Digital Audits

Should Service Businesses Use Products on Google Business Profiles?

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 01:00:05 GMT

If you run a service business, you might have noticed the Products section on your Google Business Profile and wondered whether you should be using it.

After all, products are normally associated with physical items. If you're a plumber, electrician, landscaper, cleaner or another service provider, you might assume this feature isn't relevant to your business.

But there's an important marketing principle here: your services are also products that customers buy.

When available and appropriate for your business profile, the Products feature can give you another way to present what you offer, explain the benefits to customers and direct interested people towards relevant pages on your website.

Used properly, it can help you create a more informative Google Business Profile and make it easier for potential customers to understand why they should choose your business.

Let's look at how it works.

1. What Is the Products Section on Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile provides several ways to tell customers about your business, including categories, services, photographs, reviews and, for eligible profiles, products.

A product listing can include:

A photograph representing your product or service.
A product name and category.
A description explaining what you offer.
A link to a relevant page on your website, where supported.
A call-to-action button, such as Learn More, where available.

Many business owners overlook this area because they assume it's only intended for businesses selling physical goods.

However, where Google makes the feature available and permits the type of listing, it can offer a useful way to showcase a service.

For example, a landscaping company might use a visually appealing photograph of a professionally maintained garden to demonstrate its lawn care offering.

Instead of simply listing "Lawn Mowing", it can explain the experience and benefits of having someone else take care of the garden.

The important distinction is that you're not just describing a service. You're presenting something that solves a customer's problem.

It's worth noting that the Products feature isn't available to every business, and Google has specific policies for product listings. Service businesses should use the dedicated Services section as their primary way of listing services.

2. Connect Your Google Business Profile Categories and Services

One of the most common mistakes I see when auditing Google Business Profiles is businesses that haven't properly organised their categories and services.

Google allows businesses to select a primary category and, where relevant, up to nine additional categories.

Imagine a plumbing business that offers:

General plumbing repairs.
Drainage services.
Hot water cylinder installation.
Gas fitting.
Emergency plumbing.

Rather than relying on one broad category, the business should review whether additional categories accurately describe the work it actually carries out.

It should then organise its services beneath the appropriate available categories.

Your categories help explain what type of business you operate, while your services describe the individual jobs you perform.

For businesses with access to suitable product listings, these can provide another customer-facing opportunity to highlight important offerings.

The key is consistency.

Don't claim services or categories simply because Google makes them available. Select the ones that genuinely represent your business.

3. Use Product Listings to Highlight Your Most Valuable Services

Not every service deserves the same level of promotion.

Some services generate considerably more profit than others. Some produce ongoing work, while others attract the ideal customers you want to work with.

If you're considering which offerings to feature more prominently, concentrate on services that:

Generate healthy profit margins.
Attract your ideal customers.
Have strong local demand.
Represent areas where you want to grow.
Can be supported by a dedicated page on your website.

For example, a gardening company might offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance and complete garden tidy-ups.

Instead of promoting everything equally, it might concentrate its marketing on a comprehensive garden maintenance package.

This presents a more valuable offering than simply advertising an hourly lawn mowing service.

And that brings us to one of the most important parts of marketing any service: how you write the description.

4. How to Write a Service Product Description That Attracts Customers

When writing descriptions for services, I use a simple formula.

It works because most customers aren't particularly interested in the technical details of how you do your work.

They're interested in the results they will receive.

My approach follows four steps:

1. The desired outcome

2. The customer's problems and frustrations

3. Your solution

4. A clear call to action

Let's use a lawn mowing and gardening service to demonstrate how this works.

Start With the Desired Outcome

People don't necessarily want their lawns mowed.

What they really want is a beautiful garden without spending their weekends maintaining it.

They want time to relax, enjoy their hobbies, go fishing, watch their children play sport or simply spend quality time with their families.

Your opening paragraph should connect with that desired result.

Example:

"Imagine enjoying your weekends without worrying about mowing lawns, trimming hedges or keeping your garden looking beautiful. Come home to a professionally maintained outdoor space and spend your free time doing the things you enjoy."

That communicates the benefit rather than merely listing what the business does.

Identify the Problems and Frustrations

Next, explain the problems the customer wants to avoid.

For gardening services, these might include:

Spending hours mowing lawns.
Cutting and trimming overgrown hedges.
Removing garden waste.
Maintaining gardening equipment.
Sharpening mower blades.
Finding time to keep everything looking tidy.

By highlighting these frustrations, you demonstrate that you understand your customer's situation.

Explain Your Solution

Now introduce the service as the natural solution.

For example:

"Our complete garden maintenance service takes care of everything, including lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden tidy-ups, weeding and green waste removal. We bring the equipment, complete the work and leave your outdoor areas looking their best."

The customer can now see how your service removes the problems you've described.

Finish With a Clear Call to Action

Finally, tell the customer what to do next.

Examples include:

"Learn more about our complete garden maintenance service."

Or:

"Request your free garden maintenance assessment."

Where Google provides an appropriate website link button, direct people to the relevant service page rather than sending everyone to your homepage.

This helps potential customers find the information they're looking for.

5. Why Your Website Needs to Support Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile and website should work together.

If you're promoting drainage services through your profile, ideally you should also have a dedicated drainage service page on your website.

That page should explain:

The drainage problems you solve.
The services you provide.
The geographical areas you cover.
Why customers should trust your business.
How customers can contact you.

Include relevant photographs, customer testimonials and examples of completed work where possible.

This creates a consistent customer experience.

Someone who discovers your business through Google can follow the link to your website and find more detailed information about exactly the service they're interested in.

It also helps Google understand the relevance of your website to particular services, although simply adding product listings doesn't guarantee improved rankings.

If you're unsure whether your profile and website contain the information they should, I've put together a Google Business Profile checklist to help you review the important areas.

6. More Visibility Is Only Half the Battle

Getting your business seen on Google Maps and local search is important.

But visibility doesn't automatically translate into enquiries.

Think about what happens when someone searches for a local plumber.

They might discover several businesses offering the same service.

Before making contact, they could examine:

Customer reviews and ratings.
Business photographs.
Services offered.
Website information.
How established and professional the business appears.

Your aim is to make your business the natural choice.

A detailed, informative Google Business Profile can help customers understand your offering and feel more confident about contacting you.

Remember that your Google Business Profile doesn't charge you for organic profile clicks or calls.

That makes it a valuable marketing asset worth maintaining alongside your website and any paid advertising.

7. Review Your Google Business Profile Regularly

Your Google Business Profile shouldn't be something you set up once and forget about.

As your business develops, your services, photographs, priorities and website content may change.

Review your profile periodically to make sure it accurately reflects what you currently offer.

Pay particular attention to your categories, service descriptions, website links and the services you most want to promote.

If you'd like a second opinion, you can start with a free Google Business Profile audit to identify opportunities for improvement.

Conclusion: Should Service Businesses Use Products on Google Business Profiles?

The most important thing is to make full use of the Google Business Profile features that are available and appropriate for your particular business.

Start by selecting accurate business categories, completing your Services section and making sure your website supports the work you advertise.

Where suitable product-style listings are supported, they can provide another opportunity to showcase valuable offerings and communicate the benefits to potential customers.

Focus on the outcome your customers want, the problems they're trying to avoid and how your business provides the solution.

Because ultimately, people aren't buying a list of services. They're buying the results those services deliver.

Should I add products to Google Business Profile?

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:44:23 GMT

Should you add products to your Google Business Profile? If you sell physical products, the answer is generally yes. But what if you're a service business, such as a gardener, electrician, plumber or cleaning company?

This is where things get interesting.

Many business owners think of products as physical items, something you can pick up, put in a box and sell.

But from a marketing perspective, you can also turn a service into a clearly defined package that customers understand and want to buy.

For example, rather than simply offering "gardening services", you might offer a complete lawn mowing and garden maintenance package.

That's effectively productising your service.

However, Google distinguishes between physical products and services. Its Product Editor is designed for physical goods, while service businesses should use the Services Editor.

The important thing is making sure your potential customers understand what you offer, what problems you solve and why they should choose your business.

Let's look at how to do that properly.

1. Understand the Difference Between Products and Services on Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile allows you to provide information about what your business offers.

There are two important features to understand.

Google Business Profile Products

If you're a retailer selling physical goods, you may be able to add individual products through Google's Product Editor.

Depending on the features available to your business, product listings can include photographs, descriptions and other relevant details.

For example, a garden equipment retailer might showcase lawnmowers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and other products.

These listings help potential customers understand what the business sells.

Google Business Profile Services

For service businesses, Google provides a separate Services Editor.

This allows you to list the services your business provides, organise them under relevant categories and add descriptions or prices where available.

For example, a gardening business might offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance, weed control and green waste removal.

You should include the genuine services your business provides rather than attempting to disguise them as physical products.

The objective is the same: make it easier for customers to understand what you offer and take the next step.

2. Get Your Google Business Profile Categories Right First

Before spending time improving your service descriptions, check that you've selected the most appropriate business categories.

Google allows you to have one primary category and up to nine additional categories.

Your primary category should describe your main business activity.

Secondary categories can help describe other relevant activities your business genuinely performs.

For example, a company providing several types of property maintenance might qualify for multiple categories.

However, don't simply select every category you can find.

Choose the categories that accurately represent your business.

Then make sure your website supports those services.

If you provide lawn mowing, hedge trimming and garden maintenance, your website should explain these services clearly.

For more significant services, consider creating dedicated pages rather than squeezing everything into one general page.

This gives potential customers somewhere to learn more about the specific work they need.

3. Turn Your Services Into Packages Customers Want

Here's where I think many service businesses miss an opportunity.

They describe what they do instead of explaining what the customer actually wants.

Let's take lawn mowing and garden maintenance as an example.

A business might describe its service like this:

"We offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance and green waste removal."

That's accurate, but it's not particularly compelling.

What does the customer really want?

They probably don't wake up on Saturday morning thinking, "I'd love to buy some lawn mowing."

They want the result.

They want a beautiful garden without having to spend their entire weekend maintaining it.

This is where my three-part approach to writing service descriptions comes in.

4. The Three-Part Formula for Writing Better Service Descriptions

When I write marketing content, I think about three things:

The desired outcome, the problems and frustrations, and the solution.

Then I finish with a clear call to action.

Part 1: Start With the Desired Outcome

Rather than immediately explaining what your business does, start by describing what the customer wants to achieve.

For our gardening example, that might be:

"Imagine enjoying your weekends in a beautifully maintained garden, with freshly cut lawns, neatly trimmed hedges and tidy garden beds, without having to lift a finger."

That's a much more appealing picture.

Your customer might want to spend their weekends fishing, playing golf, relaxing with a coffee or spending time with the children.

They don't particularly want to spend hours pushing a lawnmower around.

You're selling them their time back.

Part 2: Address Their Problems and Frustrations

Next, think about everything involved in doing the job themselves.

They've got to get the lawnmower out, check it's working, cut the grass, trim the edges, tackle the weeds and deal with overgrown hedges.

Then they've got to clear everything away.

Perhaps the green waste bin is already full.

Now they're trying to squeeze branches into it, borrow a neighbour's bin or organise a separate trip to dispose of the waste.

And that's before considering lawnmower maintenance, sharpening tools and storing equipment.

All those little frustrations add up.

Good marketing shows customers that you understand what they're dealing with.

You don't need to exaggerate the problem. Just describe the genuine hassles they're trying to avoid.

Part 3: Present Your Business as the Solution

Now you've established the desired outcome and demonstrated that you understand the problem.

It's time to explain why your business is the solution.

I sometimes call this the "Yoda section".

You're the experienced guide who knows how to get the customer from where they are now to where they want to be.

For example:

"Our experienced garden maintenance team takes care of everything, from mowing lawns and trimming hedges to removing green waste. We arrive with the right equipment, complete the work professionally and leave your garden looking fantastic."

If you have relevant qualifications, insurance, years of experience or other genuine credentials, mention them.

These details help build confidence.

Finish With a Clear Call to Action

Don't leave customers wondering what to do next.

Think about what normally happens when somebody phones your business.

Do you arrange a site visit?

Provide an online estimate?

Book an appointment?

Whatever that next step happens to be, make it clear.

For example:

"Request a free garden maintenance quote and we'll help you get your weekends back."

The call to action should lead towards the next logical step in your sales process.

5. Use Photographs That Demonstrate Your Services

Photographs are particularly important for local service businesses.

If you're a gardener, show the gardens you've maintained.

If you're a painter, show beautifully finished rooms.

If you're a roofer, show completed roofing work.

Before-and-after photographs can be particularly effective because customers can immediately see the transformation.

Whenever possible, use genuine photographs from jobs you've completed locally.

Smartphone photographs are perfectly acceptable, provided they're clear, well-lit and accurately represent your work.

You don't need an expensive professional photography session for every service.

And although smartphone photographs may contain GPS location information, Google hasn't established that geotagging photographs improves your local rankings.

Choose photographs because they're useful and relevant to customers, not because you expect hidden location data to give you an SEO advantage.

6. Link Your Services to Relevant Website Pages

Your Google Business Profile and website should support one another.

If somebody discovers that you offer garden maintenance, they should be able to find a website page explaining what's included.

For example, you might create a garden maintenance page covering lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden clearance and regular maintenance packages.

That page can contain photographs, detailed explanations, customer reviews and an enquiry form.

Where your Google Business Profile provides an appropriate website link option, use a relevant landing page rather than always sending customers to your homepage.

For services without a direct link option, make sure the corresponding content is easy to find through your website.

If you'd like to check whether the essential areas of your profile are properly set up, my Google Business Profile checklist provides a useful starting point.

7. Keep Your Google Business Profile Accurate and Up to Date

Your Business Profile isn't something you should set up once and forget about.

As your business changes, review the services you offer.

Add genuine new services, remove anything you no longer provide and update photographs or descriptions when necessary.

Make sure your business hours, contact information and categories remain accurate.

Google's local ranking system considers relevance, distance and prominence. Keeping your profile complete and accurate helps Google understand your business, although individual changes don't guarantee improved rankings.

If you're unsure whether your profile is communicating everything your business offers, you can request a free Google Business Profile audi t to identify potential improvements.

Conclusion: Should You Add Products to Your Google Business Profile?

Yes, if you sell physical products and Google's product feature is available to your business.

If you primarily sell services, concentrate on making the most of your Google Business Profile's service listings instead.

But apply the same marketing principles.

Don't simply list what you do.

Describe the outcome your customers want, demonstrate that you understand their problems and show them why your business is the right choice.

Use genuine photographs, write helpful descriptions and support your main services with relevant website pages.

Most importantly, always think about what you want your prospective customer to do next.

Because getting found on Google is only the first step.

The real goal is turning that visibility into enquiries, bookings and paying customers.

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Should I use Google Business Profile posts?

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:26:52 GMT

Should you use Google Business Profile posts to promote your business? Absolutely. They're free, relatively simple to create, and can help turn people who find your business on Google into paying customers.

Yet I'm continually surprised by how many small business owners don't even realise this feature exists.

Most businesses are familiar with posting on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. They spend hours creating content, sharing photographs and trying to increase their followers.

But there's another place you should seriously consider putting that content: your Google Business Profile.

In this article, I'll explain three things you need to understand about Google Business Profile posts, how they compare with social media, and how you can use seasonal offers to generate more enquiries without paying for advertising.

1. Google Business Profile Posts vs Social Media Posts

Let's start with something I regularly see when talking to small business owners.

They've got someone looking after their social media, posting photographs, videos and updates on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok.

Sometimes it's a younger employee who's grown up using these platforms and understands how to create engaging content.

And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that.

But here's the question I always ask:

Are those posts actually generating enquiries, phone calls and paying customers?

Because there's a big difference between getting attention and getting business.

Social Media Likes Don't Automatically Pay the Bills

It's easy to get caught up in likes, followers and views.

A business owner tells me they've got 1,000 Facebook followers, which sounds impressive.

But that doesn't mean all 1,000 people see every post.

Social platforms use algorithms to determine which content appears in people's feeds, and organic reach can vary considerably.

If you want to reach more people, you may end up paying to boost your posts.

There's also another consideration.

Many of your social media followers already know your business.

They're existing customers, friends, previous customers or people who've interacted with your content before.

That's useful for staying in touch, but a major part of marketing is attracting people who don't already know you exist.

And that's where Google becomes particularly interesting.

Google Reaches People Who Are Already Searching

Think about someone looking for a gutter cleaning company in Christchurch.

They open Google and search for a local business offering that service.

They aren't necessarily interested in following a gutter cleaning company on Facebook.

They've got a problem they want solved.

And if they find your Google Business Profile, there's an opportunity for them to see your latest updates, photographs or special offers.

That's the important distinction.

Social media can help create awareness, while Google Business Profile posts can help influence people who are already considering a business like yours.

Social media posts can also appear in Google Search, so the difference isn't simply that one platform gets indexed and another doesn't.

The bigger advantage of Google Business Profile posts is their placement within the business information customers may already be viewing.

2. The Three Types of Google Business Profile Posts

Google provides three main types of posts, and understanding when to use each one is important.

Updates: Show Customers What You Do

Update posts are ideal for sharing information about your business and the services you provide.

For example, if you're a painter, roofer, electrician or landscape gardener, you could publish:

Before-and-after photographs of completed jobs.
Examples of particular services.
New products or equipment.
Seasonal maintenance advice.
Updates about recent projects.

I particularly like before-and-after photographs because they immediately demonstrate what your business can achieve.

If you're trying to attract more enquiries for a particular service, publish relevant examples of that work.

You could also link to a page on your website explaining the service in more detail.

This gives potential customers another reason to consider contacting you.

Offers: Generate Business During Quieter Periods

This is one of my favourite uses of Google Business Profile posts.

Most service businesses experience quieter periods throughout the year.

Rather than simply accepting a quiet month, why not create a series of special offers?

