Google Maps – WebWise Design & Marketing

The Google Business Profile Is Critical for Businesses

Google, Google Maps, Marketing, Search / By John / June 11, 2026

If you do not already know, Google Business Profile is a free tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps.

"Claiming or improving your Google Business Profile is the singular, most important step you can take for your local business if you want to maximize results from Google Search." I wrote a version of that statement years ago, and it is still true today.

The concept is not new. Back in 2008, I wrote about using Google Maps Local Business Center to increase local traffic. Since then, the name has changed several times. What many of us knew as Google My Business is now Google Business Profile, and it has become one of the most important online marketing tools available to local businesses.

Since 2008, its name has changed several times and Google Business Profile is much more robust than it was back then. In 2008, there were roughly 173 million websites online. As I write this, there are over 1.9 "Billion" websites worldwide, with roughly 200 million active or maintained websites competing for attention. That makes prominent visibility in Google Search and Google Maps more valuable than ever.

A complete and accurate Google Business Profile gives your business a better opportunity to appear when people are searching for what you offer, especially when they are searching locally.

Manage your information:

First, it is imperative to claim and verify your Google Business Profile. If you have not done so, start at google.com/business.

Once you have access, be as complete and accurate as possible. Your business name, address, phone number, website, hours, service area, business category, products, services, photos, and description all matter.

It is especially important to keep your hours current. Google allows businesses to update regular hours, holiday hours, and special hours. Incorrect hours can frustrate customers quickly. Few things create a bad first impression faster than someone driving to your business only to find the door locked.

As with website SEO, Google uses many signals to determine which businesses to show in local search results. A complete, accurate, and regularly maintained Business Profile gives Google and your potential customers more confidence in your business.

Interact with customers:

Your Google Business Profile is not just a listing. It is often the first interaction a potential customer has with your business.

Reviews are a major part of that interaction. Read them. Respond to them. Thank customers for positive reviews, and respond professionally to negative reviews when they happen. Your response is not only for the reviewer; it is also for every future customer who reads it.

Do not buy reviews, trade incentives for reviews, or use fake reviews. Google and regulators have increased their focus on fake and misleading reviews, and the risk is not worth it. The best long-term strategy is simple: serve customers well and make it easy for real customers to leave honest reviews.

Add Photos and Keep Them Fresh

Photos still matter. A profile with quality, current photos is more useful and more convincing than a bare listing.

Add photos of your storefront, office, team, products, services, completed projects, vehicles, signage, or anything else that helps customers understand who you are and what you do. For many small businesses, even a modest number of good photos can make a profile feel more trustworthy and active.

Highlight Products, Services, Offers, and Updates

Depending on your business category, Google Business Profile may allow you to add services, products, offers, posts, menus, booking links, messaging, and other useful details.

Use the features that make sense for your business. A restaurant may benefit from menus and specials. A contractor may benefit from service descriptions and project photos. A retail shop may benefit from products and offers. A professional service business may benefit from clear service categories and a strong business description.

The goal is not to fill out features just for the sake of filling them out. The goal is to give customers the information they need to choose your business.

Keep Your Profile Maintained

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is claiming a profile once and then forgetting about it.

Your Google Business Profile should be reviewed regularly. Check your hours, photos, services, contact information, website link, reviews, and business description. Watch for suggested edits or incorrect information. Make sure your profile still reflects your business accurately.

Google changes features over time. Some tools appear, change, or disappear. That is another reason to review your profile often and make sure it is still working for you.

Do It Today!

There is much more that could be said about Google Business Profile, but the most important advice remains the same:

Claiming, verifying, completing, and improving your Google Business Profile is one of the most important steps a local business can take to maximize results from Google Search and Google Maps.

Claim it Now!

Have a Local Business? Claim or Update Your Google My Business Listing, Now!

Google, Google Maps, Local, Search / By John / September 8, 2017

If you have a business, you very likely have a Google My Business Listing. Your listing appears when people are searching for your business or businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps.

Claiming or improving your Google My Business Listing is the singular, most important step you can take for your local business if you want to maximize results from Google Search.

“Why,” you ask? Google says, “Manage how your business information appears across Google, including Search and Maps, using Google My Business — for free.”

The keyword in the previous paragraph is “manage.” There is little a business can control when it comes to Google. When Google makes it easy to post correct information about your business for free, and that information is displayed in Google Search results and on Google Maps, you should take advantage of it.

With Google My Business, you can:

Increase your online visibility
Show business hours and if open/closed
Your contact details are prominently displayed
Display photos of your business
Publish Posts just like Facebook or Twitter posts
Encourage reviews and interact with reviewers
Answer customer questions — List FAQs, or answer live
Let customers message you

You also can see insights on how customers searched for your business, and their locations at the time of search. You can also see how many people called your business directly from the phone number displayed on local search results in Google Search and Google Maps.

Bottom line: Claim and/or update your Google My Business listing! It is unequivocally the best and least expensive online marketing you can do.

Five Reasons You Should Claim Your Google Places Listing, Today!

