Stop Treating Your Google Business Profile Like a Listing

Here's episode 22, ready to copy:

Your Google Business Profile Is Not a Set-It-and-Forget-It Thing

For a long time, I thought of a Google Business Profile the same way I thought of a directory listing — you fill it in once, you move on, done. If you've been treating it that way too, this one's for you.

Because if you're a local business — a yoga studio, an esthetician, a physiotherapist, a bookkeeper serving your community — your Google Business Profile is doing a lot more work than you might think. Or it should be.

What It Actually Is

Your Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Business) is often the very first impression someone gets of your business — before they land on your website, before they find your Instagram, before they've made any decision about whether to reach out.

When someone searches "Hamilton yoga studio" or "physiotherapist near me," Google pulls up a set of results and decides who to show based partly on what your profile signals. Is this business real? Is it relevant? Is it worth showing?

A well-maintained profile tells Google yes to all three. A neglected or inconsistent one sends the opposite message — even if your actual business is excellent.

A couple of numbers worth knowing: nearly 46% of all Google searches have local intent, meaning almost half the time someone searches for something, they're looking for something near them. And businesses with optimized profiles attract up to 70% more visits than those without one. That's not a small difference.

What "Optimized" Actually Means

This doesn't have to be a nine-hour project. A lot of what you need, you probably already have somewhere — it's about making sure the right things are in the right places.

Consistency. Your business name, address, and phone number need to match exactly across your website, your social profiles, and your Google Business Profile. Google cross-references other platforms to verify you're legit. Inconsistencies create doubt.

The right categories. There are primary and secondary category options, and people skip this more than they should. Take a few minutes to make sure yours actually reflect what you do.

Keywords in your description. Google uses the words in your profile description to decide when to show your business. Use industry-relevant language — the same terms your clients would type into a search bar. And here's a shortcut: you can repurpose the meta descriptions from your website. You don't need to reinvent anything.

Photos. Google rewards profiles that have them, and rewards them further when they're updated regularly. Think images of your space, your work, your products, your team. Real photos of a real business. You likely already have these sitting in a folder somewhere.

The Q&A section. Often ignored, which is a missed opportunity. You can add questions and answers yourself — but use questions people actually ask you, not ones you made up. Pull from the real questions your clients send you. This is also a quiet SEO opportunity.

Reviews: More Than Just Social Proof

Yes, reviews build trust. Eighty-eight percent of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations — so they matter enormously for your reputation.

But they're also a ranking factor. Google uses them to decide who to show in local search results. So collecting reviews isn't just good for warm fuzzy feelings — it directly affects your visibility.

A few things worth doing:

Set up an automated email that goes out after someone visits or completes a service, with a simple ask and a direct link to leave a review. Make it easy and people will do it.

Respond to every review — positive and negative. Responding signals to Google that you're an active, engaged business. And how you handle a negative review publicly says more about you than the review itself ever could. A gracious, solution-oriented response builds credibility in a way that five-star reviews alone can't.

The Part That Comes After

Your Google Business Profile's job is to get someone curious enough to take the next step — and that next step is almost always your website.

So the question worth asking is: when they get there, does your website deliver on what your profile promised? Is the messaging consistent? Is it clear what you do, who you help, and what to do next?

This is where a lot of leads quietly disappear. The profile does its job perfectly, but the website doesn't follow through. Inconsistent messaging, unclear services, no obvious next step — and the potential client moves on.

If you're not sure whether your website is set up to actually convert the people your Google profile is sending your way, that's exactly what my Website Copy Audit looks at. I review your homepage and one other page — usually your services page — for clarity, messaging, and conversion. You can find it at lindsaysmithcreative.ca/audit.

The Short Version

If you set up your Google Business Profile a while ago and haven't touched it since, go take a look. Update the photos, check the categories, make sure everything matches your website. Add a Q&A if it's empty. Get a review system going if you don't have one.

It's free, it's local, and nearly half of all Google searches are people looking for something nearby. That's a significant opportunity, and it starts with a front door that actually looks like something worth walking through.

🎧 Listen to the podcast

If you're a local, service-based business owner who's done great work but struggling to put it into words, Market This is the podcast that helps you fix that. 

Listen to the show here: 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rfllDKDEW62DQBb7HMBHS 

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