For example, you could prepare four different offers, each running for seven days.

Google allows you to specify start and end dates for offer posts, so customers can see when the promotion is valid.

But there's something important to understand.

Your offer has to be worth taking advantage of.

A small discount that nobody finds particularly exciting probably won't generate much interest.

You need to think about what would genuinely motivate someone to make an enquiry.

Example: Gutter Cleaning and Roof Moss Treatment

Imagine you operate a roof cleaning business.

You've already got the equipment, ladders and staff needed to clean gutters and treat roofs.

Instead of promoting each service separately, you could combine them.

Week 1 offer:

Book a full-price gutter cleaning service and receive 50% off a roof moss treatment.

Week 2 offer:

Book a roof moss treatment and receive 50% off gutter cleaning.

Why might this work?

Because you're already visiting the property.

Your team is there, the equipment is there, and some of the travel and setup costs have already been covered.

Adding the second service may cost considerably less than making an entirely separate visit.

You're potentially increasing the average value of each job while giving customers a worthwhile incentive.

Of course, you'll need to calculate your costs and margins to make sure the promotion is profitable.

But this is the sort of offer I'd rather see than simply advertising 10% off everything.

Events: Promote Something Happening on Specific Dates

The third option is an event post.

These are particularly useful when your business has something happening on a particular date.

Examples might include an open day, product demonstration, workshop, community event or special information evening.

You can include the event dates, photographs, a description and a relevant link.

Event posts won't suit every service business, but when you've got something worth promoting, they're another useful option.

3. Google Business Profile Posts Are Free

One of the biggest advantages is that Google doesn't charge you to publish these posts.

You don't need an advertising budget.

You don't need to pay to boost a post.

And you don't need expensive software to create them.

You can publish updates, offers and events through your Google Business Profile without a posting fee.

That doesn't mean Google will automatically promote your offer to everyone searching for your services.

Your post's visibility depends on where and how your Business Profile is displayed.

But it does mean you can provide useful information to prospective customers without paying for each click or impression.

For a small business working with a limited marketing budget, that's worth taking advantage of.

How Often Should You Post on Google Business Profile?

I'd suggest starting with one good-quality post each week.

That could mean four posts per month, mixing useful updates with seasonal promotions.

If you've got a particular service you want more enquiries for, consider creating additional posts featuring that service.

For example, a roofing company might publish a before-and-after roof cleaning photograph, a seasonal moss treatment reminder, a customer project and a limited-time offer.

The objective isn't simply to publish more content.

It's to make sure the content is relevant to what your customers need.

Google doesn't guarantee higher local rankings because you publish more frequently, so focus on quality, relevance and genuine customer value.

How to Create Your First Google Business Profile Post

The process is straightforward.

Sign in to the Google account managing your Business Profile.
Open your Google Business Profile.
Select Posts, then Add post.
Choose Update, Offer or Event.
Add a clear description and relevant photograph.
Include dates and terms where appropriate.
Add a suitable website link or action button if available.
Publish your post.

For offers, make sure customers can easily understand what's included, how long the promotion runs and any conditions.

If you're unsure whether other important parts of your profile are set up correctly, my Google Business Profile checklist covers the areas worth reviewing.

Don't Just Chase Visibility — Turn It Into Customers

There's one final point I want to make.

Getting more visibility on Google Maps is useful, but visibility alone doesn't pay the bills.

What really matters is what happens after somebody finds your business.

Do they trust you?

Are your reviews encouraging?

Do your photographs demonstrate the quality of your work?

Is it easy to contact you or make a booking?

Your Google Business Profile posts can support that process by giving prospective customers more reasons to choose you.

But they work best alongside an accurate profile, relevant services, strong reviews and a useful website.

If you'd like to identify opportunities to improve your local visibility and enquiries, you can start with a free Google Business Profile audit .

Conclusion: Should You Use Google Business Profile Posts?

Yes. I would encourage most local service businesses to use them.

They're free to publish, allow you to promote seasonal offers and give customers more information about what your business provides.

Start by creating one useful post each week.

Use before-and-after photographs, showcase the services you want more work for, and experiment with relevant seasonal offers.

Most importantly, judge the results by enquiries, bookings and customers — not simply how many views a post receives.

Because the real purpose of marketing isn't to collect likes and followers.

It's to make the phone ring and bring more business through the door.

Should I add all my services to Google Business Profile?

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:04:57 GMT

If you're wondering whether you should add all your services to your Google Business Profile, the short answer is yes. But how you organise those services can make a significant difference to how clearly Google understands your business and how easily potential customers find you.

One of the most common mistakes I see when reviewing Google Business Profiles is businesses adding dozens of services without properly considering their business categories.

They might have 50, 70 or even 94 services listed, but everything is grouped under one primary category.

The problem isn't necessarily the number of services. It's how they're organised.

Your Google Business Profile categories and services work together to describe your business. Getting that structure right can help improve your relevance for local searches and make it easier for customers to understand exactly what you offer.

Let's look at the wrong way, the right way and one additional step on your website that many businesses overlook.

Why Adding Services to Your Google Business Profile Matters

When someone searches Google Maps for a particular service, Google tries to identify businesses that are relevant to that search.

Your business categories are an important part of that process, while your listed services provide additional detail about what you offer.

For example, someone searching for an electrician might be looking for a completely different service from someone searching for heat pump installation or electrical repairs.

Even though one business might provide all three services, those searches can have different intentions.

That's why it's worth taking the time to organise your profile correctly rather than simply adding everything to one long list.

The Wrong Way to Add Google Business Profile Services

When you open your Google Business Profile dashboard, you'll find an option called Edit Services .

Naturally, most business owners click that button and start adding everything they do.

Google may suggest services as you go, so it's easy to keep adding more.

Before long, you might have 94 services sitting under a single business category.

Some might be closely related to that category, while others are quite different.

The result can be a rather higgledy-piggledy collection of services with very little structure.

Although listing those services isn't automatically wrong, you may be missing an opportunity to describe the different parts of your business more accurately.

The better approach is to look at your categories first.

The Right Way: Organise Services Using Google Business Profile Categories

Google allows businesses to select one primary category and up to nine additional categories.

However, that doesn't mean every business should use ten categories.

You should only select categories that genuinely describe what your business is and the work it provides.

Step 1: Review Your Existing Services

Start by looking at all the services you've already added to your profile.

If you've got 94 services, don't start deleting them.

Instead, copy them into a document or spreadsheet and examine how they relate to one another.

You might find they fall naturally into four or five different service groups.

Step 2: Use ChatGPT to Help Group Your Services

One simple method is to copy your list of services into ChatGPT and ask it to suggest relevant Google Business Profile categories.

For example, you could use this prompt:

"Here is a list of services my business provides. Group these services into appropriate Google Business Profile categories. Suggest a primary category and relevant secondary categories, using official Google Business Profile category names available in New Zealand."

This can save you considerable time.

However, there's one important point: ChatGPT doesn't always get the official category names right.

Sometimes Google's categories use American terminology or wording that isn't what you'd naturally use in New Zealand.

Always check the suggested categories against the actual options available in your Google Business Profile.

Step 3: Add the Relevant Secondary Categories

Once you've identified suitable categories:

Open your Google Business Profile.
Select Edit Profile .
Find your business category settings.
Keep the most appropriate primary category.
Add the relevant secondary categories.
Save your changes.

For example, you might end up with one primary category and four additional categories.

Now you've got a more descriptive structure for your business.

Step 4: Organise Your Services Under Those Categories

Next, return to Edit Services and review how your services are organised.

Where Google's available categories and service options allow it, group the relevant services under their corresponding business categories.

You may still have those same 94 services, but they're now arranged into more meaningful groups.

The categories tell Google what types of business activities you provide, while the services explain the specific work customers can contact you about.

This creates a clearer picture of your business for both Google and potential customers.

Don't Forget Your Website: It Needs to Support Your Google Business Profile

This is the next step I regularly see businesses overlook.

Once you've organised your Google Business Profile categories, you need to look at your website.

Does your website clearly explain the services and business activities you've listed on Google?

If not, you've got more work to do.

Your website should support the information you're providing through your Google Business Profile.

Create Pages Around Your Main Service Categories

Imagine you've selected five Google Business Profile categories, each covering several different services.

Ideally, your website should have relevant content for each of those main service areas.

Depending on how your business operates, this might mean creating a dedicated page for each major service category.

For example, an electrical company might have separate pages for:

Residential electrical services
Commercial electrical services
Heat pump installation
Electrical repairs and maintenance

Each page should explain the work you do, who you help and which services you provide.

This also helps visitors find the information they're looking for without having to search through one enormous services page.

How Much Website Content Do You Need?

This depends partly on how competitive your market is.

In smaller cities, a well-written category page covering several closely related services may be a sensible starting point.

However, in larger cities or highly competitive industries, you'll often need more detailed content.

For important services, consider including a dedicated section containing a useful explanation and a relevant photograph.

For your main revenue-generating services, creating individual service pages may be even better.

Don't simply list 15 service names and assume that's enough.

Explain what the service involves, who it's for, the problems it solves and why someone should choose your business.

The aim is to create genuinely helpful website content rather than pages written solely for search engines.

Keep Your Google Business Profile and Website Consistent

Google may review changes to your Business Profile, and information that doesn't accurately represent your business can cause problems.

That's another reason to make sure the services and categories you select genuinely reflect the work you perform.

Your website, business categories and listed services should tell a consistent story.

For example, if your profile says you provide commercial electrical installation, your website should ideally explain that service rather than focusing entirely on residential work.

If you're unsure whether your profile is properly structured, my free Google Business Profile audit can help identify areas worth reviewing.

Getting More Visibility Is Only Half the Job

Organising your categories and services is an important part of improving your Google Business Profile.

But there's something else to remember.

Getting found on Google Maps doesn't automatically mean you're going to get more customers.

You might improve your visibility and attract more people to your profile, but what happens when they get there?

Do they see a business they trust?
Are your reviews strong enough?
Are your photographs professional and relevant?
Is it obvious what you do and how customers can contact you?

These things matter because visibility is only the first step.

The real objective is turning that visibility into telephone calls, enquiries, appointments and paying customers.

My Google Business Profile checklist covers the important areas worth checking to help make sure your profile is working effectively.

Conclusion: Add Your Services, But Get the Structure Right

So, should you add all your services to your Google Business Profile?

Yes, provided they're services your business genuinely offers.

But don't just add a long list and forget about it.

Review your primary category, identify relevant secondary categories and organise your services as clearly as possible.

Then make sure your website backs up what your Google Business Profile says about your business.

These improvements can help Google and potential customers understand your business more clearly, although they don't guarantee higher rankings.

And remember, the end goal isn't simply to appear more often on Google Maps.

It's to turn that visibility into more enquiries, more bookings and ultimately more customers.

That's what makes your Google Business Profile a valuable part of your marketing.

Should my Google business profile match my website?

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 23:53:49 GMT

If you’re wondering whether your Google Business Profile should match your website, the simple answer is yes — where the information represents the same facts about your business .

Google uses information from a range of sources to understand who you are, what you do, where you operate and which searches your business may be relevant for. Your website and Google Business Profile are two of the most important pieces of that picture.

That doesn’t mean every word on your website needs to be copied onto your Google Business Profile. It does mean that your core business information, services, locations and overall message should tell a consistent story.

When they don’t, you can create confusion for potential customers — and make it harder for Google to clearly understand your business.

1. Make Sure Your Core Business Information Matches

The first place to start is with the basic information about your business.

When I carry out Google Business Profile audits, I regularly find simple inconsistencies between the profile and the company website.

These can include:

Different phone numbers
Different addresses
Incorrect opening hours
Out-of-date holiday hours
Different business names
Conflicting information about where the business operates

These may seem like minor details, but consider them from a customer's point of view.

If your Google Business Profile says you close at 5:00 pm but your website says 5:30 pm, which one should they believe?

If I’m carrying out an audit and I can't work out which information is correct, a potential customer could have exactly the same problem.

Your website should reinforce the information people see on your Google Business Profile.

Remember Your Special Opening Hours

Another commonly overlooked area is special hours.

Public holidays, regional holidays and Christmas opening hours can all affect when your business is available.

Your Google Business Profile allows you to specify special hours rather than changing your normal opening hours every time a holiday occurs.

Keeping this information up to date helps customers know when they can contact or visit you.

Where appropriate, the information on your website should also reflect significant changes to your normal trading hours.

2. Be Clear About the Areas You Serve

If you're a service-area business, your Google Business Profile allows you to specify the geographical areas you serve.

Your website should support this.

That doesn't mean stuffing dozens of town names into every page. Instead, make it obvious

where you genuinely provide your services.

You might include service areas:

In your website footer
On your contact page
Within individual service pages
On dedicated location pages where appropriate
In your About or Service Areas section

For example, if your Google Business Profile tells Google that you operate throughout Christchurch and surrounding areas, but your website never mentions Christchurch, there is less supporting information connecting the website to that location.

The goal is consistency.

Your Google Business Profile and website should both give customers a clear understanding of where you operate.

3. Match Your Categories With the Services You Actually Provide

One of the biggest problems I see with Google Business Profiles is businesses adding a huge list of services while paying very little attention to their categories.

Your primary category is extremely important because it helps Google understand the main type of business you operate.

You can also add relevant secondary categories where they genuinely describe other important parts of the business.

The mistake is choosing one broad category and then adding every imaginable service beneath it.

Instead, think about the structure logically.

Your Profile Should Tell a Clear Story

Let's say a business offers several distinct groups of services.

Its Google Business Profile categories should accurately represent those areas where suitable categories exist, while its services should describe what the business actually provides.

Your website should then support those services with useful content.

Ideally, someone should be able to look at your Google Business Profile and then visit your website and immediately recognise the same business.

They should see the same core services, locations and overall offering.

Google should be able to make the same connection.

4. Your Website Should Support What Your Profile Says

Your website gives you much more space than your Google Business Profile to explain what you do.

Use it.

If an important service appears on your Google Business Profile, there should usually be relevant supporting information somewhere on your website.

That could be a dedicated service page or a clearly defined section of another page.

For example, if you're an electrician and your Google Business Profile prominently lists heat pump installation, your website should contain useful information about your heat pump installation service.

The website adds context that a Google Business Profile simply doesn't have room to provide.

The two work together.

5. Reviews Can Reinforce Your Services

Reviews are another valuable part of the picture.

A customer describing the actual service you carried out provides useful information to prospective customers who are comparing businesses.

For example, a review saying:

“James installed our new heat pump and explained everything clearly.”

is far more informative than a review that simply says:

“Great company.”

Both reviews are positive, but the first tells future customers something about the service that was provided.

Reviews can therefore help reinforce the services associated with your business while also giving prospective customers reassurance that other people have successfully used you for the same type of work.

6. Use Your Google Business Profile Content Consistently

Your profile gives you several opportunities to reinforce what your business does.

Depending on your business and what Google makes available for your category, these may include:

Services
Photos
Updates or posts
Products
Reviews
Business description
Website links

These elements should support the same overall message customers find when they reach your website.

You don't need to duplicate everything word for word.

In fact, you shouldn't.

The objective is consistency of meaning , not identical content.

If your website presents you as a specialist in one area while your Google Business Profile suggests that you primarily provide something completely different, there is a disconnect.

7. Check Your Google Business Profile Performance

Once you start improving your profile and website, keep an eye on performance.

Google Business Profile provides performance information showing how people interact with your listing.

Depending on the information Google currently makes available, this can include actions such as:

Calls
Website clicks
Direction requests
Search activity

Don't judge changes after only a couple of days.

Local visibility is affected by numerous factors, including relevance, distance, competition, reviews and the searcher's location.

Instead, look for trends over a longer period.

The key question is whether you're gradually getting greater visibility for the right searches — and whether that visibility is turning into enquiries.

A Simple Way to Check Everything

There are quite a few things to check when comparing your website with your Google Business Profile.

That's why I've created a Google Business Profile checklist that walks through the areas you should review.

It covers both the Google Business Profile and the website, helping you identify information that is missing, inconsistent or needs improving.

I've also included accompanying videos that explain the individual steps.

If you'd prefer someone to look at your profile specifically and identify areas that could be improved, you can also start with a free Google Business Profile audit .

Conclusion

So, should your Google Business Profile match your website?

For your core business information and the story you're telling customers, absolutely.

Your business name, address, phone information, opening hours, service areas and key services should be consistent wherever they appear.

But don't think of your website and Google Business Profile as duplicates.

Think of them as two parts of the same system.

Your Google Business Profile helps people discover and evaluate your business directly in Google Search and Maps.

Your website gives them the deeper information they need to understand your services and decide whether you're the right business for them.

When both communicate the same clear message, you're making things easier for Google — and, just as importantly, easier for your prospective customers.

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How do I get my Google Business Profile to rank higher?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:02:46 GMT

If you're asking yourself, how do I get my Google Business Profile to rank higher? , there are several areas you need to work on.

Google doesn’t rank local businesses based on one single factor. Its own guidance says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence . Google Support

You can’t control where every potential customer is searching from, but you can improve how relevant your business appears and how strong your local presence looks compared with competitors.

In this article, I’m going to focus on three important areas:

Show Google clearly what your business does
Build stronger local proof through reviews
Strengthen your local authority across the web

These are not the only factors involved, but they are important ones to get right.

1. Show Google Clearly What Your Business Does

The first thing to look at is your Google Business Profile categories and services.

Your primary category should describe the main thing your business does.

For example, if you are a plumber, your primary category might simply be:

Plumber

But many businesses stop there.

Google allows one primary category and up to nine additional categories. However, Google also recommends using as few categories as possible while making sure they accurately describe your core business.

So this is not about adding every category you can find.

It is about choosing the additional categories that genuinely represent important parts of your business.

For example, a plumbing business might also genuinely provide services connected with:

Gas fitting
Drainage
Hot-water systems
Water filtration
Other specialist plumbing work

The categories you select can affect your local ranking, so they matter.

