Your Google Business Profile is doing half your marketing
The free listing that decides whether a nearby customer ever finds you - and the five fields people leave blank.
Your profile is the new shop window
For local searches, Google shows your profile before your website. Hours, photos, reviews and category decide whether a nearby customer chooses you or the next result.
Five fields decide most of it
The blanks cost you: primary category, services, photos, hours (including holidays) and the “from the business” description. Each one is a ranking and a trust signal.
Spend 30 minutes today
It's mostly typing. Then a few minutes a month keeps it alive.
- ✓Set the most specific primary category you can
- ✓Add ten real photos and your opening hours
- ✓Reply to every review, good or bad
Roughly the share of Google searches with local intent
Source: SBD review of public search data, 2026 (illustrative)
Yes - count and recency both feed ranking, and replies show you're active.
Self-taught marketer who started selling online at 17 and went on to freelance for brands across Europe before founding Adlarion. He writes The Small Business Digest in plain English - the news he wishes he'd had when he was starting out.
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