A customer finds your number on a flyer, saves it, and taps your name to see who you are before they write. What they see in that moment is your business profile. If it shows a blurry logo, no hours and a description that says “Welcome”, they either message you with basic questions or go back to the flyer and call someone else.
WhatsApp Business profile setup takes less than an hour, and it is one of the few marketing jobs that keeps paying off without any more effort. This post goes through each field in the WhatsApp Business app, what to put in it, and the small settings around it that decide how a first chat feels.
What a stranger sees before they type
When someone opens a chat with a business account, WhatsApp shows the business name, the profile photo and a label saying it is a business account. Tapping the name opens the full profile: the description, category, address, hours, email, website links and, if you have one, the catalogue. Most customers glance at it once. A few check it every time, usually to confirm you are open.
So the profile has two jobs. It reassures a new customer that they have reached the real business, and it answers the questions people would otherwise type: where are you, when are you open, and do you sell what I am after.
You will find the profile in the app’s settings, under the business tools or business profile section. Menu names shift between updates, so if a label looks different on your phone, look for the screen that lets you edit the business name and address.
Name, photo and category
Business name
Use the name customers know you by, written the way it appears on your shop sign, website and Google Business Profile. Do not stuff extra words into it like “Best Bakery Kolkata Cakes Delivery”. It looks like spam, and WhatsApp’s policies expect the name to represent your business. If you have several branches with separate numbers, add the area to each one so staff and customers can tell them apart.
Profile photo
A logo on a plain background works well, cropped so it still reads inside the small circle WhatsApp uses. A photo of the shop front can work for a local business if it is clear at that size. Avoid photos of products that change, because the photo becomes out of date the day stock runs out.
Category
Pick the closest category from the list. It appears under your name and helps a customer confirm they found the right kind of business. There is no advantage in picking something broad or unusual.
Description, address and opening hours
The description is the one field where you write freely, and most businesses waste it. Treat it as a two-line answer to “what do you do and for whom”.
- Weak: “Welcome to Sharma Electronics. Quality products. Customer satisfaction is our priority.”
- Better: “Mobile and laptop repairs in Salt Lake, with same-visit fixes for screens and batteries. Send a photo of the problem for a quick estimate.”
The second version tells the reader what you repair, where, and what to send you. That last line also shapes the first message they write, which saves a round of questions.
For the address, use the same wording as your Google listing, and set the pin so it opens in maps at the right spot. If you serve customers at their place rather than yours, you can leave the street address out and name your service area in the description instead.
Opening hours deserve care. Set the real hours for each day, including the half day and the weekly closure. If hours change for a festival or holiday, update them for that week. Customers do check, and a profile that says “open” when the shutter is down sends people away annoyed.
Email, website and catalogue links
Add a business email that someone actually reads. Add your website, and if the profile allows more than one link, add the page people need most after the home page: the booking page, the menu, or the price list. Use full links that work on a phone, and test them after saving.
If you sell products or set services, the catalogue appears on the profile as a row of items people can scroll. Even a small catalogue makes the profile more useful. Setting it up properly is its own job, covered in our guide to building a WhatsApp catalogue.
Your short link and profile QR code
The Business app can create a short link to your chat and a QR code for it, usually found under business tools. Both open a chat with you without the customer having to save your number first. You can often attach a default message to the short link, which appears in the customer’s text box ready to send.
These are worth setting up now, while you are in the profile, because you will use them everywhere else: in your Instagram bio, on the website, on bills and packaging. Our post on WhatsApp links and QR codes explains how to make separate versions for each place so you can tell where chats come from.
Greeting and away messages that set expectations
These two automatic messages sit next to the profile in the app’s messaging tools, and they are the first words a new customer receives from you.
Greeting message
The greeting goes to people writing to you for the first time, or after a long gap. Keep it short and useful. Say who they have reached, what you can help with, and what information speeds things up.
Example for a tuition centre: “Hello, this is Bright Path Classes. Tell us the student’s class and subject, and we will reply with batch timings and fees. Office hours are 10 to 7, Monday to Saturday.”
Away message
The away message goes out when you are closed. You can set it to follow your business hours, run on a custom schedule, or stay on until you switch it off. Tell people when you will reply and, if it helps, where to go meanwhile, such as your booking page.
Example: “We are closed right now. We will reply when we open at 10 tomorrow. To book a slot directly, use the booking page on our website.”
Do not promise a reply time you cannot keep. “We will get back to you shortly” at midnight on a Saturday helps nobody.
Both messages should match the tone of your other replies. If you later write saved answers for common questions, our post on WhatsApp quick replies and labels shows how they fit together.
Testing your WhatsApp Business profile setup from another phone
A profile looks different on the phone that owns it. Ask a friend or family member to check it from their own phone, without your number saved and then with it saved, and to report back on a few points:
- Does the business name and photo look right in the chat list and at the top of the chat?
- Does the description read clearly, without being cut off in a strange place?
- Does the address open in maps at the correct location?
- Do the hours show the right status for that moment?
- Do the website and email links work?
- When they send a first message, does the greeting arrive and make sense?
- If they message after hours, does the away message arrive?
Fix whatever looks wrong, then check again. It is a quick test that most businesses never run.
Keeping the details current
Profiles go stale quietly. A website link breaks after a redesign, a branch moves, the email address changes, the hours shift for summer. Put the profile on the same list as your Google Business Profile and your website contact page, and check all three together whenever something changes. Consistent details across all three also help customers trust that the number is really yours.
If you move from the app to the WhatsApp Business Platform later, the profile still exists, but you edit it through your provider’s dashboard or Meta’s business tools instead of the phone. Make a note of what you wrote so you can copy it across. For how this profile fits into the rest of your WhatsApp work, see our guide to WhatsApp marketing for small business, and for how WhatsApp sits next to search, ads and email, our digital marketing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can customers see my business profile if they have not saved my number?
Yes. A business profile is visible to anyone who opens a chat with your number, saved or not. Your profile photo follows the privacy setting you choose, so check that it is not restricted to contacts only, otherwise new customers may see a blank circle instead of your logo.
Will a verified badge help my profile?
Meta offers verification options for some businesses, and the details and eligibility change over time. A badge can add reassurance, but customers mostly judge you on a clear name, a real address and quick, accurate replies. Complete those first and look at verification later through Meta’s own business pages.
Should every branch use the same WhatsApp number?
It depends on who answers. One number is simpler for customers but means one team handles every branch’s chats. Separate numbers let each branch answer for itself, with its own address and hours on the profile. Whichever you choose, make sure the number on each branch’s Google listing matches.
Can I change my business name on WhatsApp later?
You can edit it in the profile settings, but change it only when the business name itself changes. Customers recognise you by the name in their chat list, and frequent changes can confuse them or make the account look suspicious. On the Business Platform, display name changes go through Meta’s review.
Setting up the profile is usually the first thing we do when we take on WhatsApp marketing for a business, because every later message depends on it. If you have done it yourself using the steps above, you have already handled the part most accounts skip.
Next in this series: WhatsApp Broadcast List: How It Works and What to Send