Add the Services You Actually Provide

The next step is to look at your services.

Your service list gives Google more detail about the actual work you carry out.

For example, rather than simply saying you are a plumber, your services might include:

Hot-water cylinder installation
Leak repairs
Drain clearing
Gas fitting
Water softener installation

Only add services you genuinely provide.

Google can also use information from your website and other online sources when building its understanding of your business.

That means your website should support what you are saying on your Google Business Profile.

If you claim an important secondary category or service, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website too.

The clearer and more consistent this information is, the easier it is for Google to understand what searches your business may be relevant to.

2. Build Strong Local Proof Through Reviews

The second area is reviews.

Reviews do two jobs.

They help potential customers decide whether they trust you, and they also contribute to Google's understanding of how prominent your business is locally.

Google specifically says that more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.

That is why a steady flow of genuine reviews is so valuable.

Make Asking for Reviews Part of Your Process

Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to make review requests part of your normal customer follow-up.

You can ask through:

Email
Text message
Your invoice process
Your email signature
A QR code
A direct Google review link

Google actively recommends reminding customers to leave reviews, provided the reviews reflect a genuine experience and you are not offering incentives.

The important thing is consistency.

Rather than getting a lot of reviews in one month and then nothing for six months, build review requests into your normal process.

Detailed Reviews Are More Useful to Customers

A review that simply says:

“Great service.”

is useful.

But a review such as:

“They installed our new water softener, explained everything clearly and left the place clean and tidy.”

gives a future customer much more useful information.

Google can also ask service-business customers what type of work was carried out, using information from your service list, website and other authoritative sources.

That reinforces the importance of keeping your services accurate.

You should also respond to reviews.

Google encourages businesses to reply because it shows customers that their feedback matters.

If you want a structured way to check the important areas of your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through them step by step.

3. Strengthen Your Local Authority

The third area is local prominence.

Google describes prominence as how well-known a business is, and says it can be influenced by things such as reviews and links from other websites.

This is where your wider online presence becomes important.

Your business may appear on:

Local business directories
Industry directories
Trade association websites
Local supplier websites
School websites
Charity websites
Sports club websites
Community organisations

Traditionally, directory listings containing your business name, address and phone number are often called citations .

The key thing is that the information should be accurate and consistent.

Look for Genuine Local Mentions

Some of the strongest local signals can come from genuine local relationships.

For example, perhaps you:

Sponsor a local sports team
Support a charity
Help a school
Work with a local community organisation
Belong to a local trade association

If those organisations mention your business on their websites, that can create valuable local links and references.

The important thing is that these relationships should be real.

You should not be trying to manufacture links purely for SEO.

Instead, think about the organisations your business already works with or genuinely wants to support.

A local plumber might sponsor a junior football team.

A builder might support a school fundraiser.

A local service business might provide discounted or free help to a charity they genuinely care about.

If that organisation then acknowledges the support on its website, that gives Google another external reference to the business.

Keep Your Business Information Accurate

Weak or inconsistent information can also make it harder for Google to understand your business.

Make sure things such as these are correct:

Business name
Address
Phone number
Website
Opening hours
Special hours
Categories
Services

Google says complete, detailed and up-to-date information can help a business appear in relevant local results. Google Support

If your website says you close at 5pm but your profile says 6pm, fix it.

If your phone number changed two years ago and some directories still show the old one, update them.

If you have holiday or special opening hours, keep those current too.

Don’t Chase One Ranking Trick

The biggest mistake is looking for one magic tactic that will suddenly push your Google Business Profile to the top.

That isn’t how local ranking works.

Think instead about the three broad factors Google talks about:

Relevance — how closely your business matches the search.

Distance — how far away you are from the person searching.

Prominence — how established and well-known your business appears. Google Support

You can’t control distance.

But you can improve relevance and prominence.

You can make your profile clearer.

You can improve your reviews.

You can strengthen your website.

You can build genuine local mentions and links.

And you can make sure your business information is consistent everywhere.

Those improvements work together.

What Should You Do Next?

Start by looking at the businesses that consistently rank above you.

Compare:

Their categories
Their services
Their reviews
Their website
Their local links
Their directory presence
Their overall profile completeness

Then compare that with your own business.

You’re looking for the gaps.

You don’t have to fix everything at once.

Start with the biggest weaknesses and improve them one by one.

If you want a more detailed walkthrough, I’ve also created a free Google Business Profile masterclass that goes through the wider optimisation process and shows you what else to look at.

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How do I get my business higher on Google Maps?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:20:22 GMT

If you're asking yourself, how do I get my business higher on Google Maps? , there are several areas you need to look at.

Google doesn't rank local businesses based on one single factor. Instead, local results are mainly influenced by relevance, distance and prominence.

You can't control where the person searching is located, but you can improve how clearly Google understands your business and how strong your business appears compared with local competitors.

In this article, we'll look at three areas that can help:

Make your business more relevant
Build more trust
Strengthen your local authority

These won't guarantee a particular Maps position, but they can help improve the signals Google uses when deciding which businesses to show in local search results.

1. Make Your Business More Relevant

One of the first things to look at is your Google Business Profile categories.

Many businesses set up their profile, choose one category and never look at it again.

For example, a plumbing company might choose:

Plumber

That may be exactly the right primary category.

However, the business may also genuinely operate in other areas that Google provides separate categories for.

Depending on the company, those could include services connected with gas fitting, drainage or other specialist work.

Google allows one primary category and additional categories, but the important thing isn't to add as many as possible.

The categories should genuinely describe what the business is.

Google specifically recommends choosing a small number of categories that accurately represent the business rather than adding a category for every individual service.

Add the Services You Actually Provide

Your services are another useful way of giving Google more information about what your business does.

If you're a plumber, for example, you might provide services involving:

Hot-water systems
Drainage
Gas fitting
Water filtration
Leak repairs

Only include services you genuinely provide.

The aim is to make your Google Business Profile as accurate and complete as possible.

Your website should also support what you're saying on your profile.

If you have an additional business category or important service on your Google Business Profile, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website as well.

Google uses information from Business Profiles, websites and other sources when building its understanding of a local business.

The clearer and more consistent that information is, the easier it is for Google to understand which searches your business may be relevant to.

2. Build More Local Trust

The second area is trust.

Reviews are one of the most visible trust signals on a Google Business Profile.

Google says that the number of reviews and positive ratings can contribute to local prominence, which is one of the main factors used in local rankings.

Reviews also matter enormously to potential customers.

Imagine somebody is comparing three local plumbers.

One has only a handful of old reviews.

Another has a steady stream of recent feedback from customers talking about specific jobs they've completed.

That can make the second business look far more established and credible.

Encourage Genuine Customer Feedback

The best reviews often include useful detail.

For example:

"Great service."

is useful.

But something like:

"They installed our new water softener, explained how everything worked and left the area tidy."

gives a potential customer much more information.

It helps confirm what kind of work the business actually carries out.

You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write or offer incentives for positive feedback.

Instead, make asking for genuine reviews part of your normal follow-up process.

Consistency matters.

A regular flow of customer feedback is generally more useful than getting a burst of reviews and then nothing for months.

You should also reply to reviews naturally and helpfully.

Google specifically recommends responding to reviews because it shows customers that you value their feedback.

If you're not sure which areas of your profile need attention, my Google Business Profile Checklist gives you a useful starting point.

Keep Your Business Information Accurate

Trust also comes from getting the basics right.

Your business hours should be accurate.

Your special hours should be updated for holidays and other changes.

Your phone number, website and business details should all be current.

Google says complete and accurate Business Profile information makes a business more likely to appear in relevant local search results.

This is one of the simplest things to check, yet it's surprisingly common to find profiles with outdated opening times, incorrect website links or missing information.

3. Strengthen Your Local Authority

The third area is local authority, or what Google calls prominence .

Prominence is Google's way of assessing how well-known a business is.

Google says this can be influenced by information it finds around the web, including links to the business and customer reviews.

This is where your broader online presence becomes important.

Your business may appear on:

Local directories
Industry directories
Trade organisations
Local business websites
Supplier websites
Community websites

These mentions can help reinforce information about your business.

Traditionally, these listings are often referred to as citations , especially when they include your business name, address and phone number.

The most important thing is accuracy.

If your business details appear across several websites, make sure they're consistent and current.

Add Useful Photos and Videos

Photographs and videos are also valuable parts of your Google Business Profile.

Google recommends adding photos and videos that show your storefront, products and services because they help customers understand what your business offers.

For a local service business, useful examples could include:

Before-and-after photographs
Recently completed jobs
Your team
Your vehicles
Your premises
Tools and equipment
Different services you provide

Before-and-after photos can be particularly effective because they quickly show the transformation you've achieved for a customer.

If you're repairing a roof, laying tiles or renovating a bathroom, the finished result can often communicate far more quickly than a long description.

Video can work well too.

You might briefly explain:

What problem you found
What work you're carrying out
Why you've chosen that solution
What the finished result looks like

This type of content is valuable primarily because it gives prospective customers useful evidence of the work you do.

Don't Chase One Ranking Trick

If you want to get your business higher on Google Maps, don't concentrate on finding one clever trick.

Google's own guidance points back to three broad factors:

Relevance — how closely your business matches the search.

Distance — how far the business is from the person searching.

Prominence — how well-known and established the business appears.

You can't control all three.

You can't change the searcher's location.

But you can improve your relevance and prominence by giving Google better information and building a stronger overall local presence.

What Should You Do Next?

Start by comparing your Google Business Profile with the businesses that regularly appear above you.

Look at:

Their categories
Their services
Their reviews
Their photographs
Their website
Their wider online presence

Then look for the gaps in your own profile.

You don't necessarily need to change everything at once.

A series of small improvements can gradually make your business easier for Google to understand and more convincing to the customers who find you.

If you'd like a more structured way to work through your profile, you can start with my FREE Google Business Profile Audit . It can help identify the areas that may be holding back your local visibility

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How do I get more calls from my Google Business Profile?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:40:23 GMT

If you're asking yourself, how do I get more calls from my Google Business Profile? , one of the first things to understand is that simply creating a profile isn't enough.

A lot of businesses set up their Google Business Profile, add their basic information and then do very little with it.

Months later, they wonder why they aren't getting as many calls and enquiries as they expected.

Your Google Business Profile can be one of th e most valuable ways to generate local enquiries, but it needs to give Google enough information to understand what your business does and give potential customers enough confidence to contact you.

There are three main areas I'd focus on:

Increasing your visibility for relevant local searches
Building trust through genuine customer reviews
Making it easier for people to contact you

There are also a few additional things you can do to keep your profile current and give potential customers more reasons to choose your business.

1. Make Sure You're Using the Right Business Categories

One of the first areas to check is your Google Business Profile categories.

When many businesses create their profile, they choose one obvious category and stop there.

For example, a plumber might choose:

Plumber

That's a sensible primary category if plumbing is the main part of the business.

But that same plumber might genuinely provide other types of work that have relevant Google Business Profile categories available.

Depending on the business, that could include areas such as gas fitting, drainage or other specialist services.

The important thing is that the categories you select should accurately represent what your business actually does.

Don't add categories simply because you want to appear for more searches.

Why Additional Categories Can Matter

Categories help Google understand what type of business you are.

If Google only has information about one part of your business, it may have less context about the other services you provide.

Adding genuinely relevant categories can therefore help Google understand more about your business and the types of searches your profile may be relevant to.

Your website should support this information as well.

For example, if you say you provide a particular type of specialist service, ideally your website should contain useful information about that service.

You're giving Google a consistent picture of what you do.

More relevant visibility creates more opportunities to appear in front of local customers — and ultimately more opportunities to generate calls.

2. Get Reviews More Consistently

The second area to focus on is reviews.

Visibility gets people to your profile.

Reviews can help give them the confidence to contact you.

When somebody is comparing several businesses, there's a good chance they'll look at the reviews before making their decision.

Imagine somebody needs a plumber.

They find three businesses nearby offering the service they need.

One has very few recent reviews.

Another has plenty of recent reviews from real customers describing the work they've had completed.

Which business is likely to give the potential customer greater confidence?

That's why I often describe Google reviews as your digital word of mouth .

Your previous customers are effectively helping future customers decide whether they should contact you.

The Content of Your Reviews Matters Too

The number of reviews is important, but what customers actually say can be valuable as well.

Compare these two reviews:

"Great service."

And:

"James repaired our leaking hot-water cylinder, arrived when he said he would and left everything clean and tidy."

The second review gives a potential customer much more information.

It confirms the type of service provided and describes the customer's experience.

You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write, and you shouldn't offer incentives in return for positive reviews.

Instead, build a simple process for asking genuine customers to leave feedback after you've completed their work.

The key is consistency.

Rather than collecting ten reviews and then doing nothing for a year, make requesting reviews part of your normal customer follow-up process.

If you're not sure what else needs checking on your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through the main areas step by step.

3. Make It Easier for People to Contact You

The third thing is making it as easy as possible for someone to get in touch.

Different customers prefer different ways of communicating.

Some people want to call.
Others prefer to send a message.
Some customers use WhatsApp.

Others would rather click through to your website and complete an enquiry or booking.

The fewer barriers you place between somebody finding your business and contacting you, the better.

Check the contact options available on your Google Business Profile and make sure the ones that are relevant to your business are properly configured.

Make sure your telephone number is correct.

Add messaging options where they're available and appropriate.

If you use appointment or booking links, make sure they send the customer somewhere useful.

For example, if you have a specific booking or enquiry page, it's usually better to send someone directly there rather than making them search through your website trying to work out what to do next.

Make the next step obvious.

4. Keep Your Google Business Profile Up to Date

There's also another simple principle worth following:

Keep your profile current.

Your basic business information should always be correct, including:

Business hours
Special opening hours
Telephone number
Website
Services
Business information

You should also consider regularly adding genuine photographs showing what's happening inside your business.

That could include:

Recently completed jobs
Before-and-after photographs
Your team
Company vehicles
Your premises
Equipment
Examples of different services

These images help prospective customers get a better feel for your business before they contact you.

If somebody has never dealt with your company before, they're looking for reasons to trust you.

Good photographs, strong reviews and complete business information can all help build that confidence.

Use Google Business Profile Posts

Google Business Profile posts can also be useful for keeping customers informed about what's happening.

You could use posts to show recently completed work, share a business update or promote an appropriate seasonal offer.

For example, a roofing company might show before-and-after photographs from a recently completed roof clean.

A plumber might highlight a particular service.

A local service business might promote an offer during a traditionally quieter part of the year.

You're giving customers more useful information when they're considering whether to contact you.

More Calls Usually Come From Improving the Whole Profile

There isn't normally one magic change that suddenly doubles the number of calls coming from your Google Business Profile.

It's about improving several areas that work together.

Make sure Google understands exactly what your business does.

Use the most appropriate categories.

Build a consistent collection of genuine customer reviews.

Make it easy for customers to contact you.

Keep your business information accurate.

Add useful photographs and updates.

When these things work together, you create a stronger Google Business Profile.

And importantly, you may already have people finding your business.

The opportunity might not simply be getting more visibility.

It may be doing a better job of turning the visibility you already have into more calls and enquiries.

What Should You Do Next?

Take a look at your Google Business Profile alongside some of your strongest local competitors.

Compare the categories they're using, the quality and consistency of their reviews, their photographs, their services and how easy they make it for someone to contact them.

Then ask yourself one simple question:

If I were the customer looking at these businesses, would my profile give me enough confidence to make the call?

If you're not sure where the gaps are, you can start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit . I'll look at your profile and identify areas that could be holding back the number of local calls and enquiries you're generating.

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How do I get more leads from my Google Business Profile?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 11:20:18 GMT

Getting more views on your Google Business Profile is useful, but views alone don't necessarily turn into phone calls, enquiries or customers.

You can have hundreds or even thousands of people seeing your business on Google Search and Maps, but if your profile doesn't give Google enough information about what you do—or doesn't give potential customers enough confidence to contact you—you may be wasting a lot of that visibility.

The good news is that you don't necessarily need more visibility to generate more leads.

Sometimes, improving what you've already got can produce better results.

In this article, we'll look at three areas to focus on:

Getting found for more of the right searches
Building greater trust with Google and potential customers
Giving people a stronger reason to contact you

Let's start with the first.

1. Get Found for More of the Right Searches

One of the first things I look at when reviewing a Google Business Profile is its categories and services.

Your primary business category tells Google what type of business you are. You can then add other relevant categories where they genuinely describe additional parts of your business.

But categories are only part of the picture.

Your services can provide more detail about exactly what you do.

Imagine a boat repair company.

"Boat repair" covers a very wide range of potential work. One business might predominantly repair motorboats, while another specialises in sailing boats and rigging.

If you simply tell Google that you're a boat repair business, there isn't much context.

However, when you add the individual services you genuinely provide—such as sailing rigging repairs—you start giving Google a clearer picture of the searches your business may be relevant to.

The same principle applies to almost any local service business.

An electrician doesn't necessarily provide every electrical service.

A roofer may specialise in some types of roofing work and not others.

A mechanic might specialise in particular vehicles or repairs.

The more accurately your profile reflects what you actually do, the easier it is for both Google and prospective customers to understand your business.

If you're unsure whether you've covered the important areas of your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through them systematically.

2. Build Trust With Google and Your Customers

Getting found is only the first part of the job.

Once somebody discovers your business, they need to feel confident enough to contact you.

One of the most powerful ways of building that confidence is through customer reviews.

Let's return to the boat repair example.

If someone is searching for sailing rigging repairs and they discover a company claiming to provide that service, that's useful.

But imagine they then read several genuine reviews from previous customers talking about the sailing or rigging work that company completed.

That's much more convincing.

Rather than simply telling people what you do, your previous customers are providing evidence of the work you've carried out.

This is why the content of your reviews can be so valuable.

