: Google reviews changes before they go live. A real owner learned this the hard way. In a Google Business Profile Community thread, an owner named Sanjay Singh Jaiswal posted a plain title, "Description," because their business description had come back "Not approved" on Google Maps. The top reply walked them straight back to Google's own rules: include what you offer, what sets you apart, and your history, avoid URLs, HTML, and going over 750 characters, and focus on your business rather than promotions or sales. A Product Expert added that some sensitive industries face stricter review. The lesson is simple. Google actively checks descriptions and rejects the ones that break the rules, so write to the rules the first time and save yourself the round trip. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long should a Google Business Profile description be? Up to 750 characters, but shorter is fine and often better. Google's own example description runs about 370 characters and covers what the business is, where it is, and what it offers. Aim for clear and complete, not full. If you have said what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different, you are done. ### Can I put my website link or phone number in the description? No. Google's guidelines say "No links of any type are allowed" and to avoid URLs and HTML in the field. A link there can get your description rejected. Your website and phone number already live in their own fields on the profile, so leave them out of the description. ### Will keywords in my description help me rank higher on Google? Not directly. The description is not a ranking factor, and stuffing keywords into it will not lift you in the map pack. Category, reviews, and proximity are what move rankings. If your profile is not appearing at all, the cause is usually elsewhere, which is why [a hidden profile](/blog/why-google-business-profile-not-showing) almost never traces back to the description. ### Why was my Google Business Profile description not approved? Google reviews every description before it goes live and rejects ones that break its rules. The usual causes are a URL or link, HTML code, promotional or price language, going over 750 characters, or keyword-stuffed filler. Rewrite it as a plain description of your business, save it again, and it typically appears within about 10 minutes. Write the description for the customer standing on your profile with their thumb over the call button. Say what you do, who you serve, and why you, in the fewest clear words. Google's ice cream shop stopped at 370 characters and told you everything. That is the bar, and it is a low one. Fonzy handles this kind of profile work for owners who would rather run the shop than wrestle with Google's rules, so your description reads like a person wrote it and gets approved the first time. ## Sources - [Google Business Profile Help, Edit your Business Profile: the 750-character limit, what to include, the no-URL and no-HTML rules, and Google's own ice cream shop example description](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3039617) - [Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google: no links, no promotions or prices, no low-quality content, and using the field for useful, honest business information](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177) - [Google Business Profile Help, Manage your Business Profile description: how to edit the field, that edits take about 10 minutes, and that Google reviews changes before they go live](https://support.google.com/business/answer/13682007) - [Google Business Profile Community thread, "Description": a real owner whose description came back "Not approved," and the reply pointing back to Google's rules](https://support.google.com/business/thread/305398755/description) --- Published by [Fonzy](https://www.fonzy.ai) — expert articles that get you found on Google and AI search.