Some businesses will happily spend thousands on a new website.
They’ll invest in SEO.
They’ll run Google Ads.
They’ll redesign the logo.
And meanwhile their Google Business Profile is sitting there displaying a photograph taken in 2019, last Christmas’s opening hours and a description nobody remembers writing.
Which is slightly unfortunate.
Because for many local searches, your Google Business Profile can be one of the first things a potential customer sees.
Before they visit the website.
Before they call.
Before they enquire.
So it deserves rather more attention than occasionally checking whether somebody left a review.
What is a Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile is the system businesses use to manage information that can appear across Google Search and Google Maps.
Depending on the business and search, customers may see things such as:
- business name
- location or service area
- opening hours
- phone number
- website
- reviews
- photographs
- services
- directions
Think of it as a very visible digital shop window.
And like a physical shop window, leaving it untouched for five years probably isn’t the strongest strategy.
Why does your Google Business Profile matter?
Because potential customers don’t always need to reach your website before making a decision.
Imagine somebody searches for a local restaurant.
They may look at:
- rating
- reviews
- photos
- opening hours
- distance
- menu
They can form an impression before clicking anything.
The same principle applies to many other local businesses.
If your profile looks neglected, incomplete or inconsistent, that first impression isn’t doing you any favours.
1. Complete the profile properly
Let’s start with the least glamorous advice.
Fill it in.
Properly.
Check:
- business name
- address
- telephone number
- website
- opening hours
- business category
- services
- description
- relevant attributes
Leaving fields blank gives potential customers less information and can make it harder for Google to understand the business.
This isn’t an invitation to fill every field with marketing waffle.
Useful and accurate wins.
2. Use your real business name
Here’s a classic:
Your company is called:
Smith & Co.
Somebody decides the Google profile would perform better as:
Smith & Co Best Cheap Plumber Emergency Plumbing Essex Chelmsford 24 Hour
Subtle.
Your profile name should represent the real-world business name.
Don’t cram services and locations into it purely because you hope it might improve rankings.
A strong local strategy shouldn’t depend on making your company name look ridiculous.
3. Choose the right primary category
Categories help describe what your business actually does.
Your primary category should therefore represent the core business as accurately as possible.
If you run a graphic design studio, choose something that properly reflects that.
Don’t choose a vaguely related category simply because you think it might have more searches.
You can also add relevant secondary categories where appropriate.
But again:
relevant.
Not every category you can possibly click.
4. Get your opening hours right
Few things make a business look less organised than telling customers you’re open when you’re not.
Keep normal opening hours accurate.
Then remember to update:
- bank holidays
- Christmas periods
- temporary closures
- special opening times
This is particularly important for businesses people physically visit.
Driving twenty minutes to a shop Google says is open, only to discover a locked door, is not an experience likely to generate glowing reviews.
5. Use good photographs
Photographs make a profile feel alive.
They help customers see:
- your premises
- your team
- products
- completed work
- the environment
- what they can expect
Use decent-quality images.
They don’t all need to come from a professional photography shoot, although strong professional imagery can make a significant difference.
Just avoid making your entire visual identity dependent on a slightly crooked phone photograph taken under fluorescent lighting six years ago.
6. Ask customers for reviews
A steady flow of genuine reviews is useful for two reasons.
Firstly, customers read them.
Secondly, reviews form part of your wider local presence.
Build review requests into your process.
That could happen:
- after completing a project
- after delivery
- following a successful appointment
- after positive customer feedback
Make it easy by sending the customer a direct review link where appropriate.
But don’t try to game the system.
Fake reviews tend to be both a bad idea and painfully obvious.
7. Respond to reviews
Positive reviews are easy.
“Thanks Sarah — really pleased you loved it.”
Done.
Negative reviews are more interesting.
The temptation is to respond immediately while slightly furious.
Maybe don’t.
Read it.
Check what happened.
Respond calmly and professionally.
Remember that you’re not only replying to the reviewer.
You’re writing something future customers may read as well.
A thoughtful response can demonstrate that the business takes feedback seriously.
8. Don’t ignore your website
Optimising your Google Business Profile while neglecting the website is a bit like polishing the sign above a shop whose front door doesn’t open.
Your website needs to support what the profile says.
If the profile says you specialise in three services but the website barely mentions them, there’s a disconnect.
Ideally, customers should be able to move seamlessly from the profile to:
- relevant services
- contact information
- booking
- products
- case studies
Don’t automatically send every person to the homepage if a more relevant page exists.
9. Keep your business information consistent
If the profile says one thing and the website says another, fix it.
Common inconsistencies include:
- old addresses
- different telephone numbers
- incorrect opening hours
- old business names
- outdated website links
This often happens when businesses move premises or rebrand.
The old information can hang around online like a digital ghost.
Track down the important instances and update them.
10. Add useful services and information
Depending on your business type, Google may allow you to add information about the services you provide.
Use it properly.
If you’re an agency offering:
- web design
- SEO
- PPC
- branding
don’t simply leave the profile saying “Marketing”.
Specific information helps customers understand whether you’re relevant to them.
Again, don’t turn the section into an exercise in keyword stuffing.
Write naturally.
11. Keep an eye on your profile
Your Google Business Profile isn’t something you set up once and then forget forever.
Check it periodically.
Look for:
- incorrect information
- new reviews
- outdated photos
- changed opening hours
- broken links
- unexpected edits
Ten minutes every now and again is considerably easier than discovering two years later that something important has been wrong the entire time.
12. Don’t become obsessed with one ranking
This is important.
Your Business Profile might appear differently depending on:
- where somebody searches from
- what they search for
- competition
- relevance
So don’t judge your entire local SEO strategy by searching the same keyword from your office every morning.
Measure actual outcomes too.
Are more people finding you?
Are they visiting the website?
Are enquiries increasing?
Are customers asking for directions?
Are calls improving?
Those questions are considerably more interesting than whether you personally saw yourself in position three or four today.
Common Google Business Profile mistakes
If we were doing a quick audit, we’d look for things such as:
- incorrect primary category
- incomplete profile
- outdated opening hours
- poor imagery
- very few recent reviews
- unanswered reviews
- wrong website link
- keyword-stuffed business name
- old telephone numbers
- duplicate profiles
None is particularly exciting.
But fixing the basics is often more useful than searching for some secret local SEO trick hidden in a YouTube video.
Can you guarantee number one in Google Maps?
No reputable agency should promise that.
Local results vary and multiple factors contribute to what Google shows.
A good local SEO strategy improves the quality, relevance and visibility of your presence.
It doesn’t come with a magic number-one switch.
Is Google Business Profile more important than your website?
Wrong question.
They do different jobs.
Your Business Profile can help somebody discover and quickly evaluate your business.
Your website gives you far more control over your brand, content, services, user experience and conversion journey.
The strongest approach is to make them work together.
A small profile with a surprisingly big job
For something businesses can easily overlook, Google Business Profile carries quite a lot of responsibility.
It can influence:
- first impressions
- local discovery
- customer trust
- calls
- directions
- website visits
So give it a little attention.
Keep it accurate.
Use decent photographs.
Collect genuine reviews.
Respond like a human.
And make sure the website it links to backs everything up.
At Break17, we treat your Google presence, website, SEO and wider digital marketing as parts of the same customer journey.
If your Google Business Profile has been sitting quietly unloved for the last four years, talk to Break17.
We’ll help you give it something useful to do.
