Most business owners put real thought into their website. The look, the words, the photos. It should represent the business well, and that effort matters.
But here’s the thing. For a lot of local service businesses, a big portion of potential customers will never make it to the website. They’ll form an opinion about you before they ever click through.
That opinion gets formed on your Google Business Profile.
What it actually is
When someone searches for a dentist, accountant, lawyer, or tradesperson in their area, Google usually shows a map with a few businesses listed. Each one has a name, a rating, a photo, hours, and a short description. That’s your Google Business Profile. It’s often the first thing a potential customer sees, and for many of them, it’s where the decision gets made.
If your profile is incomplete, out of date, or has very few reviews, you’re losing ground to competitors who’ve put more attention into it, no matter how good your website is.
What a good profile looks like
A well looked-after Google Business Profile has a few key things:
- Accurate information: hours, address, phone number, and website
- A clear description of what you do and who you help
- Up to date photos of your premises, your team, and your work
- A good number of recent reviews, with replies to most of them
- Occasional posts or updates that show the profile is being looked after
- A booking link or easy way to get in touch where that makes sense
None of this is hard. But most businesses set it up once, let it go stale, and wonder why they’re not showing up well in local search.
Reviews deserve a special mention
Your star rating and the number of reviews you have are among the biggest factors in whether someone chooses you or the business next to you on that list. A business with 80 reviews and a 4.8 will almost always get the call over a business with 6 reviews and a 4.9.
Getting more reviews doesn’t need to be awkward. A simple process for asking happy clients goes a long way. We’ll cover this in more detail in a separate post.
If you haven’t looked at your Google Business Profile recently, go check it now. Chances are there’s something that could be better.
Want help getting it in good shape? Get in touch.