For a local business, the Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees. It shows up before your website does, and on a phone it's usually all they look at. It's also the thing owners set up once and never open again.
Here are three checks that take about ten minutes and cost nothing. They catch the problems we see most often.
1. Is it verified?
An unverified profile may not show up on Google Maps at all, even when someone searches your exact business name. Sign in at business.google.com and look for a "Get verified" prompt. If you see one, you're not verified yet.
Verification can take a few days and sometimes asks for a short video of your storefront or workspace. Start it now rather than the week you need it.
2. Do your hours match reality?
Check holidays, seasonal changes, and the day you close early. Wrong hours mean a customer standing at a locked door, and that customer tends to leave a review about it.
Set special hours for upcoming holidays ahead of time. Google sometimes asks customers to confirm a business's hours, and a mismatch can lead to suggested edits you didn't make.
3. Does your website link work?
Tap the website button on your own profile, on your phone. Then type your address both with and without "www." It's surprisingly common for one of those to be dead, and that customer goes to a competitor instead.
While you're there, check that the phone number connects to a person or a voicemail that's actually checked.
If something's wrong
Each of these is fixable in an afternoon. Verification is a Google process, so the only cost is waiting. Hours are a two-minute edit. A dead "www" or bare domain is a DNS setting your web host or developer can fix quickly.
For the rest of the list, see Is your website losing leads?. The profile is check number one there for a reason.
Want a second set of eyes on yours? Start at /discuss or write to hello@fullspecstudio.com.