In Lekki, Lagos, a landlord with two vacant flats posts about them in a neighbourhood WhatsApp group before he ever thinks about Google, but the agent he eventually hires still needs to show up properly when someone searches for letting agents in the area, because not every prospective tenant comes through a group chat.
Setting up one profile, not a duplicate
An agency office in Lagos or Abuja sometimes ends up with two Google listings: one created by the firm itself, and another created earlier, perhaps by an individual agent using the office address before the business had a formal presence online. Reviews and search visibility split between the two, so the fix is consolidating everything under the profile that carries the agency's actual registered name, with any individual agent's details listed inside it. This matters more here than in some markets, since an agency's credibility often rests on looking established rather than like a one-person operation working out of a car.
The category should match what the business actually does
An agency handling both sales and rentals for landlords fits "Real estate agent" more precisely than a generic tag, while one focused on managing rental units and collecting rent on behalf of owners fits "Property management company" better. Selecting the accurate category changes which searches in Port Harcourt or Enugu actually surface the listing.
Photos worth having, and ones that don't belong here
The office frontage, photos of the agents themselves, and a board reading "sold" or "to let" outside a recent property all work well on the profile, while photos of individual apartments or houses for sale belong on the agency's own listings pages, not cluttering the Google profile with dozens of interior shots. A photo of the street the office sits on also helps a buyer coming from another part of Lagos judge whether the area matches what they're looking for.
Standing out among many small operators
Lagos and Abuja both have a large number of small agencies and independent agents covering overlapping areas, so a profile that's fully filled in, with a proper category, current photos and a working phone number, already separates an agency from competitors who never got around to finishing their listing. That gap alone can be the difference a landlord notices when comparing two names a friend mentioned.
Hours that reflect real availability
Listing standard office hours understates when this business actually operates, since viewings in Ibadan or Kano often happen in the evening once people are off work, or on weekends when a family can view together. A profile showing extended or flexible hours signals to a buyer that reaching someone outside a strict nine-to-five window is realistic.
Reviews from sellers and buyers who followed through
A landlord in Lagos praising how quickly an agency filled a vacant flat, or a buyer in Abuja frustrated by weeks of silence after expressing interest in a property, both leave an impression on whoever reads the profile next, and a short, genuine reply to either kind of review shows the agency is still engaged after the transaction closes. Rentals here can close within days once a tenant is found, so a fresh batch of reviews after a busy month says something a static profile from a year ago simply can't.
Why the conversation almost always moves to WhatsApp
Search here increasingly starts on a phone, and a referral from a friend or a Google search often leads straight into a WhatsApp Business chat rather than a phone call or an email, since that's simply where Nigerians expect to continue a conversation once they've found a business worth contacting. VConnect remains a major directory people check directly for service providers, ConnectNigeria combines listings with wider business resources, and a Facebook Business Page often functions as a second storefront where an agency posts available properties. Keeping the agency's name, address and phone number identical across VConnect, Business Connect and the Google profile matters because a landlord comparing agencies before handing over a set of keys will often check more than one source first.
Business Connect, the general Nigerian business directory, is worth being listed on too, if only because it's another place a cautious client might look before trusting an agency with a large deposit.
How Kaptor fits in
Kaptor sets up and monitors the Google Business Profile, flags gaps like missing hours or reviews sitting unanswered, and keeps details consistent across VConnect and the other directories that matter locally, while making sure WhatsApp contact details stay visible where buyers expect them. See also the real estate Google profile guide and the same approach applied in Ghana.