When someone in Durham searches for a plumber, an accountant or a business like yours, the first thing they usually see is not your website. It is the map, the three businesses listed under it, and the reviews next to each one. That listing is your Google Business Profile, and for most small businesses it was set up once and then left alone.
It is also increasingly what AI assistants read when someone asks them to recommend a local business. A profile that is complete, current and full of genuine reviews gets found. One that is half finished gets skipped. Here are the five fixes I make first.
1. Get the category right
Your primary category is the single biggest signal Google uses to decide which searches you appear in. Pick the most specific one that describes what you do most, not the broadest, then add two or three secondary categories for the rest. A joiner who lists themselves as "Contractor" is competing with every builder in the county.
2. Write the description and services in your customers' words
Use the words people actually type: the service, the place and the problem. "Emergency boiler repairs in Chester-le-Street" will find more of the right customers than "quality heating solutions". Add every service you offer as its own item, with a line of description and a price where you can.
3. Ask for reviews, every time, and reply to all of them
Reviews are the part owners find most awkward and the part that matters most. The businesses at the top of the map almost always have a steady flow of them. Ask every happy customer, at the moment they are happiest, with your direct review link in a text or WhatsApp so it takes them thirty seconds. Then reply to every review, good or bad, in a sentence or two. People read the replies as closely as the reviews.
4. Post every week and add real photos
A post a week tells Google, and the customers reading your profile, that you are open and active. It can be a job you have just finished, an offer, or a link to a new blog post. Add real photos of your work, your premises and your team. Stock photos do not build trust with anyone.
5. Make your details match everywhere
Your business name, address, phone number and website should read exactly the same on your profile, your website, Facebook, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and any directory you are listed in. Small differences, an old phone number or a missing unit number, make both Google and AI assistants less sure you are who you say you are.
The part nobody has time for
None of this is difficult. The problem is doing it every week alongside everything else, which is why it is one of the jobs I most often take on as part of a client's marketing function. Everything I do on a profile is approved by the owner before it goes live.
If your profile has been sitting untouched, get in touch and I will tell you the first three things I would change. See how it fits with the rest of my services.