You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write, and you should never offer incentives in exchange for reviews. However, you can make it easy for genuine customers to leave feedback about their experience.

Your website should then reinforce the same message.

If your Google Business Profile says you provide a particular service, somebody clicking through to your website should be able to find information about that service.

Ideally, everything supports everything else:

Your categories → your services → your reviews → your website

That creates a much clearer picture of what your business does and gives potential customers more confidence that they've found the right company.

3. Give People a Reason to Contact You

The third area is one many businesses overlook.

You've been found.

The customer trusts you.

But why should they contact you now?

Google Business Profile posts can be useful here because they allow you to publish updates, events and offers directly on your profile.

This becomes particularly interesting if your business has predictable quiet periods.

Most established businesses know roughly when their busy and quiet months occur.

Instead of simply accepting those quiet periods, consider creating an offer around a service you'd particularly like to promote.

For example, imagine you provide roof moss treatment.

During a quieter period, you might create an offer around moss treatment and combine it with discounted gutter cleaning.

That does two things.

First, it gives somebody a reason to make a decision now rather than putting the job off.

Second, once you've won the initial job, there may be logical additional services you can provide.

It's the same principle McDonald's has used for decades:

"Would you like fries with that?"

If you're already on someone's roof completing moss treatment and their gutters also need cleaning, it makes sense to discuss that while you're there.

The aim isn't simply to discount everything you sell.

The aim is to create a compelling initial reason for someone to make contact and then identify related services that genuinely make sense for that customer.

Small Improvements Can Compound

The important thing to understand is that generating more leads from your Google Business Profile usually isn't about finding one secret trick.

It's about improving several connected areas.

Make your categories and services more accurate.

Build genuine customer reviews.

Make sure your website backs up what your profile says.

Use posts and offers when they're appropriate.

Give visitors clear reasons to contact you.

Each improvement might seem relatively small on its own, but together they can make a significant difference.

And importantly, some businesses may be able to generate more enquiries from the visibility they already have rather than concentrating entirely on getting more views.

What Should You Do Next?

Start by looking at your Google Business Profile from the perspective of someone who has never heard of your business before.

Can they quickly understand exactly what you do?

Can they find evidence that you've successfully carried out that type of work before?

And is there a clear reason for them to contact you rather than continue looking through your competitors?

If you'd like to work through this in more detail, I've created a free Google Business Profile masterclass that takes you step by step through the areas you can improve.

It expands on the three points covered here and shows you how to start putting them into practice on your own profile.

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How do I get more phone calls from my Google Business Profile?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 07:59:51 GMT

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If you’re asking, “How do I get more leads from my Google Business Profile?” , the answer is not simply to get more views.

More visibility can help, but views on their own do not automatically turn into phone calls, enquiries or customers.

You can often generate more leads from the visibility you already have by improving three things:

Getting found for more of the right searches
Building more trust with Google and prospective customers
Giving people a stronger reason to contact you

These three areas work together. If one is weak, your Google Business Profile can attract attention without producing the enquiries you expect.

1. Get Found for More of the Right Searches

The first thing to look at is your Google Business Profile categories and services.

Your primary category tells Google what type of business you are. You can also add relevant secondary categories where they accurately represent other parts of your business.

But choosing the right category is only part of the job.

You also need to make good use of the services connected with those categories.

Why Services Matter

Some categories can cover a very broad range of work.

For example, imagine a boat repair company.

“Boat repair” could potentially cover many different types of vessels and repair work. One business might specialise mainly in motorboats, while another focuses heavily on sailing boats, rigging and related repairs.

If both businesses simply select a broad category without giving Google more detail, Google has less context about what each business actually does.

Adding the correct services helps narrow that down.

Instead of trying to appear for everything, you can make it clearer that you provide particular services for particular types of customers.

That helps your profile become more relevant to the searches that actually matter to your business.

The objective isn’t simply to appear more often.

It’s to appear more often for the right searches .

2. Build Trust With Reviews

The second area is trust.

Google needs information that helps it understand your business, but customers also need reassurance before they contact you.

Reviews can play an important role in both.

The most useful reviews are often what I call feedback reviews .

These are reviews where the customer naturally mentions the service they received.

Using the boat repair example again, imagine someone leaves a review saying:

“They repaired the rigging on our sailing boat and did an excellent job.”

That gives a potential customer much more useful information than a review that simply says:

“Great company.”

Both are positive, but the first review confirms the type of work the business actually carries out.

If somebody else is looking for sailing rigging repairs and sees several customers describing similar work, that provides much stronger reassurance.

Reviews Should Support Your Services

Your reviews should naturally reflect the work you want more of.

That doesn’t mean telling customers what to write or stuffing keywords into reviews.

Instead, when asking for feedback, you can encourage customers to talk about their experience and the service they received.

Over time, your review profile starts to provide a clearer picture of the work your business carries out.

Your website should support that message too.

If your Google Business Profile says you provide a particular service, your website should contain useful information showing that you genuinely offer it.

Your categories, services, reviews and website should all make sense together.

If you want a structured way to check these areas, my Google Business Profile checklist walks through the key elements step by step.

3. Give People a Reason to Contact You

The third area is conversion.

Once people find you and trust you, you still need to give them a reason to take action.

That means using clear calls to action and thinking about what would encourage someone to contact you now rather than later.

One way to do this is through your Google Business Profile posts and offers.

Use Offers Around Quiet Periods

Most businesses have quieter periods.

If you already know that certain weeks or months tend to be slower, you can plan offers around those times.

For example, imagine a roofing business that provides roof moss treatment and gutter cleaning.

During a quieter period, they could create an offer around moss treatment and include gutter cleaning at a discounted price.

The purpose isn’t necessarily to reduce the price of everything you do.

It’s to create a reason for someone who has been putting the job off to take action now.

Think About the Follow-On Sale

A useful offer can also lead to additional work.

The classic example is McDonald’s asking:

“Would you like fries with that?”

The initial purchase opens the door to a logical additional service.

If someone books roof moss treatment, they may also need the gutters cleaned.

If your team is already working on the roof, it can make sense to offer the additional service at a better rate than if it were booked separately.

The important thing is that the extra service needs to make sense for the customer.

You’re not simply trying to sell more.

You’re identifying a related problem while you’re already in a position to solve it efficiently.

Small Improvements Can Compound

None of these changes on their own need to be dramatic.

You might:

Improve your categories
Add missing services
Strengthen the connection between your profile and website
Generate better customer feedback
Publish more relevant posts
Create seasonal offers
Improve your calls to action

Each improvement might only make a small difference.

But together they can compound.

That is often where businesses see better results.

Instead of chasing more views, you improve how effectively your existing visibility turns into enquiries.

Want to Improve Your Profile Step by Step?

I’ve created a Google Business Profile masterclass that takes you through these areas in more detail.

It covers the three principles discussed here, along with additional improvements you can make to increase the effectiveness of your profile.

The aim is to help you understand what needs changing, why it matters, and how to implement it.

Conclusion

Getting more leads from your Google Business Profile is not simply about getting more people to see it.

You need to make sure the right people find you, give them enough evidence to trust you, and then provide a clear reason for them to take the next step.

Start with your categories and services.

Then strengthen your reviews and make sure your website supports what your profile says.

Finally, look at the offers, posts and calls to action that can turn interested searchers into enquiries.

Do those things consistently and you can start getting more value from the visibility you already have.

Why is my Google Business Profile not generating leads?

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 06:32:08 GMT

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If your Google Business Profile is getting views but not turning those views into calls, messages or bookings, there are usually a few basic things to check first.

For most local service businesses, the problem comes down to three areas: visibility, trust and making it easy for people to contact you .

Your Google Business Profile should not just sit there as a place for reviews and directions. When it is set up properly, it can become one of the strongest parts of your local marketing.

Here are some of the main areas to look at.

1. Increase Your Visibility With More Categories

One of the first things to check is how many categories you have claimed on your Google Business Profile.

Many businesses only have one.

For example, a plumber may simply be listed as:

Plumber

But that same business may also offer:

Drain laying
Gas fitting
Hot water cylinder work
Water softeners
Other plumbing services

If those services match relevant Google Business Profile categories, adding them can help your business appear for more local searches.

Think of it like a horse race.

If there are 20 local competitors and you only have one category, you have one horse in the race.

But if you genuinely qualify for five or six categories, you suddenly have more chances of appearing in the top three map results.

And if you are not appearing in the top three, there is a good chance many potential customers simply will not see you.

The first thing to do is open your Google Business Profile and check your categories and services. You can also look at strong local competitors to see what categories they appear under.

Only add categories that genuinely match what your business does.

2. Make Sure Your Website Supports Those Categories

Adding categories by itself is not enough.

Your website should support what you are telling Google.

If your Google Business Profile says you provide water softeners, but there is nothing about water softeners anywhere on your website, the information does not match.

Ideally, your main services should have clear pages on your website.

For example:

Google Business Profile Category: Gas Fitter
Website: A clear page explaining your gas fitting services

This gives Google more confidence that the category is relevant to your business.

Your Google profile and your website should tell the same story.

3. Look at Your Profile From the Customer’s Point of View

Once people find you, the next question is:

Do they trust you enough to contact you?

Potential customers are comparing your business with the others shown next to you.

One of the biggest things they compare is your reviews.

Look at the top local competitors in your category and compare:

How many reviews they have
How recent those reviews are
What customers actually say
Their overall rating

If your business has seven reviews after 14 years and another local company has 60 or 100 recent reviews, the customer may feel safer contacting the competitor.

That is why a review system is so important.

4. Turn Happy Customers Into Digital Word of Mouth

Reviews are digital word of mouth.

A happy customer who leaves a useful review can continue helping your business long after the job is finished.

The strongest reviews usually explain:

What problem the customer had
What you did
How well you communicated
Whether you arrived on time
Whether you kept things clean and tidy
What the final result was

That information helps the next customer make a decision.

You can make it much easier for customers to leave reviews by using:

QR codes
Email follow-ups
Text messages
Links on invoices
Links in email signatures
Review cards

The easier you make the process, the more likely customers are to actually do it.

If you want to check the basics across your profile, use the Google Business Profile checklist :

https://jamesroberts.co.nz/gbp-checklist

5. Keep Your Opening Hours Accurate

Your normal opening hours and special holiday hours matter.

Google wants to give people reliable information.

If your business says it is open and a customer turns up to find it closed, that is a poor experience.

Google may also ask you by email whether your business is open on public holidays.

Do not ignore those requests.

A simple job you can do once a year is list all the national and regional holidays that affect your business and update your special hours in advance.

Then tell Google whether you are:

Open
Closed
Working reduced hours

It is a small task, but it gives Google more reliable information about your business.

6. Make It Easier for People to Contact You

Not everyone wants to pick up the phone.

Some people prefer:

Text messages
Messaging
A booking form
A contact page
A phone call

Your Google Business Profile can provide more than one way for people to take the next step.

If you have a contact page on your website, you can use that link as a booking or enquiry option where available.

If messaging is available for your setup, add it.

The goal is simple:

Remove as much friction as possible.

If someone wants to contact you, do not make them hunt around your website looking for a phone number or form.

7. Think of Your Google Business Profile as the Hub

Your Google Business Profile should sit at the centre of your local marketing.

People might first find you through:

Google Ads
Facebook
Your website
A referral
Social media
A local search

But before contacting you, many will still look at your Google Business Profile.

They want to check your reviews.

They want to see whether you are open.

They want to know what services you provide.

They want to know whether you look trustworthy.

So improving the profile can help you get more value from marketing you are already paying for.

You may not need more traffic.

You may simply need to convert more of the traffic you already have.

Conclusion

If your Google Business Profile is not generating enough inquiries, start with the basics.

Look at your visibility.

Check your categories.

Make sure your website supports those categories.

Compare your reviews with your competitors.

Create a proper review system.

Keep your hours accurate.

And make it as easy as possible for people to call, message or book.

Your profile should help customers answer three questions:

Can I find you?
Can I trust you?
Can I contact you easily?

Get those three things right and your Google Business Profile has a much better chance of turning local searches into real inquiries.

If you want to see what may be holding your profile back, you can also start with a FREE Google Business Profile audit :

https://www.jamesroberts.co.nz/free-gbp-audit

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Why is my Google Business Profile not bringing in customers?

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:28:28 GMT

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If your Google Business Profile is getting some views but not bringing in enough phone calls, enquiries or customers, it can be frustrating.

You know people are searching for your services. Your business is listed on Google. You may even be spending money on Google Ads, Facebook Ads or your website.

So why aren't those people contacting you?

There can be many reasons, but I would start by looking at two areas:

Trust
Visibility

If either one is weak, your Google Business Profile can struggle to turn searches into genuine customer enquiries.

1. Do Potential Customers Trust Your Business?

One of the first things I look at is reviews.

Business owners sometimes think Google reviews are simply nice comments from previous customers.

They're much more important than that.

Think about what happens when somebody is considering using a local plumber, electrician, tiler, mechanic or other service business.

They may have originally found the company through Google Ads, Facebook, a website or a recommendation.

But before picking up the phone, they often do one final check.

They Google the business.

And that's when they see your Google Business Profile alongside your competitors.

Your Competitors Are Only A Click Away

Imagine your business has seven reviews.

One competitor has 66.

Another has 111.

Put yourself in the customer's shoes.

If they don't know any of the three companies, which one feels like the safer choice?

This is why reviews aren't simply about having a five-star rating.

The number, quality, recency and detail of your reviews can all influence how somebody feels about contacting you.

If you're not sure how your profile compares locally, my free Google Business Profile audit looks at your profile alongside the businesses you're actually competing against.

Better Reviews Give Customers More Information

A review saying:

"Great service. Highly recommended."

is certainly positive.

But it doesn't tell a prospective customer much about what you actually did.

A detailed feedback review is far more useful.

For example, imagine somebody explaining that they needed an instant hot water solution for a large family. They describe the original problem, the options they were given, the solution they chose and what the experience was like.

Now somebody with a similar problem can read that review and think:

"That's exactly what I need help with."

It becomes digital word of mouth at precisely the point when a prospective customer is deciding who to contact.

Don't Leave Reviews To Chance

One mistake I regularly see is businesses simply waiting for customers to leave reviews.

Happy customers are busy.

Even when somebody is delighted with your work, they may never think about leaving feedback unless you ask them.

Meanwhile, an unhappy customer can be highly motivated to write something.

That can leave a perfectly good business with very few positive reviews and one or two poor reviews having a disproportionate impact on its profile.

Make requesting customer feedback part of your normal process.

Don't wait until you suddenly receive a negative review before paying attention to your Google reputation.

2. Is Your Google Business Profile Visible Enough?

The second major problem is visibility.

You can have an excellent company, fantastic reviews and happy customers, but none of that helps if your business barely appears when local customers search.

One area I frequently find underused is Google Business Profile categories.

Many businesses select their main category when they create their profile and then never look at the categories again.

That can mean missed opportunities.

Look Beyond Your Primary Category

Your primary category should represent the main thing your business does.

But depending on the business, there may also be several relevant additional categories.

Imagine you've only selected one category.

You're effectively putting yourself into one group of businesses competing for those searches.

If there are several other legitimate categories that accurately describe services you provide, you may have opportunities to appear for a wider range of relevant searches.

The important word here is relevant .

Don't simply add categories because you'd like more traffic.

They should genuinely reflect services your business provides.

Your Website And Google Profile Should Tell The Same Story

Your Google Business Profile shouldn't exist in isolation.

If you're telling Google that your business provides a particular service, your website should also make that service clear.

For example, if you provide:

Gas fitting
Heat pump installation
Electrical repairs
Bathroom renovations

Those services should be properly represented on your website rather than being hidden in one sentence on a general services page.

Clear service pages also help prospective customers.

When somebody moves from your Google profile to your website, they should

immediately be able to confirm:

"Yes, this company does exactly what I need."

If your profile says one thing and your website barely mentions it, you're making the customer's decision harder.

Trust First, Visibility Second

There's an important relationship between these two areas.

Getting more visibility isn't particularly useful if customers find you and then choose a competitor because their profile looks more established and trustworthy.

That's why I normally look at trust first.

Ask yourself:

How many reviews do we have?
How recent are they?
Do customers describe the actual work we carried out?
How do our reviews compare with our strongest local competitors?
Are there poor reviews that we've ignored?

Then look at visibility:

Is our primary category correct?
Are we missing relevant additional categories?
Are all our important services properly listed?
Does our website support those services?
Are we actually visible across the areas we want customers from?

You can also work through my Google Business Profile checklist if you want a structured starting point.

Compare Yourself With The Businesses Already Winning Locally

One of the easiest things you can do is search Google for your main services and study the businesses appearing around you.

Don't just look at whoever is number one.

Look at the wider local market.

Compare:

Reviews
Categories
Services
Website pages
Photos
Business information
How clearly each company explains what it does

This can quickly highlight areas where your profile is falling behind.

It can also reveal opportunities your competitors haven't taken advantage of.

So Why Isn't Your Google Business Profile Bringing In Customers?

Start with these two questions:

Can enough potential customers find you?

And:

When they find you, do they trust you enough to make contact?

Visibility gets you into the conversation.

Trust helps turn that visibility into customers.

Before spending more money driving people towards your business, make sure those two foundations are working properly.

Because attracting more people to a profile that doesn't create confidence can simply mean sending more potential customers towards your competitors.

Why did my Google Business Profile views suddenly drop?

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:32:37 GMT

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If your Google Business Profile views have suddenly dropped, there is usually a reason.

Sometimes the problem is not that demand has disappeared. It is that your competitors have started doing a better job with their own profiles, your reviews have slowed down, or Google does not have enough information about the services you provide.

The good news is that there are several practical things you can check.

In this article, I’ll walk through the main reasons your Google Business Profile visibility may have fallen, how categories and website content work together, and how to spot opportunities your competitors may be missing. This blog is based on the supplied video transcript and its examples.

