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Your Google Business Profile

Posting updates, replying to reviews and keeping your opening hours right. For most local businesses the profile brings in more enquiries than the website does.

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The parts that need keeping up to date

The four parts of a Google Business Profile that need keeping up to dateYour profileOpening hoursCorrect, including bank holidaysReviewsEvery one answeredPhotosAdded regularlyWhy it mattersThe profile is what people seein the map results, often beforethey ever reach your website.A quiet profile slips down.An active one holds its place.
Hours, reviews and photos are the three that slip. Keeping them current is most of the work.

Looking after the profile

Ten minutes a week, and it makes a real difference.

1

Sign in

Search your own business name while signed in to the Google account that owns the profile. The management panel appears above the results.

2

Check your hours

Set special hours for bank holidays and Christmas before they arrive. Wrong hours lose you customers and Google notices the complaints.

3

Reply to every review

Good and bad. A short, polite reply to a poor review does more for you than the review does against you.

4

Add photos

A handful of recent, real photos of your work or premises. Avoid stock images, because people can tell.

5

Post an update

A short post every couple of weeks keeps the profile active, which Google treats as a sign the business is live.

What holds profiles back

The same things come up again and again.

  • Leaving reviews unanswered. It reads as though nobody is paying attention, to customers and to Google.
  • Arguing with a bad review. Reply once, briefly, offering to sort it offline. Anybody reading it will take your side.
  • Hours left wrong over a bank holiday. People turn up to a closed door and say so in a review.
  • Stock photos. They do nothing. Three real photos taken on a phone are worth more.
  • Changing the business name to add keywords. Against Google guidelines and a quick way to get the profile suspended.
  • Never posting. The profile does not disappear, but an active one holds its position better.

Profile questions

Do you manage this for me?

Profile optimisation and weekly posts are included on the growth plan, and we offer it on its own too.

How do I get more reviews?

Ask, at the point the customer is happiest, and make it one tap. We have a separate guide on exactly that.

Can I remove a bad review?

Only if it breaks Google guidelines, and that is rarer than people hope. A good reply is usually the better answer.

My profile has been suspended.

Ring us. It is usually a name, address or category problem and it can normally be appealed.

Does posting really matter?

On its own, no. Alongside reviews, correct details and the SEO work, it adds up.