Google Business Profile: The Free 20 Minutes That Beats Most Paid Ads

If you run a local business and you've got twenty minutes free this week, there's one job that will do more for your enquiries than almost anything you could pay for: sorting out your Google Business Profile.

It's the free listing that puts you on the map — literally. When someone searches "barber near me" or "electrician in Exeter", that little box of three businesses with the map above it? That's powered almost entirely by Google Business Profiles. Get yours right and you turn up there. Leave it half-done, like most firms do, and you don't.

Here's the thing that surprises people: this often outperforms paid ads for a local business. A well-run profile gets you in front of people at the exact moment they're ready to buy — and you're not paying per click. It's not a replacement for everything else, but pound for pound, minute for minute, nothing beats it.

Let's set it up properly.

Step 1: Claim and verify it (5 minutes)

Search your business name on Google. If a listing appears that you've never touched, Google's already created one from public information — you just need to claim it. Look for "Own this business?" or head to google.com/business.

Verification is usually a code by post, phone or email. It can take a few days for a postcard, so kick this off now even if you finish the rest later. An unverified listing barely shows up, so this step isn't optional.

Step 2: Get the basics exactly right (5 minutes)

Google rewards accuracy and punishes inconsistency. Make sure these match what's on your website and everywhere else online:

• Business name — your real trading name, not stuffed with keywords ("Dave's Plumbing", not "Dave's Plumbing Cheap Emergency Plumber Exeter"). Google will slap you for that.
• Address or service area — if customers come to you, list the address. If you go to them (like most trades), set a service area: Exeter, Topsham, Crediton, the villages you actually cover.
• Phone number — the one you actually answer.
• Opening hours — and remember to update them for bank holidays and the Christmas break. Wrong hours infuriate customers and Google notices.
• Website link — point it at your homepage, or better, a relevant page.

Step 3: Choose your categories carefully (2 minutes)

This is the bit people skip, and it matters more than almost anything. Your primary category is one of the strongest signals Google uses to decide which searches you show up for.

Be specific. "Hair Salon" beats "Beauty Salon" if that's what you mainly do. "Emergency Plumber" beats "Plumber" if that's your bread and butter. Then add a couple of secondary categories for the other things you offer.

Step 4: Add real photos (3 minutes, then keep topping up)

Profiles with photos get markedly more clicks than those without — and Google favours profiles that get fresh photos regularly.

Skip the stock images and the logo. Add the real stuff:

• Your premises inside and out (so people recognise it).
• Your team, or just you.
• Actual work — a finished bathroom, a plated dish, a fresh haircut, a tidy job site.

Make a habit of adding one or two a month. It's a tiny effort that keeps the profile looking alive.

Step 5: Turn on the features that win business

A few free extras most businesses ignore:

• Messaging — lets people text you straight from the listing. Only turn it on if you'll actually reply.
• Products and services — list what you do with short descriptions and prices if you're comfortable showing them.
• Posts — like little updates (an offer, a finished project, a seasonal note). They keep the profile fresh and show up in your listing.
• Q&A — people can ask questions publicly. Keep an eye on it and answer; if you don't, a competitor or a random member of the public might answer for you.

The bit that keeps it climbing: reviews

Once it's set up, the profile mostly looks after itself — except for reviews, which are the engine that drives you up the rankings.

The firms above you in the map pack usually have more recent reviews than you, not better work. So:

• Ask every happy customer, the moment the job's done and they're pleased.
• Make it one tap — text them the direct review link.
• Reply to every review, good or bad. A calm reply to a moan reassures the next reader far more than the moan puts them off.

A steady drip of fresh reviews beats a big one-off batch.

That's genuinely it

Twenty minutes of setup, then a few minutes a month of photos and replies, plus the habit of asking for reviews. No agency, no ad spend, no jargon. For a local business it's the best-value marketing there is — which is exactly why so few competitors bother to do it properly, and why doing it gives you an edge.

If you'd rather have it set up and managed for you — profile dialled in, a proper review-gathering system, the lot — that's something we handle for Devon businesses all the time. Get in touch and we'll get you showing up where your customers are already looking.