Your Competitors May Be Catching Up

One of the first things to consider is your competition.

A lot more local businesses are starting to understand the value of their Google Business Profile. They are improving their reviews, adding more information, updating categories and paying more attention to the profile than they did a year ago.

That matters because local search is competitive.

You may have been appearing in the top three map results before, but if competitors improve their profiles while yours stays the same, you can start slipping down.

And once you drop out of those top positions, your views can fall quickly.

So if your visibility has dropped, it may not be because you suddenly did something wrong.

It may simply be because someone else has started doing things better.

Review Consistency Matters

Reviews are another important part of the picture.

It is not only about how many reviews you have.

Consistency matters too.

A business that gets a few good reviews every month can look more active than a business that collected 100 reviews years ago and then stopped.

Fresh reviews show that customers are still using the business now.

They also help Google and potential customers understand whether the business is active, trusted and still providing the services it claims to provide.

If your competitors are getting regular reviews and you are not, that can help explain why their visibility is growing while yours is dropping.

You May Be Missing Google Business Profile Categories

This is one of the biggest missed opportunities.

Google allows businesses to claim multiple relevant categories.

But many businesses only use one.

Take a plumber as an example.

They may only have:

Plumber

listed as their category.

But that same business may also provide:

Gas fitting
Drain laying
Hot water cylinder work
Water softeners
Other specialist plumbing services

If those services match relevant Google Business Profile categories, adding them can give Google more context about what the business actually does.

This can increase the number of searches where the business has a chance to appear.

Think of it like a horse race.

If there are 20 businesses competing and you only have one category, you have one horse in the race.

If you genuinely qualify for several categories, you have more chances to appear across more local searches.

Your Website Has to Back Up Your Categories

There is an important catch.

You cannot just add categories to your Google Business Profile and expect them to work.

Your website needs to support them.

If you claim that you offer water softeners, but your website never mentions water softeners, Google may not have enough confidence that you genuinely provide that service.

Ideally, your website should have a clear page for each major category you want to rank for.

So if you claim:

Plumbing
Gas fitting
Drain laying
Hot water cylinders

your website should clearly talk about each of those services.

This creates a better match between your website and your Google Business Profile.

That consistency helps Google understand what your business does.

Services Matter Too

Categories tell Google the broad areas your business works in.

Services add more detail.

Under each category, you can add the actual services you provide.

For example, under plumbing you might include:

Tap repairs
Toilet repairs
Leak detection
Hot water repairs
Water pressure problems

The aim is not to add everything you can think of.

It is to add the services you genuinely offer and make sure the website supports them.

The clearer the match between your categories, services and website, the easier it is for Google to understand your business.

Use a Heat Map to See Where You Rank

One useful way to understand what is happening is through a local ranking heat map.

A heat map shows where your business appears across different areas around your location.

Instead of only checking one search from one place, you can see whether your visibility changes depending on where the customer is searching from.

This can reveal things like:

Areas where you already rank well
Areas where competitors are stronger
Categories where you are close to the top three
Categories where you may have a bigger opportunity

It gives you a much clearer view of what is happening than simply searching your business name and hoping for the best.

The video explains that this type of analysis is included in the FREE Google Business Profile audit : https://www.jamesroberts.co.nz/free-gbp-audit

Look for Gaps in Your Competitors

Another useful step is to study what competitors are doing.

Do they have more categories than you?

Do they have better reviews?

Are they getting reviews more regularly?

Are they adding posts?

Do they have service pages on their website that you do not?

Are they ranking strongly in one service but weakly in another?

Competitor research is not about copying everything they do.

It is about finding the gaps.

You may discover that one competitor dominates plumbing searches but barely appears for gas fitting.

Another may have a strong Google Business Profile but a weak website.

Those gaps can help show you where to focus your effort.

Your Google Business Profile Needs to Match Your Website

One of the biggest themes in local SEO is matching information.

Your website and Google Business Profile should support each other.

Your categories should match your real services.

Your services should appear on your website.

Your opening hours should be correct.

Your reviews should talk about the work you actually do.

Your website should make it clear where you operate.

The more consistent the information is, the easier it is for Google to understand and trust the business.

And the easier it is for customers too.

Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference

A sudden drop in Google Business Profile views does not always mean you need to start again.

Sometimes a few targeted changes can make a big difference.

You may need to:

Add missing categories
Improve service pages
Get reviews more consistently
Add services to the correct categories
Improve the match between your website and profile
Identify weak areas using a heat map
Find gaps your competitors have missed

The important thing is to diagnose the problem before making random changes.

That is where a structured audit can help.

If you want to work through your profile yourself, the Google Business Profile checklist is another useful resource: https://jamesroberts.co.nz/gbp-checklist

Conclusion

If your Google Business Profile views have suddenly dropped, do not assume Google has simply stopped showing your business for no reason.

Your competitors may have improved.

Your reviews may have become less consistent.

You may be missing categories.

Your website may not support the services you have claimed.

Or there may be opportunities in your local market that you have not yet identified.

The goal is to give Google a clear, consistent picture of what your business does, where you operate and what services you provide.

When your profile, website, reviews, categories and services all support each other, you give yourself a much better chance of appearing in the local searches that matter.

Stop Losing Leads: The Truth About Your Google Profile

Tue, 15 Sep 2026 23:03:52 GMT

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Why Is My Google Business Profile Not Bringing in Customers?

You may already be getting traffic from your website, Google Ads, Facebook, social media or other advertising. But if those people check your Google Business Profile and do not like what they see, much of that traffic can go to waste.

For many local businesses, the Google Business Profile is where potential customers make the final trust decision. They look at your reviews, opening hours, services, categories and how easy it is to contact you.

If a competitor looks stronger, clearer or more trusted, that customer may simply choose them instead. This blog covers the key problems discussed in the video and what you can do about them.

1. You Do Not Have a System for Getting Reviews

Google reviews are a form of digital word of mouth.

Many business owners say most of their work comes from referrals and word of mouth, but very few have a proper system for encouraging that same behaviour online.

A happy customer may be willing to leave you a review, but you need to make it easy.

That could mean putting your Google review QR code on:

Business cards
Invoices
Email signatures
Follow-up emails
Your website

The important part is having a repeatable process rather than hoping customers remember to leave one.

A useful review also says more than:

“Great service. Highly recommended.”

A stronger review explains what problem the customer had, what you did, and what the outcome was.

For example, a customer might explain that they thought their hot water cylinder needed replacing, but the plumber found that only the electrical element needed repairing. That tells future customers much more about what the business can actually do.

It also gives Google more context around your services.

2. Your Reviews Are Not Helping People Make a Decision

A potential customer is not only looking at your star rating.

They are trying to work out:

Will you turn up?
Will you communicate properly?
Will you keep the job tidy?
Will you charge what you quoted?
Do you actually know how to solve their problem?

Your reviews can answer those questions before the customer ever calls you.

This is why detailed feedback is so useful. Every good customer can become a kind of digital salesperson for your business.

If your competitors have more reviews, newer reviews and more detailed reviews, someone comparing the two businesses may feel safer choosing them.

If you want to see what may be missing from your profile, use the Google Business Profile checklist :

3. Your Business Information Does Not Match

Google wants clear and consistent information.

If your website says you are open from 9am to 5pm, but your Google Business Profile says 7am to 4pm, that creates mixed information.

The same applies to:

Phone numbers
Services
Business categories
Opening hours
Holiday hours
Locations

The easier you make it for Google to understand your business, the more confidence it has in the information it shows to searchers.

4. You Have Not Set Your Special Opening Hours

This is one of the easiest things to fix.

Your normal business hours are important, but so are your special hours for public holidays and regional holidays.

Imagine somebody searches for your business on a public holiday. Google says you are open, they drive to you, and you are closed.

That is a poor experience.

You can avoid this by going into your Google Business Profile and setting your special opening hours for the year.

It may only take an hour to work through the dates, but once it is done, Google has clearer information about exactly when your business is available.

5. It Is Too Hard for Customers to Contact You

Different people prefer different ways to make contact.

Some want to call.

Some want to send a message.

Others want to book or fill in a form.

Your Google Business Profile should make those next steps as easy as possible.

Check whether you can add:

Phone calls
Messaging
WhatsApp or other supported messaging
A booking link
A contact-page link

The fewer steps somebody has to take, the easier it is for them to become a lead.

6. You Are Missing Important Business Categories

This can have a major effect on your local visibility.

Many businesses only claim their main Google Business Profile category.

For example, a plumber may simply choose:

Plumber

But the business may also offer:

Gas fitting
Drain laying
Hot water cylinder work
Water softeners
Other specialist plumbing services

If those services match genuine Google Business Profile categories, adding the relevant categories gives Google more information about what the business actually does.

However, the information needs to match your website.

If your profile says you offer water softeners but your website never mentions water softeners, that creates a mismatch.

Your profile and your website should support each other.

This is one of the areas covered in the FREE Google Business Profile audit :

https://www.jamesroberts.co.nz/free-gbp-audit

7. Your Services Are Not Set Up Properly

Categories tell Google broadly what type of business you are.

Services provide more detail.

Under each relevant category, you can add the services you actually provide.

The video suggests focusing on a sensible number of real services rather than filling the profile with everything possible.

Again, those services should be supported by your website.

If you say you offer a particular service on Google, ideally there should be information about that service on the appropriate page of your website.

That makes the relationship clear:

Category → Service → Website Content

The clearer that relationship is, the easier it is for Google and potential customers to understand your business.

8. You Are Not Feeding Conversion Data Back to Google Ads

This point is especially important for businesses using Google Ads.

Imagine you hired a salesperson and every time they brought you a terrible lead, you said:

“Great. Bring me more of those.”

That would make no sense.

But that is effectively what can happen when Google Ads is not receiving good conversion information.

Google needs to know what happened after somebody clicked the ad.

Did they:

Call the business?
Submit an enquiry?
Book?
Leave immediately?
Become a genuine lead?

Your analytics and conversion tracking help feed that information back into the advertising system.

Without it, Google has much less information about which clicks are valuable.

This can be particularly useful for franchisees who may not have full control over the franchisor's website or advertising account but do have access to their own Google Business Profile performance information.

Your Google Business Profile Is the Hub

The key point is that your Google Business Profile does not sit on its own.

It connects with:

Your website
Your advertising
Your reviews
Your services
Your categories
Your opening hours
Your contact options

You could spend more money driving traffic to your business, but if people check your profile and a competitor looks more trusted, more active or easier to contact, that advertising may end up helping the competitor instead.

So before assuming you simply need more traffic, check whether the traffic you already have is being converted properly.

A stronger Google Business Profile can help give customers the confidence they need to take the next step.

How do I get my business into the Google Maps pack?

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 22:04:21 GMT

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If you are asking, “How do I get my business into the Google Maps pack?”, there are a few important areas worth looking at first.

There can be numerous reasons why one business appears prominently in Google Maps while another business struggles to show up. However, in my experience, three areas regularly make a big difference:

Giving Google clearer signals about what your business does.
Building more trust through customer feedback and reviews.
Building stronger local authority around your business.

None of these is a magic switch. But getting these three areas right can give Google much better information about your business and help you compete with other local companies.

1. Improve Your Relevance to Google

The first thing to look at is relevance.

Google needs to clearly understand what your business does, what services you offer and where those services fit.

One of the easiest places to start is your Google Business Profile categories.

Google allows businesses to select a primary category along with additional categories that are relevant to the business. Depending on your trade or industry, there may only be a few suitable categories, while other businesses may have considerably more available.

What surprises me is how many businesses I audit that have selected just one category, or perhaps two, even though several others could accurately describe the services they provide.

Your categories are only the beginning.

You should then make sure the services listed within your Google Business Profile support those categories.

Rather than filling your profile with duplicated or irrelevant services, choose the services that genuinely represent what customers are looking for.

Then make sure the same services appear on your website.

For example, if your Google Business Profile tells Google that you provide a particular service, but your website barely mentions that service, you are giving Google mixed signals.

Your Google Business Profile and website should support each other.

That means having relevant category or service information on the website and linking visitors from your Google Business Profile to the most appropriate page rather than automatically sending everyone to your homepage.

For many businesses in smaller cities, you may not need hundreds of pages.

A well-built page covering a particular category, with the important services naturally included within the content, can often provide Google with the extra relevance it needs.

In larger and more competitive markets, however, you may need more detailed category and individual service pages to compete.

The important point is consistency.

Your categories, services, Google Business Profile and website should all tell Google the same story.

2. Build More Trust With Customer Feedback

The second area is trust.

One of the best ways of building trust with Google is allowing your own customers to provide information about the experience they had with your business.

That means reviews.

But I prefer to think of them as customer feedback rather than simply asking people for a five-star review.

Instead of saying:

“Can you leave us a review?”

Make the process easier for the customer.

You could send a message after completing the job saying something along the lines of:

“Thanks for choosing us. If you have a moment, could you leave some feedback explaining the problem you had, what we did to solve it and how you found the service?”

That produces something far more useful than:

“Highly recommended.”

Detailed feedback gives future customers context.

It also gives Google more information about the types of work your company actually carries out.

Make leaving that feedback as easy as possible.

You can include your review link or QR code on invoices, email signatures or follow-up emails and messages. You could also send a simple reminder a few days after completing the job.

The easier you make it, the more likely customers are to respond.

And there is another important benefit.

Reviews are today's digital word of mouth.

Imagine somebody comparing two local companies.

One company has been trading for 14 years but has only seven reviews.

Another has been trading for five years and has 66 detailed reviews from customers describing the work they had done and the experience they received.

Which one feels safer to contact?

That can be particularly frustrating when the company with very few reviews is spending money advertising to bring people to its website and Google Business Profile.

They have paid to attract the prospect and then potentially lose that prospect because another company's profile creates more trust.

If you are unsure where your own profile may be losing ground, my free Google Business Profile audit is designed to help identify some of those gaps.

3. Build More Local Authority

The third area is local authority.

Google doesn't look at your business in isolation. It can also find information about your company elsewhere online.

Business directories are one example.

Having accurate references to your business name, address, phone number, services and website on reputable directories can help reinforce the information Google already has about you.

But I particularly like genuinely local connections.

Think about organisations such as:

Local Chambers of Commerce
Trade associations
Business networking groups
Schools
Charities
Local sports clubs
Community organisations

These connections make sense because they show that your business genuinely operates within and contributes to the local community.

For example, rather than simply sponsoring something and receiving nothing more than a thank-you, you may be able to support a school, charity or sporting organisation with your services.

In return, they may be happy to mention your business on their website with your company name, logo and a link back to your website.

The key is that these should be real relationships.

You are not simply trying to manufacture hundreds of random links from websites around the world.

A handful of genuine local mentions can make far more sense for a local service business.

You are effectively building a trail around the internet that confirms:

“This company is here, this is what they do, and these local organisations know them.”

That supports the wider picture you are trying to create with your website and Google Business Profile.

Bringing the Three Areas Together

Getting into the Google Maps pack isn't normally about finding one secret setting.

It is about making your business easier for Google to understand and trust.

Start by checking your relevance.

Are you using the right Google Business Profile categories? Are your services properly listed? Does your website support what you are telling Google?

Then look at trust.

Are customers regularly leaving useful feedback, or have you got seven reviews while your competitors have 50, 60 or 100?

Finally, look at your local authority.

Does the rest of the internet provide evidence that you are a genuine local company connected to your area?

These three areas alone will not explain every Google Maps ranking problem, but they give you a strong place to start.

If you want to go deeper into the additional things you can check and improve yourself, I've put together a free Google Business Profile masterclass covering more of the tweaks that can help strengthen your profile.

What is the Most Important Ranking Factors for Google Business Profiles

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:53:35 GMT

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What Are the Most Important

If you’re trying to get your business higher on Google Maps, it can sometimes feel as though there are hundreds of things you need to change.

Reviews, categories, photos, posts, your website, your location, services, business information — the list goes on.

The problem is that not all Google Business Profile ranking signals are equally important .

There are three areas I look at first when auditing a Google Business Profile:

Relevance
Location
Prominence

Get these three areas working together and you give Google much stronger reasons to show your business when somebody nearby searches for the products or services you provide.

Let’s look at each one.

1. Relevance: Does Google Understand What You Actually Do?

The first factor is relevance .

Google needs to understand what your business does and whether it is relevant to what somebody has just searched for.

One of the first things I check when auditing a Google Business Profile is the business category.

I regularly find businesses using a primary category that is completely different from the categories being used by most of their strongest local competitors.

That can immediately put them at a disadvantage.

Your Primary Category Matters

Imagine you have 20 horses in a race.

If your Google Business Profile is using only one relevant category, you effectively have one horse in the race.

But Google allows businesses to select a primary category plus additional relevant categories where appropriate.

If your business genuinely fits several categories, you're potentially giving Google several different ways of matching your business with relevant searches.

That doesn't mean selecting categories that have nothing to do with your business.

Every category needs to accurately describe something you genuinely provide.

The objective is to make it easier for Google to understand all the different searches for which your business could be a relevant result.

If you're unsure whether your profile is giving Google enough information, my Google Business Profile Checklist gives you a useful starting point for checking the basics yourself.

2. Location: How Close Are You to the Person Searching?

The second important factor is location .

This one is particularly important because there are parts of it you simply can't control.

If somebody searches for a plumber, physiotherapist, garage door repairer or another local service, Google considers the location of the person searching and the businesses that could potentially help them.

You can't simply tell Google:

"I want to rank number one everywhere in Christchurch."

Your actual location matters.

Make Your Location Clear to Google

Although you can't physically move your business every time somebody searches, you can make sure Google has consistent information about where your business is located and the areas you serve.

This is something I regularly see businesses getting wrong.

For example, a business moves premises and updates its website but forgets to update its Google Business Profile.

Or the opposite happens.

The Google Business Profile gets updated, but the old address remains elsewhere online.

