How to improve your Google Business Profile

1. Check the listing a customer actually sees

Search for your business name and town on Google and open the Maps result. Check the phone number, website and opening hours against your own records. Try the website and booking links on a phone. A correct listing with a broken booking link can still lose a sale.

Google Business Profile is the current name for Google My Business. If the profile is unclaimed, use Google’s ownership and verification process. If somebody else manages it, resolve access before creating another listing for the same business.

• Record your current calls, website clicks and bookings where available.
• Make a list of inaccurate details before editing.
• Check holiday hours and whether customers can visit your address.

2. Make your name, category and services clear

Use the name customers know from your real business. Choose the primary category that best describes the main service you provide, then add genuinely relevant additional categories. Do not change the business name into a string of keywords.

Write service descriptions around the decisions a customer needs to make: what is included, who it is for, where it is available and how to enquire. Check any prices against your actual offer. Keep service areas realistic and follow Google’s address rules if you visit customers rather than receive them.

3. Show the business and make the next step easy

Use recent, genuine photographs that help a visitor recognise the premises, see your work or understand the experience. A clear entrance photo can be more useful than another decorative stock image. Ask permission before including identifiable customers.

Choose one useful next step on the linked page: call, book, request a quote or visit. Make sure the page explains the relevant service and works on mobile. Keep offers and updates accurate, including their end dates.

• Check that your logo is legible at a small size.
• Show examples of the work you really deliver.
• Test the enquiry journey from Maps to a completed action.

4. Treat reviews as customer service

Invite genuine feedback consistently and respond to questions or concerns. A review programme should help customers make an informed choice, not manufacture a perfect rating. Do not pay for reviews or offer discounts in return for them.

Read our Google reviews guide for request and reply examples. Look for repeated issues you can fix in the business: unclear prices, missed calls or confusing opening hours. Better operations support a better customer experience.

5. Use AI to prepare better local marketing

AI for marketing for a small business is useful when it turns a vague intention into a specific draft or checklist. Give it your verified services, audience and tone, then ask for a clear service description or a week of practical tasks.

MarginGlow can help research your public presence and prepare recommendations. You review the facts and make the changes in your Google Business Profile. This guide does not mean MarginGlow automatically manages or publishes to your Google account.

6. Review enquiries, not just visibility

After updating the profile, keep a simple weekly record of relevant profile interactions and actual enquiries. Ask new customers how they found you. If you use tagged website links, keep your campaign labels consistent.

Compare equivalent periods and account for seasonality, promotions and changes in opening hours. Google describes local ranking in terms of relevance, distance and prominence. You can improve the information you provide, but cannot control a searcher’s location or buy a better organic position.

• Today: repair incorrect details and broken links.
• This week: improve service copy, photographs and review replies.
• Next month: review enquiries and keep the changes that help customers act.