Google Business Profile checklist: 12 fixes that bring in more calls
By the Roller Creative team ·
For most local businesses, the Google Business Profile brings in more calls than the website. It’s the listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in the local results when someone searches “dentist near me” or “plumber in Austin”.
Yet most profiles are set up once and forgotten. Here are 12 fixes you can check today. Most take a few minutes each.
The basics
1. Use your real business name, nothing extra. Don’t add keywords or locations to your name (“Smile Dental – Best Dentist Austin”). It’s against Google’s guidelines and can get your profile suspended.
2. Pick the right primary category. This is the single most important setting. Choose the most specific category that describes your main service: “Emergency veterinarian” rather than “Veterinarian” if that’s what you do. Then add a few secondary categories for other services.
3. Make your name, address and phone match everywhere. The details on your profile should match your website, Facebook page, Yelp, Apple Maps and any directories, exactly. Small differences (“Street” vs “St.”, an old phone number) confuse Google.
4. Keep your hours accurate, including holidays. Few things lose a customer faster than turning up to a closed door because Google said you were open. Set special hours for public holidays.
Make the profile do the selling
5. Fill in the services section. List every service you offer, with a short description for each. Google uses this to match you to searches, and customers read it.
6. Write a clear description. In plain words: what you do, who you help, where you work and why people choose you. No keyword stuffing.
7. Add real photos, and keep adding them. The outside of your premises (so people can find you), the inside, your team and your work. Real photos beat stock images every time. Aim to add a few new ones every month.
8. Post regularly. Google posts are short updates about offers, events, new services or tips. A post every week or two keeps your profile active and gives customers a reason to choose you.
Reviews
9. Ask every happy customer for a review. Most happy customers will leave one if you ask at the right moment and make it easy. Create your review link from your profile, put it on a QR code at the counter and in your follow-up messages.
10. Reply to every review. Thank people for good reviews. For bad ones, reply calmly, apologise where it’s fair and offer to sort it out offline. Future customers read your replies as much as the reviews.
11. Never buy or fake reviews. It breaks Google’s rules, and Google does remove fake reviews and can restrict profiles that use them. One honest review a week is worth more than fifty fake ones.
Connect it to your website
12. Link to the right page. If you have a website, make sure the profile links to it, and that the page clearly mentions your business name, address, phone number and the area you serve. If you serve several towns, a simple page for each one helps.
What to do next
Go through the list and fix what you can this week. The basics (1 to 4) matter most, so start there.
If you’d rather have someone check it for you, we offer a free 5-minute audit. Send us your business name and city, and you’ll get a short video showing the three changes that would bring in the most calls.