Now Google has conflicting information.

I've audited businesses where location information was so unclear that Google appeared to associate the business with a completely different area.

For local search, that's a serious problem.

Think About the Areas You Actually Want to Serve

It's also worth thinking strategically about your service areas.

If you're a company installing roller shutter doors, you may be particularly interested in commercial and industrial areas.

A landscape gardener might want to target suburbs experiencing significant new housing development.

A plumber offering particular services may find certain older suburbs especially relevant.

The point isn't simply to add every possible location.

It's to make it clear to Google where you are, what areas you genuinely serve and what services you provide there .

Relevance and location should support each other.

3. Prominence: Are You the Natural Choice?

The third major factor is prominence .

You could have your categories set up correctly and your location information perfectly aligned, but there's another question:

When somebody finds your business alongside several competitors, why should they choose you?

This is where your reputation becomes extremely important.

And one of the most visible signs of that reputation is your Google reviews.

Think of Reviews Like a Game of Top Trumps

When I was younger, we played Top Trumps.

You might have cards for cars, aircraft or animals, and each card had different statistics.

Eventually you learned which cards were difficult to beat.

Your Google Business Profile works in a similar way.

Imagine a potential customer finds three businesses.

One has 7 reviews.

Another has 18.

The third has 55 recent, positive reviews.

Which one immediately looks like the safer choice?

That's why simply appearing on Google isn't enough.

You also need to look like a business people can trust.

Reviews Do More Than Build Trust

Reviews aren't just about accumulating five-star ratings.

Good customer feedback can also provide Google with additional context about what your business actually does.

For example, imagine you're a plumber who also supplies and installs water softeners.

If several recent customers naturally mention in their reviews that you installed a water softener, solved a particular problem and provided a good service, those reviews provide additional context about your business.

Your customers are effectively describing their experience in their own words.

That's much more useful than a collection of reviews that simply say:

"Great company."

"Excellent service."

"Highly recommended."

Those reviews are nice to have, but detailed feedback tells prospective customers much more about the problems you've solved and the services you've provided.

It can therefore help with two things at the same time:

It gives potential customers confidence in choosing you, while providing additional information about the work your business actually carries out.

If reviews are currently one of the weaker parts of your profile, I've created a free Google Business Profile audit that can help identify where your profile may be losing ground against local competitors.

The Three Factors Need to Work Together

The important thing is not to look at relevance, location and prominence as three completely separate jobs.

They support each other.

Your categories and services help Google understand what you do .

Your business information helps Google understand where you are .

Your reviews, reputation and other signals help demonstrate why your business may be a good choice .

That's when your Google Business Profile starts becoming much stronger.

It's not about finding one secret trick that suddenly puts you at the top of Google Maps.

It's about giving

How do I get my business to show up first on Google Maps?

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:31:18 GMT

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If you’re wondering, “How do I get my business higher on Google Maps?” , there isn’t one magic switch you can flick.

Google needs enough information and enough evidence to understand what your business does, where you operate and why it should consider showing your business ahead of the competition .

There are dozens of individual factors that can influence your visibility, but there are four areas I would look at first:

Your website and Google Business Profile need to match.
Google needs to clearly understand the services you provide.
Your customers need to help build trust through reviews.
You need to prove that your business genuinely matters locally.

Let’s look at each one.

1. Make Your Website Match Your Google Business Profile

Think of Google as a huge digital filing cabinet.

For Google to put your business into the right drawer, it needs clear labels telling it exactly what your website and individual pages are about.

One of the first things I check is what I call the Three Kings .

These are:

The page title – the wording displayed in the browser tab and used by Google to understand the subject of the page.

The page URL – the wording after your main website address.

The H1 heading – the main heading visitors see when they arrive on the page.

For example, imagine you're a plumber in Christchurch.

Your primary Google Business Profile category might be Plumber.

Your important website page could therefore have:

Page title: Plumber Christchurch | Company Name

URL: /plumber-christchurch

H1: Plumber Christchurch

You can make the H1 more natural for the visitor, but the important point is that Google shouldn't have to guess what that page is about.

Your primary Google Business Profile category, website and location should reinforce each other.

Consistency Matters Too

It isn't only your headings.

Your business information should also be consistent between your website and Google Business Profile.

Check things such as:

Business name
Address
Postcode
Opening hours
Phone number
Areas you service

I've seen businesses where the address on the website is slightly different from the address on Google Maps, opening hours don't match or even the suburb and postcode are inconsistent.

If the information is confusing to a person looking at it, imagine what Google has to make of it.

Remove that confusion.

2. Show Google Exactly What You Do

Your primary category is extremely important, but many businesses provide considerably more than one service.

This is where additional relevant categories and services become useful.

I often explain this using a horse race.

Imagine 20 horses are running in a race.

If you've only got one horse in the race, you've got one opportunity to win.

If your business legitimately provides several different services and you correctly represent those services through your Google Business Profile and website, you've effectively entered more horses into different races.

A plumber might struggle to appear at the very top for a highly competitive search such as:

Plumber Christchurch

But they might have a much stronger opportunity for a more specific service they genuinely provide.

The important part is that you shouldn't simply add categories because you want more visibility.

You need to back them up.

If you claim that you provide a particular service, your website should contain useful information about that service as well.

You're creating a consistent picture that tells Google:

This is what we do. This is where we do it. And here's the evidence.

3. Let Your Customers Talk Directly to Google

Reviews are one of the most valuable assets a local business can build.

I describe them as digital word of mouth .

Imagine someone finds three local businesses.

One has seven reviews.

Another has 66.

Another has 111.

Even if all three appear prominently on Google Maps, the business with very few reviews may immediately be at a disadvantage when the prospective customer starts deciding who they trust.

This is particularly important because that person isn't casually browsing anymore.

They have buyer intent.

They're trying to decide who to call .

But reviews can do something else as well.

They give your customers an opportunity to describe, in their own words, the problem they had and the service you provided.

Instead of simply asking:

"Can you leave us a review?"

Make it easier by asking for feedback around three simple things:

What problem did you have?

What solution did we provide?

How did we do?

That gives the customer something useful to write about.

A plumbing customer might explain that they thought their entire hot water cylinder needed replacing, but the plumber diagnosed a faulty element and replaced that instead.

That's far more useful than:

"Great service. Five stars."

The next person with a similar problem can read that review and immediately relate to it.

Google gets additional context about the work the business actually performs as well.

That's why consistently harvesting good customer feedback can be so powerful.

4. Prove You Matter Locally

Google Maps is local.

So one question worth asking is:

What evidence exists online that connects my business to this particular area?

Think about organisations you already support or could genuinely become involved with.

That might include:

Local sports clubs
Schools
Community organisations
Charities
Business organisations
Other relevant local websites

For example, perhaps your business helps a local sports club and the club acknowledges your support on its website with your business details and a link.

You can also mention your support for that organisation on your own website.

Now you're creating another genuine connection between your business and the local community.

It also works for prospective customers.

Someone might visit your website and immediately recognise the school, sports club or organisation you support.

Suddenly you're not simply another business they found on Google.

You're a local business they can associate with their own community .

That can build trust with people while also strengthening the overall local picture surrounding your business online.

Three Shortcuts to Finding the Problems Faster

The difficult part of improving Google Maps visibility isn't always making the changes.

It's knowing which changes you actually need to make .

Every business starts from a different position.

Your website may be the problem.

Your categories may be wrong or incomplete.

Your competitors may have significantly stronger reviews.

Your local signals may be weak.

Or you might have several smaller problems working against you at the same time.

That's why one of the quickest starting points is a FREE Google Business Profile Audit .

I can look at what's working, what's being missed, what your competitors are doing and identify some of the areas that deserve attention first.

I've also created a Google Business Profile masterclass and checklist if you'd rather work through the process yourself.

These resources help you systematically check your profile rather than randomly changing things and hoping something works.

So, How Do You Get Higher on Google Maps?

Start by making Google's job easier.

Make sure your website clearly matches what you're telling Google through your Business Profile.

Properly represent the categories and services you genuinely provide.

Build a steady flow of detailed customer feedback and reviews.

And create genuine evidence that connects your business with the local area you serve.

Google Maps visibility usually isn't about discovering one secret trick.

It's about building enough consistent evidence that Google can confidently understand:

Who you are.

What you do.

Where you do it.

And why you deserve to be considered alongside — or ahead of — the other local businesses competing for that customer.

How do I get my business higher on Google Maps?

Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:32:19 GMT

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If your business isn't appearing as high as you'd like on Google Maps, it doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong with your Google Business Profile.

More often, Google simply has stronger signals from other local businesses and therefore more confidence in showing them ahead of you.

There are many factors that can influence local rankings, but three areas are particularly worth looking at:

Relevance – does Google clearly understand everything your business does?
Trust – does Google have enough evidence that you're a genuine, active local business?
Authority – are there enough signals around the web supporting what you're telling Google?

In the video above, I explain these three areas. Below, I've broken them down into practical things you can check on your own business.

1. Make Your Business More Relevant

One of the first things I check is whether a business has told Google about all the services it actually provides .

Your Google Business Profile has a primary business category, but you can also add relevant additional categories.

This matters because your categories help Google understand which searches your business may be relevant for .

Don't Stop at Your Primary Category

Imagine you're a plumber.

Your primary category may simply be:

Plumber

But depending on the work you actually carry out, your business might also be relevant to categories covering areas such as:

Gas fitting
Drainage
Hot water systems
Heating
Water treatment or water softening
Bathroom-related services

The important point isn't to add as many categories as possible.

It's to find every category that genuinely describes work your business performs .

Check Your Services Too

Categories are only part of the picture.

Your Google Business Profile also allows you to list individual services.

Go through each relevant category and check the services Google makes available.

You may find services you perform every week but haven't actually added to your profile.

This gives Google more information about what you do.

Make Sure Your Website Backs It Up

This is where many businesses have a gap.

If your Google Business Profile says you're a gas fitter, for example, but your website barely mentions gas fitting, you're giving Google mixed signals.

Ideally, your website should support your Google Business Profile.

For important services, check whether you have:

A relevant service page
Clear descriptions of the work you perform
Your location or service area
Real examples of completed work
Frequently asked questions about that service
Photos showing the work

Think of your website and Google Business Profile as two parts of the same system.

The clearer and more consistent the information is, the easier you make it for Google to understand when your business is relevant.

2. Build More Local Trust

The next area is trust.

Google doesn't just need to understand what you do. It also needs evidence that you're an established business that customers actually use.

One of the strongest sources of that evidence is your customers.

Google Reviews Give Google More Context

Reviews aren't only about having a good star rating.

The actual wording customers use can give Google useful context about your business.

Compare these two reviews:

"Great job. Highly recommended."

and:

"We had a blocked drain at our home in Christchurch. They found the blockage, cleared the drain and explained what had caused the problem."

Both are positive reviews.

But the second contains much more useful information about:

The problem
The service provided
The location
The outcome

That's why I prefer asking customers for feedback , rather than simply asking:

"Can you leave us a five-star review?"

Ask them to explain:

What problem did they have?
What did you do to solve it?
How did they find the service?

You're not telling customers what to write. You're simply helping them give meaningful feedback in their own words.

Reply to Your Reviews

Don't collect reviews and then ignore them.

Reply to them.

Where it's natural, your response can mention the service or job.

For example:

"Thanks for the feedback. It was great helping you with the new water softener installation in [suburb]."

That creates additional context around the work your business performs.

Consistency Matters

You should also check that your basic business information is accurate and consistent.

Pay particular attention to:

Business name
Address
Phone number
Website
Normal opening hours
Holiday hours
Special opening hours

If your website says you're open and your Google Business Profile says you're closed, which one should Google trust?

Keeping these details accurate removes unnecessary uncertainty.

3. Build More Local Authority

The third area is local authority.

Google doesn't only look at your Google Business Profile and website.

It can find information about your business across the web.

You want those external signals to reinforce the same story.

Build Accurate Local Citations

A citation is essentially an online mention or directory listing containing information about your business.

You'll often hear people talk about NAP , which simply means:

Name – Address – Phone Number

Depending on the directory, your listing may also include:

Website
Business description
Categories
Services
Opening hours
Photos

There are numerous New Zealand, industry and local directories where a legitimate business may be listed.

The important thing is accuracy and consistency , rather than simply creating hundreds of poor-quality listings.

If Google repeatedly finds the same business information around the web, it provides another layer of evidence supporting your business.

Use Real Photos to Prove What You Do

Photos are another area local businesses often overlook.

Instead of relying entirely on stock photographs, build a library of pictures from real jobs.

For trades and service businesses, before-and-after photographs can be particularly effective.

Try photographing:

The original problem
Work in progress
The finished result
Your team carrying out the work
Vehicles and equipment
Different types of jobs you regularly complete

For before-and-after pictures, try taking both photographs from approximately the same position and angle .

It makes the transformation much easier for a potential customer to understand.

And remember: these photographs aren't just there for Google.

They're there for the person looking at your business and wondering:

"Can these people actually solve my problem?"

Real photographs help answer that question.

Video Can Be Even More Powerful

If you're comfortable doing it, take short videos while you're on a job.

They don't need to be professionally produced.

A simple phone video can work.

Before the Job

Explain:

What the customer called you about
What you've found
What you think caused the problem
What you're going to do
Why you've chosen that solution

After the Job

Show the finished result and explain:

What you did
What you discovered
How you solved it
Anything the customer needs to know afterwards

You're demonstrating real experience rather than simply claiming you have it.

For potential customers, that's extremely powerful.

A Quick Google Maps Checklist

If you're trying to improve your visibility on Google Maps, start by checking these areas:

Relevance

Have you selected the most appropriate primary category?
Have you added all genuinely relevant additional categories?
Have you added the services you actually provide?
Does your website clearly support those categories and services?

Trust

Are you regularly receiving genuine customer reviews?
Do those reviews contain useful feedback about the work performed?
Are you replying to your reviews?
Are your business details and opening hours accurate?

Authority

Is your business listed consistently on reputable directories?
Is your name, address and phone number consistent?
Are you regularly adding genuine job photos?
Could you produce simple before-and-after photos or videos?

Don't Try to "Trick" Google – Give It Better Evidence

Getting higher on Google Maps isn't about finding one secret setting or stuffing keywords everywhere.

Think about it from Google's point of view.

Google is trying to decide:

What does this business do?

Where does it do it?

Can I trust the information?

Do customers appear to trust this business?

Is there enough evidence for me to confidently show this business to someone searching locally?

Your job is to make those questions easier for Google to answer.

Improve your relevance.

Build trust.

Build local authority.

And keep giving Google genuine evidence of the work your business actually performs.

Want to Go Further?

These are three important areas, but they're not the only things that can affect your Google Maps visibility.

In the next video, I cover another five things you can check on your Google Business Profile and website to help strengthen your local visibility.

Watch that next if you want to continue working through the checklist and find out what else might be holding your business back.

What is the Most Important Ranking Factors for Google Business Profiles,

Thu, 10 Sep 2026 01:12:25 GMT

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If you want your Google Business Profile to appear more often when potential customers search locally, it helps to understand that not every ranking signal carries the same weight.

There are dozens of things you can improve around a Google Business Profile, but three areas deserve particular attention: relevance, location and prominence . Get these foundations right and you give Google much clearer information about who you are, what you do and where you should potentially appear.

1. Relevance: Does Google Understand What You Do?

The first factor is relevance.

One of the things I regularly find when auditing Google Business Profiles is a business using a primary category that is completely different from the categories being used by most of its successful local competitors.

For example, if 80% of the businesses appearing prominently for the searches you want are using one particular primary category, but you've selected something completely different, that's worth investigating.

Your primary category is important, but don't forget your secondary categories.

Think of categories like entering horses into a race. If there are 20 competitors and you've only entered one horse, you've got one opportunity to win. If your business genuinely qualifies for several relevant categories, you're potentially giving Google more ways to understand and match what you offer.

The important word here is relevant . Don't simply add categories because they're available. They should accurately describe services your business genuinely provides.

If you're unsure whether your categories and other important elements have been set up correctly, my Google Business Profile Checklist provides a useful starting point.

2. Location: Where Is Your Business Relevant?

The second major consideration is location.

For a local business, it isn't enough for Google to understand what you do. It also needs to understand where you do it.

That means thinking strategically about the areas you're trying to attract customers from rather than simply saying, "everywhere around me."

Different businesses can have very different ideal service areas.

A company repairing commercial roller shutter doors may be particularly interested in industrial and commercial areas. A landscaper may want to concentrate on suburbs with significant residential development. A plumber offering certain specialist services might have opportunities in older suburbs.

The point is to think about where your ideal customers are actually located.

Keep Your Location Information Consistent

Another issue I regularly see during audits is inconsistent address information.

Perhaps a business has moved and its website shows the new address while its Google Business Profile still contains the old one. That sends conflicting location information.

I've seen profiles where this type of problem appears to have left Google with a poor understanding of where the business is actually based.

Your website, Google Business Profile and other important business information should therefore give Google clear and consistent location signals.

3. Prominence: Are You the Natural Choice?

Getting your relevance and location right can help you become more visible, but there's another question:

When somebody finds you, are you the business they actually want to contact?

This is where prominence becomes important.

Reviews are a big part of this because customers naturally compare businesses.

Imagine someone finds three local companies:

Business A has 7 reviews
Business B has 18 reviews
Business C has 55 reviews

Everything else being reasonably equal, the business with a substantial collection of good reviews may immediately look like the safer choice.

It's a little like playing Top Trumps. You want your business to have a strong enough card that when customers compare you with the alternatives, you remain in consideration rather than losing them at the final hurdle.

Reviews Can Do More Than Build Trust

Reviews aren't simply stars sitting beside your business name.

The wording customers use can also provide valuable context about what your business actually does.

For example, imagine you're a plumber who also supplies and installs water softeners. Not every plumber provides that particular service.

