For local businesses, the Google Business Profile often brings in more calls than the website itself. It's also free, which makes an incomplete profile one of the most common missed opportunities we see.
Get the basics exactly right
- Use your real business name, with no extra keywords added. Keyword stuffing can get a profile suspended.
- Match your name, address, and phone number to your website and directory listings, character for character.
- Set accurate hours, including holiday hours.
- If you serve customers at their location, hide your address and list your service areas instead.
Choose categories carefully
Your primary category has more influence on rankings than almost any other setting. Pick the one that best describes your core business, then add secondary categories for other services you genuinely offer.
Fill in services and products
List each service with a short description. This helps Google match your profile to more specific searches and helps customers understand what you do before they call.
Add real photos regularly
Upload photos of your team, your work, your storefront, and your vehicles. Real photos build trust, and profiles with fresh photos tend to get more engagement than those with only a logo.
Build a review habit
- Ask every happy customer for a review, using a short link to your review form.
- Respond to every review, positive or negative, within a few days.
- Never offer incentives for reviews, which breaks Google's policies.
Post weekly
Posts about offers, updates, and recent projects keep your profile active and give customers another reason to choose you.
Track what matters
Check your profile's performance for calls, direction requests, and website clicks each month. Those numbers show whether your local SEO work is turning into customers.
Want a second pair of eyes? Our Local SEO service covers all of this and more, with monthly reporting on the results.