Google Business Profile optimization: 10 fixes that get small businesses more calls
Your Google Business Profile, the listing many owners still call Google My Business, decides whether you show up on the map when a customer nearby searches for what you do. Most profiles we scan have at least three of the problems below. Here is the checklist we work through, with real examples from profiles we have fixed.
- One business of each type per area
- No contract
- Nothing changes without your approval
10 Google Business Profile mistakes that cost small businesses calls, and what we do about each
Your primary category is wrong.
The primary category is one of the strongest signals Google uses to decide which searches you show up for. We have scanned roofers filed under window installation, a moving company filed under warehouse and a house cleaner filed under vacation home rental agency.
What we do: we compare your categories with the businesses that win your map, pick the primary and secondary categories that match the work you want, and change them after you approve.
The profile was never claimed or verified.
An unclaimed profile is one the owner cannot post to, reply from or correct, and edits from strangers can stick. An unverified profile may not show up on the map at all.
What we do: we help you claim the profile and walk you through Google's verification step by step, including video verification. You stay the owner of your own profile the whole time.
Why a business does not show up on Google MapsYour pin is in the wrong place.
Distance matters a lot on Google Maps. We have found listings pinned in the wrong county, the wrong state and once about 400 miles from the shop, which means Google shows the business to people who cannot hire it.
What we do: we check where Google places you, fix the address or switch you to a service area business when you work at customers' homes, and confirm it on the live map.
The services list is empty, or a mess.
Each service is its own search. A profile with no services leaves Google guessing, and one stuffed with duplicates and search phrases looks like spam.
What we do: we build a clean list of the services you actually offer, leave off the ones you do not want calls for and write a short, clear line for each.
Your description is generic or cut off.
Google gives you 750 characters. Many descriptions we read are a single vague sentence, copied from another business or cut off mid word because they ran past the limit.
What we do: we write a description that says what you do, where you do it and why customers pick you, inside Google's limit and in plain language.
Your service area does not match where you work.
A profile that lists one city, a broad metro or a pile of ZIP codes gives Google little reason to show you in the towns you want jobs from.
What we do: we build a list of up to 20 towns you want calls from, you approve it, and we check it on your live profile.
There is a duplicate profile splitting your strength.
We often find a second, empty listing under the same name, or reviews sitting on an old listing in another city. Opening a second profile for the same business can also put your main profile at risk of suspension.
What we do: we find the duplicates, show you which one to keep and help you request that Google merge or remove the rest, so your reviews and history work for one strong profile.
No posts or photos, so you look closed.
A profile with photos from years ago and no updates looks like a business that might not answer. Customers move on to one that looks active.
What we do: we publish one post a week with up to three photos from your work, written for the towns you want, and approved by you before it goes live.
Reviews go unanswered, or you are counting on reviews alone.
Reviews help, but they do not win the map by themselves. We have scanned a business with more than 700 reviews in the top 3 at just 1 of 49 points while a competitor with a few dozen held more.
What we do: we suggest a reply to every new review in your voice, post it only after you approve it and help you set up a simple way to ask happy customers for reviews.
What Google Business Profile management should includeNobody is watching the profile, or the map.
Google and the public can suggest edits to your profile, and changes can go live without you noticing. Most owners also have no idea where they rank a few miles from the shop.
What we do: we run a weekly profile check that catches unwanted changes, and a 49 point map scan of your service area every month that shows green where you are in the top 3 and red where you are not.
Real fixes from real Google Business Profiles
We sign mutual NDAs with our clients, so we describe the work instead of naming the business.
Every business and market is different. We do not promise rankings. We show you the same map every month so you can see what changed.
Why small business owners hand us their Google Business Profile
- One business of each type per service area. We will not work for your direct competitor in the same towns.
- Google Business Profiles and Google Maps are what we focus on, not a menu of everything.
- You see the proof: a 49 point map of your area before we start, and the same map every month after.
- Nothing changes on your profile without your written approval, and you stay the owner of it.
- No contract. Stay because it is working.
What you get every month
- A 49 point Google Maps scan of your service area before we start
- Profile fixes: categories, services, description, service area, hours, attributes and booking or quote links
- One post a week plus up to three photos from your work, approved by you
- Suggested replies to new reviews, posted only after you approve
- A weekly profile check that catches changes Google or anyone else makes
- A monthly rescan on the same 49 points, with a plain update on your map, calls and clicks from Google, what we did and what comes next
Pricing comes with your scan. Request your map scan at no cost and we will send your map, a short video walkthrough and pricing together.
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Common questions
See where your Google Business Profile shows up.
Send us your business and the towns you want customers from. We will run your 49 point map scan and send your map, a short video walkthrough and pricing together.
- 1.We run your map scan and look at your profile and search results.
- 2.You get a short note with what we would fix first.
- 3.If it makes sense, we set it up on a 15 minute call.