Most businesses put all their attention into their website and none into their Google Business Profile — the free listing that shows up on Google Maps and in search results. That's backwards. For a huge number of searches, your Google listing is seen first, and a website only gets a chance if the listing already looks trustworthy.
Run through these seven checks. Each "no" is a place you're probably losing customers before they ever click through.
The 7-point check
- Is your profile claimed and verified? An unclaimed listing can still show up in search — with information you don't control.
- Do your name, address, and phone match everywhere online? Inconsistent details across your website, social pages, and directories quietly hurt how much Google trusts your listing.
- Are your opening hours correct? Especially Fridays and public holidays — this is the single most common reason customers show up to a closed door.
- Do you have real photos, not a blank grey icon? Listings with real photos get significantly more clicks than ones with no visual proof the business exists.
- Do you reply to your reviews? Both the good ones and the bad ones — an unanswered bad review sitting at the top of your listing does more damage than the review itself.
- Is your category and service list set correctly? "General business" tells Google (and customers) almost nothing about what you actually do.
- Can customers message or call you directly from the listing? Every extra step between "found you" and "contacted you" loses a percentage of customers.
Scoring yourself
6–7 yes answers — your listing is doing its job.
3–5 — you're losing customers before they even see your website.
0–2 — Google is quietly sending your customers elsewhere.
Fixing it usually takes an afternoon
Unlike a website rebuild, most of this is free and fixable in a single sitting — claiming a listing, updating hours, uploading real photos, replying to reviews. If you're not sure where to start, or you're not sure your listing is even claimed, send us your business name and we'll take a look.