Does Google Business Profile Really Matter?

Local SEO

6 min read

In This Article

If you own a local business, you’ve probably wondered whether your Google Business Profile really matters. Maybe you already have a website. Maybe you’ve spent thousands of dollars on that website. Maybe you’ve assumed your Google listing is just a place for your address and phone number.

After years of working with local businesses, my answer is simple:

Yes, Google Business Profile absolutely matters.

In fact, I believe it matters much more than most businesses realize.

Ignoring your Google Business Profile today is like having a storefront with the lights turned off. People can still find you, but many will simply walk past and go somewhere else.

Your Google Business Profile May Be More Important Than Your Website

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear is:

“I already have a website, so I don’t really care about my Google Business Profile.”

What many local businesses don’t understand is that their Google Business Profile often becomes their website in local search.

When someone searches for:

Oil change near me
HVAC contractor in Green Bay
Plumber near me
Dentist in Green Bay

The first thing they often see is the local map results.

Inside that profile they can see:

Your reviews
Your photos
Your business hours
Your services
Your phone number
Your directions
Your website
Questions and answers

Many customers make their decision before they ever visit your website.

If your profile is strong, it can do much of the selling for you.

The Moment My Opinion Changed

For years, we worked with an auto repair client and spent a lot of time publishing blog content.

Looking back, I wouldn’t even call it SEO.

We were just blogging.

The articles brought traffic, but we weren’t really paying attention to leads, phone calls, local rankings, or how people were actually finding the business.

Once we started focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel local SEO, everything changed.

We began tracking:

Phone calls
Website visits
Direction requests
Local map rankings
Google Business Profile interactions

What we discovered surprised us.

Across multiple locations, the business was generating hundreds of phone calls per month per location through their Google Business Profiles. When you added everything together, there were thousands of interactions happening every month.

People were:

Calling directly from the profile
Clicking through to the website
Requesting driving directions
Viewing photos
Reading reviews

The Google Business Profile wasn’t just supporting the website.

It was often the first impression and the first touchpoint.

That completely changed how we approached local SEO.

A Great Website Doesn’t Always Win

One lesson that stands out involved that same auto repair client.

The company had invested heavily in its website. They had multiple locations, a strong brand, and a significant marketing investment.

Yet they would regularly ask us why smaller local shops kept appearing above them in search results.

These smaller competitors had fewer locations and much smaller operations, but they were consistently winning local visibility.

At the time, we had not paid enough attention to the Google Business Profiles.

Once we started focusing on local SEO, improving profile visibility, monitoring map rankings, and optimizing the profiles themselves, we began closing that gap.

Eventually, they started outranking some of those smaller competitors.

The lesson was simple.

A great website alone is not enough.

The Biggest Google Business Profile Mistakes I See

After auditing many local businesses, several problems show up repeatedly.

Choosing the Wrong Primary Category

This is probably the biggest mistake.

Many businesses simply choose the category that sounds right.

The problem is that the most important category is often the one being used by the businesses already winning in the local map results.

I always recommend looking at the top competitors first.

If everyone ranking at the top uses one category and your business uses something different, you may be making it harder for Google to understand your business.

Ignoring Secondary Categories

Google allows businesses to choose multiple secondary categories.

Many businesses never set them.

These additional categories help Google understand the other services you offer and can improve visibility for related searches.

This is one of the easiest opportunities to improve a profile.

Not Asking for Reviews

Many businesses simply wait for reviews to happen naturally.

The problem is that your happiest customers are often the busiest customers.

You have to ask.

Building a simple review process can make a tremendous difference over time.

Never Responding to Reviews

If a customer leaves a review and the business never responds, it creates the impression that nobody is paying attention.

This is especially important for negative reviews.

A thoughtful response shows both Google and future customers that you care.

Not Adding Photos

This is another huge missed opportunity.

I regularly see profiles with two or three photos that were uploaded ten years ago.

An inactive profile sends signals that the business is inactive.

Photos help customers:

Understand your services
See your work
Build trust
Recognize your business

They also give Google fresh content to associate with your business.

What I Would Do With Only 30 Days

If I only had 30 days and a limited budget, I would start with the Google Business Profile before almost anything else.

My priorities would be:

Analyze competitors and select the correct primary category.
Add as many relevant secondary categories as possible.
Complete every service and service description.
Use the products section to showcase services.
Add photos aggressively.
Build a review strategy.

Many businesses don’t realize that the products section can be used to feature services.

You can add:

Images
Service descriptions
Links to service pages

These listings create additional visibility inside the profile.

I would also focus heavily on photos.

Many studies have shown that businesses with larger photo libraries receive more engagement.

My goal would be to get to 100 photos as quickly as possible.

Finally, I would help the business build a review process so that every completed job creates another opportunity for a review.

Your Google Business Profile Is Not Set It and Forget It

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is treating their profile as something they fill out once and never touch again.

An active profile sends signals that the business is active.

That means:

Adding photos regularly
Responding to reviews
Updating services
Monitoring rankings
Watching competitors
Looking at profile insights

The businesses that pay attention often outperform businesses that simply create a profile and walk away.