Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile, set up properly.
The map listing that shows up before anyone reaches your website: hours, directions, phone number, reviews. Most small businesses have one, and most have not touched it since the day it was created.
Why it matters
When somebody searches for what you do near where they are, Google shows a short list of businesses with a map before it shows any website at all. That list is built from the profile, not the site. A business with no profile, an unclaimed one, or one with the wrong category or a phone number that does not match anywhere else, simply is not in the running for that list, no matter how good the website behind it is.
What is actually included
- The profile created or claimed if it is not already, filled out and verified
- Google Search Console connected, sitemap submitted, indexing checked
- Location and service-area details structured properly
- Business name, address, phone number and hours made to match, exactly, across the site and the listing
What it costs
A single setup fee of $599 + GST, once. No monthly charge attached to this on its own.
What happens first
A look at the profile as it stands today: what category it is under, whether the details match the website and anywhere else the business is listed, and what is actually missing. Nothing gets changed before that is written down.
Who this is not for
A business with no fixed location or service area does not fit a map listing the way a trade or local service business does. Google Business Profile is built around somewhere real to send a customer, or a defined area you travel to.
A business chasing a specific ranking position is chasing something this cannot promise. What this fixes is the profile being complete, consistent and eligible to be shown, not where it lands once it is.
Questions
Before you ask.
- Will this get my business to the top of Google Maps?
- No, and anyone who promises a ranking position is telling you something they cannot control. What this actually does is remove the reasons a profile gets passed over: missing categories, an inconsistent address or phone number, no Search Console connection. Position also depends on reviews and proximity to the person searching, neither of which a setup job can change.
- What if I already have a Google Business Profile?
- It gets claimed or verified if that has not happened, checked against what your website and other listings say, and corrected wherever it does not match. Most existing profiles have not been touched since the day they were created.
- Is this ongoing, or a one-off?
- A one-off setup, at a single price with no monthly fee attached. Ongoing profile management and posting is not something this division sells as a separate product today.
- Do I still need a website if my Google Business Profile is sorted?
- Yes. The profile gets someone to notice you; the website is where they decide. A Google Business Profile that points at a broken or nonexistent site wastes the click.
Not sure what state yours is in?
The free Acquisition Review checks the profile along with everything else.