Why does the profile matter so much?
Search for "plumber", "bakery" or "accountant" from your phone: the first three results are not websites, they are business profiles, shown on a map. That is the "local pack", and it captures most of the clicks on proximity queries. Many customers call or ask for directions without ever visiting the website. A local business that polishes its website but neglects its profile is optimizing the wrong asset first.
The priority fields
Fill in everything, yes. But in order of impact:
- The primary category. It is the most powerful field on the profile. "Bakery" and "Pastry shop" do not rank for the same queries. Pick the category that matches your main revenue, add the others as secondary categories.
- Name, address, phone (NAP). Exactly identical to those on your website, directories and social profiles. More on that below, it is the classic trap.
- Opening hours, including holidays. A "might be closed" profile scares people away, and Google sees it.
- The description and services. Factual: trade, service area, specialties. Keywords count less here over time, but clarity helps Google's AI understand who you are.
- Photos. Recent, real, regular. Profiles with active photos receive noticeably more direction requests and clicks than profiles without.
How do reviews really work?
Three things count, in this order: regularity (two reviews per month for a year beat twenty-four reviews in the same month), the rating, and the replies. Reply to every review, including the negative ones, factually and without justifying yourself over three paragraphs: the reply is read by future customers, not by the unhappy one. To get reviews, the most effective approach is still to ask at the right moment (on delivery, at payment) with a direct link or a QR code. Never buy reviews: waves of suspicious reviews get detected and can get the profile suspended.
The mistakes that drag you down
- Inconsistent NAP. "12 av. de la République" here, "12 avenue de la République" there, an old phone number left on a directory: every inconsistency dilutes Google's trust in your information. Take inventory once, fix it everywhere.
- Keyword stuffing in the name. "Dupont Plomberie Chauffagiste Nice Pas Cher" is against Google's rules and can be reported by any competitor. The profile name is your legal name, nothing else.
- The dormant profile. Created in 2019, never touched since. Google favors living profiles: a photo or a post from time to time is enough to show the business still exists.
- Ignoring the Q&A section. Anyone can ask a public question on your profile, and anyone can answer it in your place. Keep an eye on them.
How do you measure what it brings in?
The profile statistics (calls, direction requests, website clicks, discovery queries) are in your Google Business Profile dashboard. Look at them once a month: that is your real local scoreboard. And where does the website fit in? It remains the foundation: the profile attracts, the website convinces and converts. The two reinforce each other, notably through LocalBusiness structured data that links your website to your local entity. Start by checking the health of the foundation with our free audit.