How Google Business Profiles work
How Google Business Profiles work, and why yours matters
Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees. A complete, accurate profile gives them, and Google, what they need to choose you.
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Your Google Business Profile is the panel that appears beside Google search results and in Google Maps. It is often a customer's first impression of your business, before they visit your website.
Google says it weighs three things for local results: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the searcher. Prominence is how well known your business is, including reviews and mentions across the web.
Key points
For relevance, choose accurate categories, describe your services clearly and name the areas you cover.
Distance is fixed by where you are, so state your service area accurately and let your website cover the places you work in more detail.
What this means for you
Prominence is where you have the most control over time. Earn genuine reviews, add photos of real work and make sure your business details are the same wherever they appear.
Treat the profile as an extension of your website: keep the hours, services and photos current, and make sure it says the same things as the site.
In our clients’ words
What our clients say.
FAQ
Common questions
Yes. Creating and managing a Google Business Profile costs nothing.
Whenever something changes: hours, services, prices or contact details. Add photos of recent work when you have them, and reply to reviews promptly.
Only if you have more than one genuine business location. Duplicate or fake profiles break Google's guidelines and can be suspended.
Keep reading
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