Google Business Profile — the 7 mistakes that cost you customers

The Google Business Profile (formerly "Google My Business") is the listing that appears on the right of Google search and on Google Maps. For local businesses it's often the first — sometimes the only — point of contact: many customers call straight from the listing without ever opening the website. Which makes these mistakes expensive:

The 7 mistakes

1. No profile at all — or an unclaimed one. Google sometimes creates listings automatically. If you've never claimed yours, you control nothing: wrong hours, random photos, no replies to reviews. Step one, always: claim and verify the profile.

2. Wrong or incomplete opening hours. The classic that costs revenue directly: "Open" according to Google, locked door in reality. One such experience and the customer never returns — and may well write it into a review. Don't forget holidays; Google actively asks about them.

3. No photos, or bad ones. Listings with meaningful photos get significantly more enquiries — Google itself reports this to owners. No photo studio needed: one clean exterior shot (recognition!), two interiors, one of the team, taken on a phone in daylight.

4. Leaving reviews unanswered — especially the bad ones. Prospects don't just read the stars; they read how you reply. A calm, solution-focused answer to a 1-star review convinces more than ten 5-star raves. And not replying at all signals indifference.

5. The wrong or too-generic category. Your primary category decides which searches you appear in. "Restaurant" instead of "Italian restaurant" gives away exactly the searches that are ready to buy. Choose as specifically as possible; add secondary categories.

6. Never posting anything. Few people know: profiles have a posts feature (offers, news, events). One post a month is enough to show the business is alive — dormant listings look closed.

7. No website link — or one that leads nowhere. The listing wins the attention; the website turns it into an enquiry. If the link is missing or points to an outdated page, the chain breaks exactly where it should make money.

Your Google listing is your second shop window — and for many customers, the first.

An honest caveat

The Business Profile is powerful for businesses whose customers search locally ("hairdresser near me", "electrician Munich"). If you work supra-regionally or purely online, it matters less — then classic Google search counts, where substantial content helps more than a map listing. Both together — a maintained profile plus a convincing website — is the strongest combination there is for local businesses. How to get the website part right is what the free intro call is for; how to recognise a good partner for it is covered in the 7 questions before you sign.