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What you say in your description can't work for just any business on your street

You'll come away with a description that names your exact services, using the words your customers search with, instead of lines that could fit any business in your industry.

By Yodai · Published September 6, 2026 · Updated October 12, 2026

Pull up your Google listing and read your own description as if you knew nothing about your business. If it says something like "hair salon with over ten years of experience, personalized attention, and the best professionals," stop right there. Any hair salon in your city could put its name on that line, and so could one in another city, and so could an auto shop if you swap out the word "salon" for "shop." It says nothing that sets you apart from the one around the corner.

The problem isn't that it sounds bad. According to Google's own help pages, local results are based mainly on relevance, distance, and prominence, and relevance is how well your listing matches what someone is searching for, which is why Google asks for complete, detailed information. If nobody types "personalized attention" into Google, that phrase doesn't bring you any closer to anyone. If someone searches "balayage" or "lob with bangs" and your listing never mentions it anywhere, you're making it harder for Google to find you, even if you do that service beautifully.

The description is the one piece almost everyone fills out in a hurry, with phrases that could apply to anybody. Here's how to fix that.

What the people who'll find you are searching for

Nobody types "I want a hair salon" into Google. They type what they need that day: "men's haircut" with their neighborhood name, "gel manicure near me," "ammonia-free hair color." Each of those searches pairs a specific service with, sometimes, a detail that matters: ammonia-free, for men, semi-permanent.

Your description needs to include those services in those exact words, not in fancier synonyms. If you call it "hair coloring treatment" but everyone searches for "hair dye," write "hair dye." This isn't about style, it's about writing in the language your customer searches in, not the one you'd use yourself.

Where to find the exact words

Don't just make these up off the top of your head. Type the start of a phrase into the search bar, like "haircut in," and see what Google suggests: according to Google's own help pages, those suggestions reflect real searches people have made on Google, and they take into account things like your location and your own past searches. They're not random guesses. Also pay attention to how people book with you over WhatsApp: if someone writes "I want to get a gel manicure" instead of "a nail treatment," that's the phrase that belongs on your listing, even if it sounds less polished to you.

Write down five or six services this way, using the words your customer actually uses, not the words you'd put on a fancy sign. Those five or six names are the heart of your description; everything else, like your hours or how long you've been open, comes after and in just a few words.

With your category set right, your info consistent everywhere, and now a description that names your exact services, your profile already speaks the language of the people searching for you. The next thing people see when they land on your page, your photo, is a whole different story.

You've already got the category, your name consistent everywhere, and a description that's truly yours. What's left is what isn't written: your photos, and where to start when you only have an hour to take them.