Your Google Business Profile Does More Than Your Homepage

Ask a business owner about their online presence and the conversation usually turns to the website. The design, the photos, whether it’s due for a refresh.

Websites matter. But for a lot of local searches, the first thing people see isn’t your website. It’s your Google Business Profile: the box with your name, your stars, your hours, a few photos and a button to call or get directions. Plenty of people make their decision right there.

The decision happens before the click

Think about how you look for a local business yourself. You type “plumber near me” or “pizza Mishawaka” into your phone. A map and a short list come up. You glance at the stars, look at a couple of photos, check whether they’re open and tap call.

You never visited anyone’s website. A lot of your customers probably search the same way, at least some of the time.

That means your profile is often doing the job you think your homepage is doing. If it’s incomplete or out of date, you can lose the customer without ever knowing they looked.

What to keep current

Here’s what I’d check, in this order:

• Primary category. It shapes which searches you show up for. Pick the one that matches what you most want to be found for, then add secondary categories for the rest.
• Services and products. List what you actually do, in the words customers use. “Water heater replacement,” not just “plumbing services.”
• Hours, including holidays. Few things cost trust faster than a customer driving over to find the door locked. Set special hours before every holiday.
• Photos. Real ones. Your storefront so people recognize it, your team, your work, the inside of your space. Add new ones through the year.
• Posts. Short updates about an offer, an event or a seasonal service. They show the business is active and give people a reason to call now.
• Questions and answers. Customers can ask questions right on your profile, and anyone can answer them. Check it regularly, answer them yourself, and add the questions you hear most often.

Reviews, and what you say back

Reviews get a lot of attention from people deciding who to call. Two things matter: getting them steadily, and replying to them.

Asking is simple. When a customer tells you they’re happy, ask them to leave a review and send the link while they’re still thinking about it. A text or email with the link works better than “find us on Google.”

Replying matters just as much. A short, specific thank-you on a good review shows you’re paying attention. A calm, helpful reply to a bad one shows the next customer how you handle problems. People read the replies, not just the stars.

Where the website still fits

None of this means the website doesn’t matter. Some people will click through, especially for bigger decisions, and what they find should match the profile: same hours, same services, same phone number. When the profile and the site tell different stories, people notice, and they wonder which one is wrong.

Search keeps changing. But accurate, complete, consistent information about your business is useful everywhere it shows up. The profile is simply the place most people see it first.

This week, search for your business on your phone the way a customer would, and fix the first thing that’s wrong or missing. Then take the Marketing Checkup to see what else might be keeping people from finding you.