Marketing
Perhaps the most neglected aspect of your business, your Google Business Profile is by far the most important thing you need to optimize if you're a local business. This profile appears directly in keyword searches when someone looks for services or products similar to yours in that area.
If your profile isn't set up correctly, with services, an accurate location, photos, and even reviews, you'll be left out. All the while, your competition will pick up the traffic from Google searches and convert it into paying customers.
The hidden cost: how much are you losing if your profile ISN'T set up?
It might sound absurd, but in the long run, not having an optimized Google Business profile will cost you large, even huge, amounts of money.
How exactly does this happen? From a marketing and business-opportunity standpoint, there are two classic scenarios where you lose money without realizing it:
Scenario 1: your bigger competitors are booked solid, and people immediately search for a similar service on their phone and don't find you. You've just lost a customer who was ready to pull out their card.
Scenario 2: the niche that fits your business is looking for a new premium service provider, but they don't find you through Google searches or through recommendations from ChatGPT or Gemini.
In both cases, you lose potential customers. And over the long run, 3 months, 6 months, a year, you lose considerable amounts of money simply because people can't find you. Or, if they do find you, your profile isn't serious or professional enough to convince them to use your services.
A concrete example: the story of the disappointing burger
Imagine a customer who orders a burger from an ad they saw from a competitor. The food arrives cold, it's not to his liking, so next time he orders another burger found on a flyer from his mailbox. That one isn't right either. What does he do the next time he gets hungry? He'll search Google for other restaurants with burgers on the menu, ruling out from the start the options he's already tried.
If you're a restaurant, say, in Dâmbovița or in your city, and the competition in the area isn't huge, you'll show up in his search too. If you have mouth-watering photos of your products, a visible phone number to order from, and clearly listed ingredients, chances are he'll call you. Afterward, if the food turns out to be right for his taste, congratulations: you've won a repeat customer! All because you set up your Google Business profile correctly.
3 quick steps you can take today (without paying a single leu)
If you've made it this far and you're realizing your profile is as deserted as a ghost town, take a deep breath. You don't need to reinvent the wheel today. Here are 3 simple things to start with right away:
- Claim your ground (Claim Business): check whether your profile already exists, auto-generated by Google, and is sitting there unclaimed. Claim it so you're the only one holding the keys to the house.
- Choose the correct category (no need to overthink it): if you're the corner pizzeria, don't list yourself as "culinary art services." List "Pizzeria" or "Restaurant with delivery." Google loves clarity, and so do your hungry customers.
- Add the address, real hours, and 5 good photos: nothing is more annoying than someone making the trip to a location and finding it closed because you forgot to update the holiday hours. Take a few clear photos of your space or products, from good angles, even with your phone.
Review phobia: why a "5-star grade" isn't just for school
Let's talk for a moment about the elephant in the room: reviews. Many business owners fear them, thinking that some angry person will come along and tank their average with a one-star rating. The truth is that a profile with no reviews is like an empty storefront: it raises questions.
Google loves active profiles that receive feedback. Send a direct link to your profile to your best 5-10 existing customers and ask them to write a couple of honest lines. And when you get a review, even a less than rosy one, always respond professionally. When potential customers see that you care and that you respond to messages, their trust grows before they even set foot in your location.
How much does it cost to set it up correctly and professionally?
Good news: this process can be completely free. Setting up the profile is offered by Google for free and doesn't require any fee to add elements.
Within a few days, with the help of AI for advice or text and a mobile phone for real photos, you can set up a semi-professional or even professional profile all by yourself. Still, it's important to know what you're doing and to check, with every change, that what you've modified fits your business profile like a glove.
Also find out about the 5 common mistakes local businesses make on Google Maps.
If you want it done right the first time, without wasting time on trial and error, our team can take over the complete optimization of your Google Business profile, from categories and description to your review strategy.
