Google Business Profile: The Free Tool You're Ignoring

There's a free tool that can put your business in front of hundreds of local customers every month. It takes about an hour to set up properly, costs nothing to maintain, and directly influences whether you show up when someone searches for what you do.

It's your Google Business Profile. And if you're like most local businesses in Olympia, you either haven't claimed yours, or you set it up two years ago and never touched it again.

That's leaving money on the table. Here's how to actually use it.

What Is a Google Business Profile?

When you search for a local business — "web designer near me," "best coffee shop Olympia," "plumber South Bay" — Google shows a box with a map and three businesses listed. That's the Map Pack, and it's powered by Google Business Profile (GBP, formerly Google My Business).

Your GBP listing shows your business name, address, phone number, hours, reviews, photos, and a link to your website. It appears in Google Maps, Google Search, and even in Google's AI-generated overviews.

For local businesses, this is often more valuable than your actual website. It's the first thing people see, and it's where they decide whether to call you, visit you, or keep scrolling.

Step 1: Claim and Verify Your Profile

If you haven't already, go to business.google.com and claim your listing. Google may have already created a basic profile for your business based on public data. Claiming it gives you control over what it says.

Verification usually involves Google sending a postcard to your business address with a PIN code. It takes about a week. Some businesses can verify by phone or email instead.

If your listing already exists but has wrong information — wrong address, old phone number, outdated hours — claiming it is the only way to fix it. And wrong information is actively driving customers away.

Step 2: Complete Every Single Field

Google rewards complete profiles. Businesses that fill out every available field get significantly more visibility than those with bare-minimum listings.

Here's what to fill out:

• Business name. Your real business name. Don't stuff keywords in here ("Bob's Plumbing — Best Plumber in Olympia WA"). Google will penalize that.
• Category. Choose your primary category carefully — it's the single biggest factor in which searches you appear for. Add secondary categories for everything else you do.
• Address and service area. If customers come to you, list your address. If you go to customers, define your service area. You can do both.
• Hours. Keep these accurate, including holiday hours. Nothing frustrates a customer more than driving to a business that Google said was open but isn't.
• Phone number. Use a local number, not a toll-free number. Local numbers perform better in local search.
• Website. Link to your homepage or a dedicated landing page.
• Business description. 750 characters to describe what you do. Write for humans first, but naturally include the services and locations you want to rank for.
• Services/Products. List everything you offer with descriptions and prices where applicable.
• Attributes. Woman-owned, veteran-owned, wheelchair accessible, free WiFi — whatever applies. These show up in your listing and can influence search matches.

Step 3: Add Photos (Real Ones)

Google's own data shows that businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions and 35% more clicks to their website than those without.

But not just any photos. Real photos of your actual business:

• Exterior photos so customers recognize your location when they arrive
• Interior photos showing your space, your setup, your work environment
• Team photos — people connect with people, not logos
• Product/service photos showing examples of your work
• Action shots of your team actually doing what you do

Aim for at least 10 photos to start, and add new ones regularly. Businesses with 100+ photos get 520% more calls than the average listing. Stock photos don't count — Google can detect them, and customers can tell the difference.

Step 4: Get Reviews (and Respond to All of Them)

Reviews are the engine of your GBP listing. More reviews, better reviews, and newer reviews all directly improve your visibility in local search.

How to get more reviews:

• Ask every satisfied customer. Not once. Every time. Make it part of your process.
• Make it easy. Create a direct link to your review page (search "Google review link generator") and send it via text or email immediately after the job is done.
• Time it right. Ask when the customer is happiest — right after a successful delivery, a completed project, or a great experience.
• Don't offer incentives. Google's policies prohibit offering discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews. It also looks fake.

Just as important: respond to every review. Every single one. Thank the positive reviewers by name and reference something specific about their experience. Respond to negative reviews professionally and constructively — this shows future customers how you handle problems.

Google has confirmed that responding to reviews improves your local ranking. It signals that you're an active, engaged business.

Step 5: Post Regular Updates

Google Business Profile has a "Posts" feature that most businesses completely ignore. It works like a mini social media feed directly on your listing.

You can post:

• Updates about your business, new services, or recent projects
• Offers and promotions with expiration dates
• Events you're hosting or participating in
• Products you want to highlight

Posts expire after 7 days (except events, which expire after the event date). This means you should be posting weekly. It takes 5 minutes, and it sends a fresh content signal to Google that your business is active and relevant.

Think of it this way: if two businesses are equally qualified for a search result, Google will favor the one that posted this week over the one that hasn't posted in six months.

Step 6: Use the Q&A Section

Your GBP listing has a Questions & Answers section. Anyone can ask a question, and anyone can answer — including random people on the internet. If you're not monitoring this, strangers might be answering questions about your business incorrectly.

The smart move: seed it yourself. Ask and answer the most common questions your customers have:

• "Do you offer free estimates?"
• "What's your service area?"
• "Do you work on weekends?"
• "What forms of payment do you accept?"

This pre-answers customer questions (reducing friction) and gives Google more content about your business to index.

The 15-Minute Weekly Routine

Once your profile is fully set up, maintaining it takes almost no time. Here's a weekly routine that keeps your GBP working hard:

• Monday (5 min): Publish a new post — a photo from last week's project, a tip for your audience, or a quick business update.
• Wednesday (5 min): Check for and respond to any new reviews.
• Friday (5 min): Check for new questions in Q&A. Upload any new photos from the week.

Fifteen minutes a week. That's all it takes to maintain one of the most powerful free marketing tools available to local businesses. There's no excuse not to do this.