If recent customers naturally mention water softeners, the problem they had and the work you carried out, that creates much more useful context than a collection of reviews simply saying:

"Great job. Highly recommended."

You're getting genuine customer feedback while also giving potential customers a clearer understanding of the services you've successfully provided.

This is why I prefer feedback reviews — asking customers to explain the problem they had, the solution you provided and how well the job went.

If you'd like a simple process for generating more useful feedback from your existing happy customers, use my free Google Business Profile audit.

https://www.jamesroberts.co.nz/free-gbp-audit

Put the Three Factors Together

These three areas work together.

Relevance helps Google understand what you do.

Location helps Google understand where you should potentially be relevant.

Prominence helps establish whether your business is a strong and trusted option when compared with other local businesses.

Improving only one of these areas can leave opportunities on the table.

You might have fantastic reviews, for example, but the wrong primary category. Or you might have excellent categories but inconsistent location information.

Alternatively, Google may understand exactly what you do and where you operate, but prospective customers keep choosing competitors because their profiles look considerably more established.

The objective isn't to find one magic ranking trick. It's to build a stronger overall picture of your business.

Start With the Foundations

Google Business Profile optimisation can become complicated very quickly, but you don't have to fix everything at once.

Start by asking three questions:

Have I selected the most relevant categories for what I actually do?
Is Google receiving clear and consistent information about where my business operates?
Does my profile give potential customers enough confidence to choose me over my competitors?

Those three questions will give you a useful starting point for identifying where your biggest opportunities may be.

Once you've got those foundations right, you can start looking at the other signals surrounding your Google Business Profile that can strengthen Google's understanding and customers' trust in your business.

Why Isn’t My Business Profile Showing Up?

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 10:13:45 GMT

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Why Isn’t My Business Profile Showing Up?

If you’ve searched for your own business on Google and wondered, “Why isn’t my Business Profile showing up?” , there usually isn’t one simple answer.

Your profile might be verified and technically live, but Google still has to decide whether it has enough confidence in your business to show it prominently for a particular search.

There are three areas I would look at first:

Can Google clearly identify your business?
Does Google understand exactly what you do?
Are you giving Google enough customer proof?

Let’s look at each one.

1. Help Google Clearly Identify Your Business

The first problem can be surprisingly simple: Google isn’t completely sure about your business.

Start by checking the basic information on your Google Business Profile against your website.

Your business name, address and phone number should be correct and consistent. You’re trying to make it as easy as possible for Google to connect the information it finds about your business.

You should also look at your service areas.

If you travel to customers, make sure the areas listed genuinely represent the places where you provide your services. Don’t give Google as little information as possible and expect it to work everything else out.

Think about it this way: the easier you make it for Google to understand what you do and where you do it, the easier it becomes for Google to consider your business for a relevant local search.

2. Show Google What Your Business Actually Does

Next, look at your Google Business Profile categories and services.

These are extremely important because they help describe the type of business you operate and the services you provide.

But there’s another part that many businesses miss.

Your Google Business Profile and your website should support each other.

For example, imagine you select an important service category on your Business Profile but there’s virtually nothing about that service on your website.

You’re making Google’s job harder.

Instead, important categories should be supported by relevant information on your website. Your important services should also appear naturally on the appropriate pages.

Think of Your Website and Profile Like a Holiday Brochure

Imagine booking a cruise because the brochure promises certain facilities, entertainment and excursions.

You arrive and discover those things aren’t actually there.

You’d immediately start questioning the brochure.

Your Google Business Profile and website work in a similar way.

If your profile says you provide particular services but your website tells a completely different story, you’re creating inconsistency.

You want Google to find supporting information rather than conflicting information.

This is why reviewing your Google Business Profile checklist can be useful. It gives you a structured way of checking whether the important pieces of your profile have been completed properly.

3. Build Customer Proof Through Reviews

The third area is customer proof.

Google doesn’t just have to understand your business. It also wants signals that you’re a genuine business carrying out the work you say you do.

One of the most valuable sources of that information is your customers.

Reviews can provide Google with additional context about the actual jobs you're completing.

This is where the type of review becomes important.

A review that simply says:

“Great service. Five stars. Highly recommended.”

is positive, but it doesn't provide much detail about the work.

A feedback-style review can be much more useful.

Ask customers to explain:

What problem did they have?
What solution did you provide?
How did the job go?
Were you punctual, professional, clean and tidy?
What was the final result?

Now the review tells a story.

For example, a customer might explain that they originally thought they needed one solution, but your tradesperson diagnosed a different problem, explained the options, fixed it and left everything clean and tidy.

That information is valuable to both Google and prospective customers .

Reviews Are Your Digital Word of Mouth

There’s another reason to build reviews consistently.

Potential customers use them to check you out.

Someone may discover several local companies and then compare their profiles before deciding whom to call.

Your reviews become your previous customers talking to your next customer.

If competitors aren't actively collecting useful feedback reviews and you are, that can give you a significant advantage.

This isn't about suddenly collecting dozens of reviews and then doing nothing for the next year.

Consistency matters.

You want customer feedback to become part of the normal process of doing business.

Don’t Starve Your Google Business Profile

A useful way to think about all of this is that your Google Business Profile needs feeding.

You can’t create a profile, fill in a few boxes and forget about it.

Keep giving Google useful signals:

Correct business information → relevant service areas → accurate categories → appropriate services → supporting website content → genuine photographs → consistent customer reviews.

Each piece helps create a clearer picture of your business.

If your competitors are doing very little with their profiles, this can also create an opportunity for you.

Start by Finding Out Where You Are Now

Before changing everything, find out where the problems actually are.

That’s why I use audits.

A FREE Google Business Profile Audit can help identify whether your problem lies with your categories, services, website alignment, reviews, business information or another part of your profile.

Think of it like using Google Maps.

Before Google Maps can tell you how to reach your destination, it first needs to know where you are.

The same applies to improving your local visibility.

Conclusion

If your Google Business Profile isn’t showing as often as you'd like, start with these three questions:

Can Google identify my business?

Does Google clearly understand what I do?

Am I giving Google enough evidence from real customers?

Get those foundations right before looking for complicated tricks.

The more clearly and consistently you communicate who you are, what you do and where you do it, the stronger the overall picture you're giving Google.

And importantly, you're also giving potential customers more confidence when they find you.

Why Is My Competitor Above Me On Google Maps?

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:36:26 GMT

Private health insurance is a popular insurance component, but it isn't for everyone. Learn the pros and cons of having it, and decide if it's right for you.

Why Is My Competitor Above Me on Google Maps?

You search for your main service on Google, look at the Google Maps results, and there they are again — your competitor above you .

It can be frustrating, particularly when you know you have been in business longer, provide a good service and have plenty of happy customers.

So why is Google putting them above you?

One of the simplest ways to think about it is this:

Your competitor may be giving Google more proof.

Google needs to understand what your business does, where you operate and whether you appear to be a relevant choice for the person searching.

If your competitor is giving Google clearer information and stronger supporting signals, Google may have more confidence in showing their business.

There are numerous things that can affect your position on Google Maps, but here are three important areas I would look at first.

1. Help Google Understand Exactly What Your Business Does

Start with your Google Business Profile categories.

A common mistake is setting up one main category and leaving it at that.

Imagine you're a plumber.

You might have selected Plumber as your main Google Business Profile category. That's a good start, but it may not tell Google enough about everything you actually do.

Perhaps you also provide:

Drainage services
Gas fitting
Hot water cylinder services
Water softener installation
Drain camera inspections

Where appropriate, additional categories can give Google more context about your business.

Then look at the individual services you have added underneath those categories.

For example, if drain services are an important part of your business, you might provide CCTV drain inspections, blocked drain clearing and other related services.

The next step is particularly important:

Make Sure Your Website Supports What Your Profile Says

If your Google Business Profile says you provide drain camera inspections, can Google find a page or information on your website confirming that?

Think about somebody searching:

"Drain camera inspection near me"

Google wants to return a useful result.

If one business clearly talks about drain inspections on its Google Business Profile and website while another provides very little information, Google has more context about the first business.

Your website and Google Business Profile should therefore support each other.

The easier you make it to understand what you do, the better.

If you're unsure whether you've completed all the important areas of your profile, I've created a Google Business Profile Checklist that you can work through.

2. Give Google — and Your Customers — More Proof

The second area to look at is proof.

Your website and Google Business Profile shouldn't feel like two completely separate things.

Your business details should be consistent, and your website should make it clear who you are, what you do and the areas you serve.

But one of the biggest forms of proof isn't what you say.

It's what your customers say about you .

Reviews Are Your Digital Word of Mouth

Imagine three similar local businesses.

One has:

7 Google reviews

Another has:

66 Google reviews

And another has:

111 Google reviews

Put yourself in the customer's position.

Even if they originally find the business with seven reviews, there's a good chance they'll look at the alternatives before making contact.

Suddenly, the business with seven reviews may appear to be the riskier choice.

That's why reviews aren't simply about Google Maps rankings.

They're also about conversion .

Someone may find your business through Google Ads, organic search, your website or Google Maps and then check your reviews before picking up the phone.

Your reviews become your digital word of mouth.

The Words Inside Reviews Matter to Potential Customers

Detailed reviews are particularly valuable because prospective customers can see what previous customers actually experienced.

Let's go back to our plumber.

If somebody needs a drain camera inspection and finds reviews from customers talking about drain inspections, blocked drains and how the problem was solved, those reviews can provide reassurance at exactly the right moment.

The customer isn't simply seeing a star rating.

They're seeing evidence that:

"This company has dealt with a problem like mine before."

That's powerful.

You can also display genuine Google reviews on relevant pages of your website.

Rather than making visitors leave your website to investigate whether you're trustworthy, you're putting some of that proof directly in front of them.

3. Show That Your Business Is Active

The third area is activity.

If you're regularly completing work, you've already got potential content sitting in your pocket.

Take photographs of real jobs.

Show:

Before and after photographs
Work in progress
Problems you've discovered
Completed jobs
Your team working
Equipment being used
Interesting or unusual jobs

If you're a drainage company, for example, you might photograph what caused a blocked drain or create a short video showing a camera inspection.

Don't just upload a collection of generic photographs and forget about them.

Add useful context explaining what the customer was experiencing, what service was provided and, where appropriate, the general area where the work took place.

This is useful information for prospective customers because they can see that you're actually doing the type of work they're looking for.

Use Google Business Profile Posts Too

If you're already creating useful content for Facebook or other social media platforms, consider whether some of it should also appear on your Google Business Profile.

Seasonal services are a good example.

A property maintenance company might talk about:

Gutter cleaning before winter
Exterior house washing in spring
Seasonal pest treatments
Other services that become important at particular times of year

These posts keep your profile useful and give prospective customers more information about the services you provide.

You can also turn useful job footage into YouTube videos and other content rather than letting it sit unused on your phone.

Why Your Competitor May Be Winning

Your competitor isn't necessarily better than you.

They may simply be making it easier for Google and potential customers to understand and trust their business .

They may have:

More complete categories and services
Better supporting information on their website
More customer reviews
More detailed reviews
More photographs of real work
More regularly updated information
Stronger connections between their website and Google Business Profile

Individually, these things may look small.

Together, they build a much clearer picture of the business.

Start by Comparing Your Profile With the Competition

Open Google Maps and search for the services you most want enquiries for.

Look at the businesses appearing above you.

Don't just look at their position.

Study what they're doing.

How many reviews do they have?

Are they receiving reviews regularly?

What services and categories have they included?

What photographs are they uploading?

Does their website clearly support the services shown on their Google Business Profile?

Then compare those things with your own business.

You'll often start spotting gaps surprisingly quickly.

If you'd like a second pair of eyes, you can also start with my FREE Google Business Profile Audit , where I look for some of the areas that could be holding your profile back.

Conclusion

If you're wondering, "Why is my competitor above me on Google Maps?" , don't assume there's one magic setting you've missed.

Start with the basics.

Help Google understand your business.

Give Google and potential customers more proof.

Show that you're a genuine, active local business.

Your Google Business Profile isn't something you set up once and forget.

The more clearly you communicate what you do and the more genuine evidence you can build around your business, the easier it becomes for both Google and prospective customers to understand why your business deserves consideration.

And these are only three areas to investigate. There are several other things worth checking when you're trying to improve your visibility against local competitors.

How Do I Optimise My Google Business Profile For Local Leads?

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 23:21:29 GMT

Private health insurance is a popular insurance component, but it isn't for everyone. Learn the pros and cons of having it, and decide if it's right for you.

How Do I Optimise My Google Business Profile for More Local Leads?

If you want more local enquiries from your Google Business Profile, simply having a profile isn’t enough.

Google needs to understand where you work, what services you provide and whether local customers trust you.

There are three practical areas you can work on to improve this:

Put the right local content in the right places
Increase the number of relevant services you can be found for
Build reviews that make potential customers choose you over competitors

Let’s look at each one.

1. Put the Right Local Content in the Right Places

One of the first things to look at is the geographical area you want your business to appear in.

Your Google Business Profile allows you to define the areas your business serves. Rather than simply choosing suburbs at random, think strategically about where your ideal customers are most likely to be.

For example, if you are a plumber, electrician or landscaper, some nearby suburbs may contain more homeowners who are likely to need your particular services.

A business selling mainly to other businesses may instead want to focus on areas containing more commercial premises, restaurants, warehouses or offices.

Once you have identified your important service areas, your website should reinforce those locations.

One simple place to do this is your website footer, because the footer generally appears across every page of the website.

Google can then see clear connections between:

The services you offer
The areas you serve
The pages on your website
Your Google Business Profile

The aim is to make it easier for Google to understand that your business is genuinely relevant when somebody carries out a local or “near me” search.

Add Real Local Knowledge to Your Website

This is where many businesses have an opportunity to stand out.

Generic content can describe what a plumber, electrician or landscaper does, but it doesn’t necessarily demonstrate that the company genuinely knows the local area.

Think about information that only somebody working locally would naturally know.

For example, perhaps a particular suburb contains a lot of older houses. An electrician may regularly find old wiring hidden behind modern-looking switches and sockets.

A plumber may know that homes in a certain area commonly have older pipework.

There may also be local names, abbreviations or nicknames residents use for particular areas.

Including genuine observations like these naturally within relevant service pages gives your content a much stronger local flavour.

It also makes the website more useful to customers rather than filling it with generic information that could have been written for a business anywhere in the country.

If you want to work through more of these areas systematically, use my Google Business Profile checklist:

2. Increase the Number of Services Google Can Find You For

The next opportunity is your Google Business Profile categories.

Many businesses choose their main category when they initially create their profile and then never look at categories again.

But your business may legitimately provide several different types of service.

Take a plumber as an example.

Their primary category may be plumber, but depending on the actual work they provide, they might also offer services connected with:

Gas fitting
Water cylinders
Drainage
Water softeners
Other specialist plumbing services

The important point is not to add categories simply because they exist.

You should only select categories that accurately represent services your business genuinely provides.

Your Website Needs to Support Those Services

Adding another category to your Google Business Profile is only part of the process.

Your website should also clearly explain that service.

If your profile says you offer ten different types of service but your website only properly covers four, you are giving Google far less supporting information for the remaining six.

Instead, build relevant pages that explain each genuine service.

Think of it like removing a kink from a garden hose.

When the hose is kinked, very little water comes through. Release the restriction and suddenly the water can flow properly.

Expanding the genuine services represented across both your Google Business Profile and website can work in a similar way.

Instead of giving Google one main reason to show your business, you are giving it several legitimate reasons to consider you for different local searches.

That can expose your business to far more potential customers.

3. Build Reviews That Help Customers Choose You

Getting found is only half the battle.

Once somebody finds several local businesses, they still need to decide which one to contact.

That is where reviews become extremely important.

Imagine a potential customer sees three businesses:

Business A has 7 reviews
Business B has 66 reviews
Business C has 111 reviews

Even if all three businesses appear prominently, the customer may naturally feel more comfortable investigating the companies with stronger evidence from previous customers.

Reviews are your digital word of mouth.

And unlike traditional word of mouth, they are sitting there exactly when someone is considering spending money.

Ask for Feedback, Not Just a Review

Rather than simply asking:

“Can you leave us a review?”

Give the customer a little guidance.

Ask them to mention:

What problem they had
What work you carried out
How you solved the problem
What their experience was like

That creates a useful feedback review.

A potential customer can then read about somebody who had a problem very similar to theirs.

They might read that the tradesperson arrived on time, explained the issue clearly, completed the work properly and left everything tidy.

That is far more persuasive than a review that simply says:

“Great company. Five stars.”

You can make reviewing your business easy by adding your review request to emails, invoices, email signatures or text messages.

Before-and-after photographs can make those reviews even stronger where appropriate.

Happy customers effectively become salespeople who continue talking about your business long after the job is finished.

Reviews Can Help You Win Customers From Competitors

This is what I mean by ethically taking business from competitors.

You aren’t doing anything underhanded.

You are simply giving customers more evidence that they can trust your business.

If another company has only a handful of reviews while you have consistently collected detailed feedback from happy customers, somebody comparing the two businesses may naturally choose you.

That means your review system isn’t something to think about occasionally.

It should be part of your normal marketing process.

Bringing the Three Pieces Together

Improving your Google Business Profile isn’t about finding one magic button.

The strongest approach is to make several signals work together.

Add genuine local knowledge to your website.

Make sure your Google Business Profile accurately represents all of the services you genuinely provide.

Then collect useful reviews that show new customers what it is actually like to work with you.

When those three things support one another, you give both Google and potential customers much clearer reasons to choose your business.

If you would like me to look at your profile and identify areas that could be holding it back, you can start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit:

Why Are My Google Business Profile Calls Dropping

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:10:55 GMT

Private health insurance is a popular insurance component, but it isn't for everyone. Learn the pros and cons of having it, and decide if it's right for you.

Why Are My Google Business Profile Calls Dropping?

