Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows up when someone searches your business name or searches for what you do nearby — the map, the star rating, the hours, the photos. Most owners claimed it once, years ago, and have not touched it since. That is the gap. None of what follows costs money. It costs about twenty minutes and a bit of ongoing attention.
Claim or find your profile
Search your business name in Google. If a profile already exists, you can claim it through the "Own this business?" link. If nothing comes up, create one directly at google.com/business. Google verifies ownership by mail, phone, or video, depending on your business type — follow whichever option it offers you.
Verification by mail can take a week or two to arrive, so if that is the option you are given, start there and keep working through the rest of this list while you wait. Everything else below can be done before verification finishes.
Pick the right categories
Your primary category matters more than almost anything else on the profile, because it decides which searches you show up for. A barbershop should be a barbershop, not a general "beauty salon," if that is more specifically what you are. Add secondary categories for real services you offer, but do not pad the list with categories that do not apply — it does not help, and it can work against you.
Set your service area correctly
If customers come to your location, set a physical address and leave it at that. If you travel to customers instead, like a plumber or a mobile detailer, set a service area instead of (or in addition to) an address — then list the actual cities or zip codes you cover. An oversized service area does not get you more jobs; it just makes your profile less relevant everywhere on the list.
Photos that actually help
Skip stock photos. Google and customers can both tell. Upload real photos of your storefront or work vehicle, your team, and finished work — a clean install, a fresh haircut, a plated dish. A cover photo and logo are the minimum. Ten to twenty real photos, added over the first month rather than dumped all at once, is a reasonable target.
Posts — the one habit that matters
Google Business Profile lets you publish short updates that show directly on your listing: a seasonal offer, a new service, a recent job. Posting once every week or two signals that the profile is actively managed, and it gives you something current to point customers to. It does not need to be polished — a photo and two sentences is enough.
The review ask
Reviews are the single biggest factor most owners underuse, mainly because asking feels awkward. It does not need to. The easiest method is a short text sent right after the job, while the customer still remembers how it went.
Key takeaway
If you take one thing from this whole post, take this: text every customer this after the job, word for word. "Hey [Name], thanks again for choosing [Business]! If you have 30 seconds, a quick Google review would really help us out: [link]. Thank you!"
Send it to every customer, not just the ones you think were happy — you cannot tell in advance, and asking everyone is what makes the habit sustainable. You can find your review link inside your profile under "Ask for reviews."
Keep your NAP consistent
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. Google cross-checks your profile against how your business is listed elsewhere online — your website footer, Yelp, Facebook, industry directories. If your phone number on your website does not match the one on your Google profile, or your address is written two different ways, it can quietly undermine how much Google trusts the listing. Pick one exact format and use it everywhere.
What to never do
- Never buy fake reviews or ask friends and family to post reviews for a business they never used. Google actively removes these, and it can suspend the whole profile.
- Never stuff keywords into your business name, like "Smith Plumbing — Best Emergency Plumber Chicago IL." Your legal business name only. Google has been known to suspend listings for this specifically.
- Never leave the profile unmanaged after the initial setup — an outdated phone number or old hours cost you real customers who show up expecting you to be open.
One more thing worth checking while you are in there: your hours. Wrong hours are a quiet way to lose customers who show up to a locked door and never come back, and they are easy to forget after a holiday or a schedule change.
None of this requires hiring anyone. It is genuinely something you can sit down and do yourself in one sitting, and then maintain in a few minutes a week after that.