Why Is My Google Business Profile Not Getting Phone Calls?

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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:

1. Your reviews and customer feedback
2. Your photos and videos
3. 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.