If your Google Business Profile used to generate a steady flow of phone calls but things have suddenly gone quiet, it can be worrying.

You may immediately assume your rankings have dropped, Google has changed something, or a competitor has taken your position.

Sometimes that is happening. But there are also some much simpler explanations.

When calls from your Google Business Profile start dropping, there are three areas I would look at first:

How customers are being encouraged to contact you
Whether you are giving Google enough information about your business
Whether your reviews are building enough trust compared with your competitors

Let’s go through each one.

1. Check How People Can Call You From Google

The first thing to check is surprisingly simple.

Look at your own Google Business Profile and see what options Google is currently showing potential customers.

In some locations and search layouts, Google has changed the way contact options appear. You may find that customers are being encouraged to visit your website or request directions rather than immediately seeing the call option you were used to.

This can make it appear as though your Google Business Profile has suddenly stopped producing calls.

But there is another important part of this.

If somebody clicks through from your Google Business Profile to your website, how quickly can they find your telephone number?

I use a simple seven-second test.

Open your website as though you are a new customer and try to find the phone number.

If it takes more than a few seconds because the number is buried halfway down the page or hidden in the footer, you could be losing enquiries.

For a local service business, I normally want the telephone number clearly visible near the top of the website.

Then test it on a mobile phone.

Can somebody simply tap the number and make a call?

If not, that needs fixing.

A potential customer looking for a plumber, electrician, roofer or mechanic probably isn't going to copy your number onto a piece of paper and type it manually into their phone.

Make contacting you easy.

2. Give Google More Information About Your Business

The second problem is that you may not be giving Google enough information about what your business actually does.

Think about your Google Business Profile as something that needs feeding.

If you create the profile and then leave it untouched for months, Google has relatively little fresh information to work with.

One simple way to improve this is by regularly adding photographs.

For example, you could upload:

Before and after photographs of completed jobs
Photographs of your staff
Your workshop, office or showroom
Company vehicles
Equipment you use
Examples of different services
Photographs related to customer reviews

I generally like to see a business build towards at least 50 useful photographs rather than having just two or three old images sitting on the profile.

The photographs also help potential customers.

Imagine somebody comparing two local businesses.

One profile has five photographs that were uploaded three years ago.

The other has dozens of photographs showing real staff, real vehicles and recently completed work.

Which one feels more established and trustworthy?

This is also why regularly adding useful content can be important.

Every photograph, update and piece of business information helps provide more context about who you are, where you operate and the type of work you carry out.

If you are unsure what information you should have on your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist is a useful place to start.

The important thing is consistency.

Don't upload 40 photographs today and then forget about the profile for another two years.

Keep giving Google and your customers useful information about the business.

3. Compare Your Reviews With Your Competitors

The third area is reviews.

This is one of the first things I look at when a business tells me:

"People are finding us on Google, but we're not getting enough enquiries."

Finding the business is only one part of the process.

People still have to decide whether they trust you enough to make contact.

Imagine you have been operating for 14 years but only have seven Google reviews.

One competitor has 65 reviews.

Another has 111 reviews.

A potential customer looking at those three businesses may naturally wonder why so few of your customers have left feedback.

Your Google Business Profile may therefore be getting visibility without turning enough of that visibility into phone calls.

Reviews are effectively digital word of mouth .

Your happy customers can become some of your best salespeople.

This is why I recommend having a proper process for requesting reviews rather than hoping customers remember to leave one.

You also want useful reviews.

A review that simply says:

"Great company."

is positive, but it doesn't tell somebody very much.

Compare that with a customer explaining:

What problem they had
What work you completed
How your team communicated
Whether you arrived when promised
Whether you were clean and tidy
Why they would recommend you

That gives future customers much more useful information.

It also provides Google with additional context about the services your customers associate with your business.

Reviews Can Increase Leads Without Increasing Traffic

This is an important point that many business owners miss.

You don't necessarily need more people finding your Google Business Profile before you can generate more enquiries.

You might already have enough people finding you.

The problem could be that too many of them are choosing somebody else.

If 100 potential customers see your business and your reviews don't build enough confidence, improving that part of your profile could produce additional enquiries from the traffic you already have.

That's why I think of your Google Business Profile as part of the hub of your local Google presence.

Your website, reviews, photographs, business information and other local signals all work together.

The stronger and more complete that information becomes, the easier it is for potential customers to understand your business and decide whether you are the right company to contact.

What Should You Do If Your Google Business Profile Calls Have Dropped?

Don't immediately assume you need to spend more money on advertising.

Start by checking the basics.

Look at your profile as though you were a potential customer.

Can they easily call you?

If they visit your website, can they find your telephone number within a few seconds?

Can they tap the number on a mobile phone?

Then look at the information you are giving Google.

Are you regularly adding photographs and useful information showing the work you actually do?

Finally, compare your reviews with the businesses appearing around you.

Don't just compare star ratings.

Look at the number of reviews, how recently they are being received and what customers are actually saying.

Those three checks can often reveal why phone enquiries have started slowing down.

And once you understand where the weakness is, you have something specific you can work on rather than guessing.

Why Is My Google Business Profile Not Getting Phone Calls?

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:09:01 GMT

Private health insurance is a popular insurance component, but it isn't for everyone. Learn the pros and cons of having it, and decide if it's right for you.

Your Google Business Profile may be appearing on Google, people may even be looking at it, but that does not necessarily mean they are going to pick up the phone.

If you're wondering, "Why is my Google Business Profile not getting phone calls?" , there can be several reasons.

However, there are three areas I would check first:

Your reviews and customer feedback
Your photos and videos
How easy you make it for somebody to contact you

These are fairly simple things to check, but they can make a big difference to whether somebody chooses your business or one of the other companies appearing alongside you on Google.

1. Compare Your Reviews With Your Local Competitors

Start by searching for your main service on Google and looking at around the top 10 businesses competing with you.

Then compare their reviews with yours.

Imagine somebody sees three Google Business Profiles.

One company has 7 reviews collected over 14 years .

The next has 66 reviews .

The third has 111 reviews .

Even if the first company provides an excellent service, a potential customer does not know that.

All they can see is the information Google is putting in front of them.

They are trying to answer questions such as:

Can I trust this company?
Have other people used them?
What sort of work do they do?
Were previous customers happy?
Am I taking a chance by contacting them?

People generally do not want to feel like they are the experiment or guinea pig.

That is why reviews are so important.

Get Feedback Reviews, Not Just Five Stars

There is another important difference.

A review that simply says:

"Five stars. Highly recommended."

is useful, but it does not tell the next customer very much.

Whenever possible, you want customers to describe:

The problem they had
The work you carried out
The solution you provided
What their experience was like

These are what I think of as digital word of mouth .

Traditional word of mouth is powerful, but Google reviews have an extra advantage: they are sitting right in front of somebody at the exact moment they are deciding who to contact.

If you are unsure how your profile compares with the businesses around you, you can also start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit .

Image suggestion: A Google Maps search showing three local businesses side by side with noticeably different review totals such as 7, 66 and 111 reviews.

2. Give People Enough Photos to Trust Your Business

If your reviews are reasonably strong compared with your competitors, the next thing I would look at is your photos.

A potential customer wants to see evidence of the work you actually do.

One of the best ways to do that is with before-and-after photos.

Try to take both pictures from approximately the same position so somebody can immediately see the difference your work made.

Around 10 good before-and-after examples can start giving somebody a much clearer idea of the quality of your work.

But don't stop there.

Your Google Business Profile can also show:

Your team
Your building or premises
Your vans and vehicles
Your equipment
Internal photographs
External photographs
Completed jobs
Short videos

When I look through Google Business Profiles during audits, I often find photographs that have not been updated for a long time. Sometimes most of the pictures have actually been uploaded by customers rather than the business itself.

You want the profile to properly represent your company today.

Building a collection of around 50 useful photographs can give somebody a much better picture of who you are, what you do and what they can expect.

A few short videos can help as well.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, video can show considerably more. Somebody can see your staff, your workmanship, your equipment and the way you operate without having met you yet.

Image suggestion: A collage showing a tradesperson's before-and-after job photos, staff, branded work van, equipment and business premises.

3. Check Your Phone Number Very Carefully

This sounds obvious.

But it is something I have seen several times while auditing Google Business Profiles.

Check that the phone number on your Google Business Profile is correct.

Then check it against the phone number shown on your website.

Don't just glance at it because you recognise the number.

Actually compare the digits.

I've come across examples where:

An old landline was still being displayed
One digit in the number was wrong
The number belonged to a manager who had left the company months earlier

Also check other basic business details, such as your opening hours, to make sure the information on your website and Google Business Profile matches.

A tiny mistake with a telephone number can potentially mean losing every enquiry that tries to use it.

Image suggestion: Close-up graphic showing a Google Business Profile phone number being compared digit-by-digit with the telephone number on a business website.

What Happens If People Have to Visit Your Website to Call?

Depending on how Google displays your profile, a customer may sometimes need to go through to your website to find the best way of contacting you.

That makes your website's telephone number particularly important.

Click from your Google Business Profile through to your website and test it yourself.

Ask one question:

How quickly can I find the phone number?

If it is hidden halfway down the page or buried in the footer, you are making the potential customer work unnecessarily hard.

Your phone number should be easy to see, particularly on a mobile phone.

More importantly, make sure it is click to call .

People don't want to find a pen, write down your number and then manually type it back into their mobile.

They want to tap the number and call.

Every additional step you remove makes contacting you easier.

Image suggestion: Smartphone screen showing a local business website with a large, clearly visible "Call Now" click-to-call button near the top.

Give Customers More Than One Way to Contact You

There is another opportunity many businesses overlook.

Not everybody wants to make a phone call.

Some customers would rather:

Send a text message
Use WhatsApp
Send a message
Complete an enquiry form
Book directly online

Where appropriate, your Google Business Profile can provide additional ways for somebody to take the next step.

For example, you may be able to add a booking link that sends somebody directly to your contact page, booking page or online calendar.

You can also investigate messaging options available for your profile.

The important point is not the individual button.

It is making it as easy as possible for the customer to contact you in the way they prefer .

Look at your competitors' profiles.

If most of them only offer one contact option and you make it considerably easier for somebody to get in touch, that can help you stand out.

For a more complete list of things to check, download my Google Business Profile Checklist .

Image suggestion: Google Business Profile mock-up showing several customer contact options, including phone, website, booking and messaging.

Before You Try to Get More People Looking at Your Profile

There are many other changes you can make to improve a Google Business Profile.

But there is an important order to this.

Before concentrating on getting significantly more people to see the profile, make sure the profile itself is ready to convert those visitors into enquiries.

There is little value in sending more potential customers to a profile if:

Your competitors have considerably stronger reviews
Your photographs are old
Customers cannot see examples of your work
Your telephone number is wrong
Your website hides the contact details
Your phone number isn't click to call
You give customers very few ways to contact you

Fix those things first.

Then you have a much stronger foundation from which to improve the visibility of the profile.

If you want to go further, my FREE Google Business Profile Masterclass goes into more of the areas you can work on.

Image suggestion: Simple checklist graphic with Reviews, Photos, Phone Number, Website and Contact Options all ticked before an arrow labelled "Increase Visibility".

Conclusion

If your Google Business Profile is not generating as many phone calls as you expected, don't immediately assume you simply need to rank higher.

Start by looking at what the customer actually sees.

Compare your reviews with your competitors.

Make sure your profile contains plenty of recent, useful photographs and examples of your work.

Double-check your telephone number.

Then test your website from a customer's point of view and make sure contacting you is quick and simple.

Finally, remember that some customers would rather message or book than phone, so give people more than one way to take the next step.

Your Google Business Profile isn't just there to help somebody find your business.

It also needs to give them enough confidence to choose your business .

How Do I Get More Calls From My Google Business Profile?

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 13:06:27 GMT

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A lot of local businesses create their Google Business Profile, fill in the basic information, and then leave it alone.

A few months later, they wonder why it isn't producing many phone calls or enquiries.

The problem is that simply having a Google Business Profile doesn't necessarily mean Google will show it as often as it could — or that potential customers will choose you when they do see it.

There are some relatively simple things you can do to improve your local visibility, give Google more confidence in your business, and make it easier for potential customers to contact you.

In this article, I'm going to cover four areas:

Add the right Google Business Profile categories
Build a consistent flow of useful customer reviews
Give people more ways to contact you
Keep feeding Google useful information about your business

These are all areas you can check yourself without immediately spending more money on advertising.

Add More Relevant Business Categories
Make Sure Your Website Supports Those Categories
Get Reviews More Consistently
Make It Easier for Customers to Contact You
Keep Your Google Business Profile Active
What Should You Do Next?

1. Add More Relevant Google Business Profile Categories

One of the first things I would check is your business categories.

Many businesses set up their profile with one primary category and stop there.

Let's use a plumber as an example.

Their main category might simply be:

Plumber

But that same company may genuinely provide several other services.

They could also be a:

Gas fitter
Drainage contractor
Hot water system installer
Water treatment or softener installer

Google allows businesses to select additional categories where they genuinely apply.

The important word there is genuinely .

Don't start adding unrelated categories simply because you want to appear in more searches.

Instead, look at all the different services your business actually provides and check whether there are relevant Google Business Profile categories for them.

Think of Categories as Extra Fishing Nets

Imagine your plumber category gives Google 30 opportunities each day to potentially show your company to somebody searching locally.

If you're genuinely relevant to another three categories, you have created additional opportunities for Google to match your business with those searches.

You're effectively putting more fishing nets into the water.

You aren't necessarily ranking higher for the original search.

You're giving Google more legitimate reasons to consider your business for more types of searches .

2. Make Sure Your Website Supports Those Categories

There is an important second part to adding categories.

You need to back them up.

If you tell Google that you're a gas fitter but your website doesn't mention gas fitting anywhere, you're sending mixed signals.

If you offer drainage services, for example, ideally your website should contain useful information explaining those services.

That could mean having a dedicated drainage page showing:

What drainage work you provide
Areas you service
Examples of previous work
Photographs
FAQs
Customer reviews relating to drainage

Think of it this way:

Your Google Business Profile makes the claim.

Your website provides the supporting evidence.

The more consistently the two match, the clearer your business becomes to Google and, just as importantly, to potential customers.

If you want to go through the main areas of your profile yourself, I've put together a Google Business Profile Checklist you can use.

Image suggestion: Split-screen graphic showing a Google Business Profile category on one side and its matching website service page on the other.

3. Get Google Reviews More Consistently

The next major area is reviews.

Reviews aren't something you should collect 15 of one month and then forget about for the next two years.

You want a steady, natural flow of reviews from real customers.

Why?

Because reviews aren't only there for Google.

They're there for the customer who is deciding whether to call you.

Someone might originally discover your company through your website, an advert or Google Maps.

But before contacting you, many people will still look at your reviews.

They're asking themselves:

Can I trust these people?

Reviews Are Your Digital Word of Mouth

I often describe good reviews as digital word of mouth .

Traditional word of mouth might happen when somebody asks a friend:

"Do you know a good plumber?"

Google reviews put that word of mouth directly in front of the customer while they're making the buying decision.

But there is a big difference between:

"Great service. Five stars."and a review explaining:

What the original problem was
What work you completed
How you solved it
What the customer thought of the service

Those detailed reviews are considerably more useful to another potential customer.

They can recognise their own problem in somebody else's experience.

That builds confidence.

You should therefore have a simple system for asking satisfied customers to leave feedback rather than relying on people remembering to do it themselves.

4. Make It Easier for People to Contact You

Getting seen is only half the job.

Once somebody finds you, you need to make contacting you easy.

And not everybody wants to communicate in the same way.

Some people want to phone.

Others would rather send a text.

Some prefer WhatsApp.

Others want to fill in a form or book an appointment without speaking to anybody.

Where the relevant options are available to your business, look at the contact methods you're providing through your Google Business Profile.

Depending on your profile and region, that can include options such as:

Phone
Website
Text or messaging
WhatsApp
Booking links

A booking link doesn't necessarily need to lead to a sophisticated booking system.

For some businesses, it could simply lead to the website contact page where somebody can send an enquiry.

The principle is simple:

Make it easy for customers to contact you in the way they prefer.

Every unnecessary hurdle gives somebody another opportunity to abandon the enquiry and choose a competitor.

5. Keep Feeding Google Useful Information

Your Google Business Profile shouldn't be something you set up once and forget about.

Keep it current.

Check basics such as your:

Opening hours
Special hours
Services
Photos
Business information

You can also regularly add evidence of the work you're actually doing.

For a local service business, that might include photographs of:

Recent jobs
Before-and-after results
Your vehicles
Your staff
Your equipment
Your premises inside and outside

You can also publish updates about completed jobs and useful information for customers.

The idea isn't to post simply for the sake of posting.

You're continually giving Google and potential customers fresh evidence that this is a real, active local business doing the services it claims to provide.

If you're unsure whether your existing profile is giving Google the right signals, you can start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit and see where the main gaps are.

Watch the Original Video

VIDEO EMBED: How Do I Get More Calls From My Google Business Profile?

Embedding the original video here gives you the option to watch me explain these points rather than reading through the entire article.

What Should You Do Next?

If your Google Business Profile isn't bringing in as many calls as you'd like, don't immediately assume you need to spend more money.

Start with the basics.

Check whether you've selected all the relevant categories your business genuinely qualifies for.

Make sure those services are properly supported on your website.

Build a system for getting useful customer reviews consistently.

Give customers several easy ways of contacting you.

And keep providing Google with fresh information showing that your business is active and working locally.

None of these individually is a magic switch.

Together, however, they give Google a clearer understanding of your business and give potential customers more reasons to choose you.

If you want to go further, I've also created a FREE Google Business Profile Masterclass showing you more of the areas you can work on.

And if you find these sorts of practical Google Business Profile tips useful, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos aimed at helping local businesses generate more enquiries from Google.