For many local businesses, the Google Business Profile gets more views than the website itself — it's what appears when someone searches your name or your service nearby. These seven mistakes appear in most profiles we audit, and every one is fixable this week.

1. The wrong primary category

Your primary category is a heavyweight ranking signal, and "close enough" isn't good enough. A bakery categorised as "Restaurant" loses bakery searches to properly-categorised rivals. Review it, then add secondary categories for everything else you genuinely do.

2. Hours that lie

Nothing burns trust like driving to a business Google said was open. Wrong hours also feed the "Closed now" label that quietly filters you out of evening searches. Update holidays too — Eid hours especially.

3. A profile with three photos from 2022

Profiles with current, real photos of premises, products and people get dramatically more engagement than logo-only listings. Add photos monthly; customers notice, and so does Google's freshness signal.

4. Ignoring reviews — especially bad ones

An unanswered complaint reads as confirmation. A calm, specific reply ("Sorry we missed the mark on delivery time — we've changed our courier since") reads as a business that fixes things. Reply to everything; future customers are the real audience.

5. NAP that disagrees with your website

Different phone number on the profile than the site footer, an old address in a directory somewhere — each inconsistency chips at Google's confidence in showing you. One exact format, everywhere. (Full checklist in our Google Maps ranking guide.)

6. An empty services section

The services/products section is searchable inventory. Listing "AC repair", "AC installation", "AC gas refill" separately catches three different searches that a bare profile misses. Describe each in a sentence — it costs nothing.

7. Never posting

Profile posts (offers, updates, photos) keep the listing active. Dormant profiles slowly lose ground to active competitors in the same map pack. Two posts a month is enough to stay warm.

The five-minute monthly routine

  • Add two or three fresh photos
  • Reply to every new review
  • Check hours for upcoming holidays
  • One post — an offer, a completed job, a new product

Frequently asked questions

Someone else manages my profile and I don't have access. What do I do?

Request ownership through Google's process — it contacts the current manager and escalates if they don't respond. Do this before a dispute ever arises; the profile is a business asset you should own.

Do Google posts affect ranking?

Directly, modestly. Indirectly, more — activity, engagement and freshness correlate with profiles that rank. Mostly they convert viewers who are already looking at you.

Can I remove a fake bad review?

Report it through the profile; Google removes clear policy violations. While it stands, a factual, unemotional owner reply limits its damage.

Want your profile audited properly? It's part of every local visibility engagement we run — get in touch.