Google Maps, Local, Search, SEO / By John / April 17, 2012

If you have not, and many of you have not, claimed your Google Places listing, here are five reasons you should claim your Google Places listing today!

1. This Google quote, “97% of consumers search for local businesses online.”

2. Google’s Universal Search results

In today world of Google’s Universal Search results, nearly every time a potential customer does a Google search that contains your community’s name (or the region where your business is located) and the type of product or service you offer, they will see a Google map with pins on it, and a list of businesses represented on that map. Is there a pin for your business there? There is no easier nor quicker way to improve visibility in Google SERPs, than claiming, and using your Google Places listing.

3. Make sure your listing is accurate and thorough. Did I say thorough?

You may add photos and videos; custom categories like your service area, brands you sell and how to find parking; and coupons to encourage customers to make a first-time or repeat purchase.

4. Customer Reviews

Google and prospective customers both love customer reviews. You don’t have to do many test searches using Google to see that websites of companies who have several reviews on their Google Places pages, do very well in Google SERPs.

5. It is easy, and takes a very few minutes.

You may verify your phone number, address, and add business hours. After you have claimed and verified your Google Places listing, you may go back and take advantage of the features.

To make sure the basic information you submit is accurate, Google will ask you to verify it first by entering a PIN that will be sent to either your business address or phone number. (We recommend using the phone number. It automated and is nearly instantaneous as opposed to weeks.)

Now, go claim your Google Places listing!

Here is some help from Google:

Getting started with a local business listing on Google Places

Google Places quality guidelines

Don’t Lose Your Place – Claim Your Google Places Page!

Google, Google Maps, Marketing, Search, SEO / By John / November 23, 2010

If you have claimed your Google Places page, please feel free to skip the rest of this. If you have not claimed your Google Places page. Do it! Better yet, talk with the people you trust most with your web presence about why and how. That may be someone on your staff, your webmaster, or your web marketing people. Oh, by the way, if they haven’t been telling you to use Google Local Business Center (before it morphed into Google Places) for the last few years, you should ask them why not.

Why is claiming your Google Place Page important? On April 20, 2010, while introducing Google Places, they said, “One out of five Google searches is related to location.” Seven months later, the frequency of local searches has surely grown.

Google says, “More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it’s important to make sure your business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.” They obviously believe it, as demonstrated by their blog post, “Place Search: a faster, easier way to find local information.”

After you claim your page, you may enhance the Place Page for your business by adding photos, videos, tags, hours of operation, coupons, and even real-time updates like weekly specials. One of the “features” is “ Reviews by Google users” which presents a compelling reason to “claim” your business Places page. Business owners that claim their listing may respond to negative (and positive) reviews. Here are some guidelines for managing your listing.

When is your Google Places listing displayed? Your listing will display when someone does a search on Google Web Search, Google Maps, Mobile search, 1-800-GOOG-411 voice directory search, or Google Earth. On any of these services, a search directly for your business name and city, will most likely display your listing. If your listing is well crafted, searches for your business category or services will trigger a display of your listing.

There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll just close, by telling you, this is the most important local business search-related action you can take. Google Places is free, and you can easily claim and enhance the listing yourself. Invest a little time, and do this today!

Learn more about Google Places, and remember, Don’t Lose Your Place!

As always, feel free to post a comment or question, or call John at 1-800-281-9993 or 608-822-3750.

Google – Get Local, Get Traffic Quickly

Google, Google Maps, Marketing, Search, SEO / By John / July 29, 2008

If you are using Google Maps Local Business Center, you can stop reading. If you are not using Google Maps Local, and your potential customer’s search terms include the name of the city, town, villiage, state, or geographical description of where your business is located, keep reading.

Often, searchers narrow their search results by adding one or more location-specific terms to their search. For example, the search term, “auto dealer lancaster wi” yields the following.

Who benefits? You get more visibility. The user gets more relevant results with less work. Win, win! Obviously, if you are in a rural area, there normally will be less competition. Consequently, rural business will generally have even better visibility. Even if you don’t get the click that time, it is still branding, branding, branding.

The position of where Google displays the map and listings varies from query to query. Sometimes, you’ll find it directly below one or more “Sponsored Links.” Other times there may be two or three organic listings above it. Or, there may be a video link above or below the Local business results.

So, how do you get listed? It is easy. You may already be listed. Google pulls your address and other information from public data. If you search for your business, and click on the “Directions and More” link. (see example above), you find more info and you will notice an “Edit” link. In the bubble on the map, you will see “Are you the owner?” and a “Claim your business” link. You’ll need a Google Account, which many of you have. If you don’t have one, you can sign up and follow the instructions here. Note: The street address you enter will be shown in the Google Maps search results.

So, why should you use Google Maps Local?

It gets results.
It is free.
It is easy to use.
Oh, yes. It just plain gets results.

The bottom line is, you get a highly-visible link that most users will notice and click on before they click on Adword advertisements or organic listings.

Bonus Thought: You can safely bet that Google will continue to very aggressively push Google Maps and related advertising in the mobile hand-device market.

Don’t wait. Get Local, and Get Traffic Quickly!