What a Google Business Profile does
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts your business on Google Maps and in the local results beside a search. When someone searches "sign writer near me" or "cafe Kangaroo Flat", the profiles Google shows at the top get most of the attention, along with the calls, direction requests and website visits that come with it. For plenty of local businesses, the profile sends more enquiries than the website does.
The good news is that most of what makes a profile work is in your hands. This is the checklist we work through when we take over a profile for a client, in the order we do it.
Get the basics right first
Start with the details Google uses to decide what you are and where you are. Get these wrong and nothing else on the profile helps much.
Business name exactly as it appears on your signage. Adding keywords or town names to the name breaks Google's guidelines and can get a profile suspended.
Primary category. This is the most important single choice on the profile. Pick the category that describes the core of what you do, then add secondary categories for the rest of your work.
Address or service area. If customers come to you, show your address. If you go to them, set the profile up as a service-area business, list the towns and suburbs you cover and hide the street address.
Phone number and website. Use the main number customers already know, and link to the page on your site that best matches the profile, not just the home page by default.
Hours, including public holidays. Wrong hours cost more trust than missing ones. A customer who drives across town to a locked door rarely comes back.
Services or products. List each one with a short, plain description. These help Google match you to specific searches.
Business description. Say what you do, who you do it for and where, in plain words. Keep the slogans for your signage.
Rule of thumb: if a detail on your profile doesn't match your website, your signage and your invoices, fix it. Google trusts details it can confirm in more than one place, and so do customers.
Photos that do the selling
Photos are where profiles are won or lost. Real photos of your premises, your team, your vehicles and your finished work tell someone in seconds that you're a proper business in a real place. Stock images do the opposite.
Aim for a spread:
The outside of your premises, taken from the street the way a customer sees it, so they recognise it when they pull up.
Your signage and branded vehicles. A clean shopfront sign or a lettered ute does double duty in a photo.
Your team at work, in uniform where you can.
Finished jobs, products or dishes, shot in good light.
Add a few new photos each month rather than fifty on day one. A profile that keeps changing looks like a business that's open and busy.
Reviews and replies
Reviews carry weight with Google and with the person reading them. The businesses with a steady stream of recent reviews are usually the ones who ask every time, not simply the ones with the best service.
Ask at the right moment, straight after a job is finished or an order is picked up, while the customer is happy. A short text with a direct review link works far better than a line at the bottom of an invoice.
Reply to every review, good and bad, in your own voice. Thank people by name and mention what you did for them.
Answer criticism calmly. A measured reply to a poor review often reassures the next customer more than another five stars would.
Never buy or swap reviews. It breaks Google's rules and the reviews can be removed, sometimes along with the good ones.
Mistake to avoid: asking customers to squeeze keywords or town names into their reviews. Let them write in their own words. What matters is that reviews keep coming and that every one gets a reply.
Keep it active every month
A profile isn't a set-and-forget listing. A simple monthly routine keeps it working:
Post an update: a new product, a finished job, an event or a seasonal offer.
Add new photos.
Check your hours before public holidays and any seasonal changes.
Reply to new reviews.
Check for suggested edits. Anyone can suggest a change to your profile, and Google sometimes applies them, so make sure your details haven't changed without you noticing.
Look at the performance numbers. Calls, direction requests and website clicks tell you whether the profile is pulling its weight.
Make your profile and website agree
Your profile and your website back each other up. Your business name, address and phone number should be written the same way on both, and the same again on Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing and any directories you're listed in. When they disagree, customers get confused and Google has less reason to trust any of them.
Your website should have a page for each main service and a clear note of the areas you cover, and the profile should link to the page that fits best. Our guide to local SEO for regional businesses covers the website side in more detail, and the small business website checklist covers what the site itself needs.
Common questions
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Creating and managing a profile costs nothing. Google offers paid ads that can appear alongside it, but the profile itself is free.
Can I have a profile without a shopfront?
Yes. Service-area businesses such as tradies and mobile services can set up a profile, list the areas they cover and keep their street address hidden.
How long until changes show?
Edits to your details usually show within days, although Google sometimes reviews a change before it goes live. Moving up in the local results takes longer and depends on your reviews, how well the profile matches the search and how close you are to the person searching.
Can I show up in towns where I don't have an address?
You can list them as service areas, but the map results favour businesses close to the person searching. For towns further away, your website and its service pages do more of the work.
Want your profile kept up for you? Our Department Marketing Plan includes your Google Business Profile, reviews and listings, run by the same team that designs your signage, uniforms and ads, with the results in Pulse.
