When someone needs a plumber, accountant, restaurant, beauty salon, marketing specialist or pretty much any other local product or service, where do they often start?
Google.
And if your business doesn’t appear — or appears with outdated hours, the wrong phone number, no reviews and three questionable photos from 2018 — you could be losing potential customers before they’ve even reached your website.
A well-managed Google Business Profile gives you control over how your business appears across Google Search and Maps. It’s free to create, and for eligible businesses it can display information including your contact details, opening hours, website, location or service area, photos and customer reviews.
In other words, it may be one of the hardest-working pieces of your digital presence.
What Is a Google Business Profile?
Previously known as Google My Business, Google Business Profile is Google’s tool for managing how eligible local businesses appear on Google Search and Maps.
Think of it as your digital shopfront on Google.
Depending on your business and profile features, a potential customer could use it to find your:
- Business name
- Address or service area
- Contact details
- Opening hours
- Website
- Products or services
- Photos
- Customer reviews
- Business updates
And all of this can appear at precisely the moment someone is looking for a business like yours.
That’s what makes it so valuable.
1. It Helps Customers Find Your Business
Visibility is everything in digital marketing.
You might have a beautiful website and brilliant social media content, but if people searching locally can’t find you, you’re leaving a significant gap in your online presence.
Google says complete and accurate business information can improve the likelihood of appearing in relevant local search results. Its local results are primarily based on relevance, distance and prominence.
So when someone searches for a service “near me” or within a particular area, an optimised Business Profile can help Google understand what your business does and where it operates.
2. It Gives Customers the Information They Need — Fast
People aren’t always looking for an in-depth introduction to your company.
Sometimes they simply want to know:
Are you open?
Where are you?
What’s your phone number?
Do you offer the service I need?
A Google Business Profile puts essential information within easy reach on Search and Maps.
That reduces friction between “I need this” and “I’ve found someone who can help.”
And in marketing, fewer unnecessary steps are usually a very good thing.
3. Reviews Build Valuable Social Proof
You can tell customers you’re brilliant.
It’s considerably more persuasive when your customers say it for you.
Google reviews appear alongside Business Profiles in Search and Maps, giving potential customers access to feedback from people who have already dealt with the business. Google also allows verified businesses to respond to those reviews.
That makes reviews an important part of your online reputation.
And don’t only respond when someone leaves five stars.
A thoughtful, professional response to constructive criticism shows prospective customers how your business handles feedback.
One important rule: don’t offer incentives in exchange for Google reviews. Google’s policies prohibit incentives such as free or discounted products or services in return for reviews.
4. Your Profile Supports Local SEO
Having a Google Business Profile isn’t a magic button that instantly sends you to number one.
It is, however, an important component of local search visibility.
Google specifically recommends verifying your business and maintaining complete, accurate information to improve local visibility.
That means keeping details such as your category, hours, contact information and location or service area accurate.
Your website SEO and Business Profile should work together — not compete for attention.
5. You Can Keep Your Business Looking Alive
Nothing says “Are these guys still operating?” quite like an abandoned online profile.
Your Business Profile isn’t something you should create and forget.
Google allows businesses to publish updates, offers and events, with posts potentially appearing directly on Search and Maps.
You can use these updates to showcase:
- New services
- Special offers
- Events
- Company news
- Seasonal information
- Useful customer updates
It creates another opportunity to keep your digital presence current.
6. Photos Help Customers Get to Know You
Your visuals matter here too.
Google Business Profiles can feature photos and videos, giving customers another way to understand your business before contacting you.
Depending on your industry, consider adding:
- Your premises
- Your team
- Products
- Completed work
- Services in action
- Branded imagery
Skip the blurry snap taken under questionable office lighting.
Your Google presence is still part of your brand presence.
7. You Can See How People Are Finding You
Marketing without measurement is guesswork.
For verified profiles, Google provides performance information showing how customers discover and interact with a business on Search and Maps. Available metrics can include profile views, searches and customer interactions, depending on the business.
You can also see search terms people have used when your Business Profile appeared.
That information can help inform your wider marketing.
If certain services or search phrases repeatedly appear, for example, they may be worth incorporating into your website content, FAQs, blogs or social media strategy.
8. Your Google Presence and Social Media Should Work Together
Google Business Profile shouldn’t sit in a lonely corner of your digital strategy.
Neither should your website, social media, email marketing or paid advertising.
A strong digital presence connects the dots.
Someone might:
Discover you on Instagram → search your business on Google → read your reviews → visit your website → make an enquiry.
Another person might:
Search for a service on Google → find your Business Profile → browse your website → follow you on LinkedIn → contact you later.
Marketing rarely happens in one neat, straight line.
Your channels should reinforce one another and create a consistent experience wherever customers find you.
9. Creating a Profile Isn’t Enough
Here’s where businesses often go wrong.
They create a profile, add the basics and never touch it again.
Meanwhile:
- Opening hours change
- Services evolve
- Contact details become outdated
- Reviews go unanswered
- Photos become ancient history
Your Business Profile is a living part of your digital presence.
Treat it accordingly.
Schedule regular checks to make sure your information is accurate, monitor reviews, refresh imagery and review your performance data.
10. Consistency Across Your Online Presence Matters
If your Google profile says one thing and your website says another, customers can become confused.
Make sure key information is consistent across your digital channels, particularly:
- Business name
- Contact details
- Address
- Operating hours
- Services
- Branding
Your customer shouldn’t have to become a detective just to figure out how to contact you.
How We Help Businesses Get More From Google
Knowing you should manage your Google presence is one thing.
Finding the time — and knowing what to do with it — is another.
At String Phone Marketing, we help businesses make Google Business Profile part of a broader, joined-up digital marketing strategy.
That can include helping with profile optimisation, content and updates, review strategies, website and SEO alignment, digital advertising, social media and the wider brand experience.
We also believe strongly in sharing knowledge.
Where appropriate, we can train teams to understand their digital platforms and manage elements internally with greater confidence.
Because good marketing shouldn’t be a collection of disconnected activities.
It should work together.
Final Thoughts
A Google Business Profile may be free, but that doesn’t make it insignificant.
For eligible businesses, it provides another way to be discovered, communicate essential information, showcase reviews, share updates and understand how customers interact with the business on Google Search and Maps.
And when it works alongside a strong website, consistent branding, social media and a well-planned digital strategy, it becomes part of a much bigger picture.
Your customers are searching.
The question is: what will they find when they find you?
Ready to Strengthen Your Google Presence?
If your Google Business Profile needs some attention — or you’re not sure whether it’s doing everything it could be — we can help you bring it into your wider digital strategy.
From optimisation and content to SEO, paid media and training, we’ll help make sure your business puts its best digital foot forward.