What Is a Google Business Profile?
Here's something most web designers won't tell you: your website isn't even the first thing Google show people. Its your Google Business Profile.
What Is a Google Business Profile?
It's the listing that shows up on the right side of Google when someone searches your business name, or in the map results when someone searches "plumber near me" or "landscaping Orillia."
It shows your hours, your phone number, your reviews, your photos, your address, and sometimes even a booking button. And it's completely free.
Why It Matters More Than Your Website
Think about how people actually search for local services. They type "electrician Orillia" or "HVAC company near me." Google's first response, before showing any websites, is usually a map with three business listings. This is called the Local Pack.
If you're in those three listings, you get the call. If you're not, most people never scroll down to the website results.
Getting into that Local Pack is more dependent on your Google Business Profile than your website. Your number of reviews, how recent they are, how complete your profile is, and how active you are on it all play a major role. This helps your SEO
WEKA PROFILE:
No photos (or photos from 5 years ago)
Under 10 reviews
Hours that haven't been updated
No response to reviews
A description that just says "we are a local company"...you are losing calls to the competitor down the street who took 20 minutes to set theirs up properly.
STRONG PROFILE:
30+ reviews with an average of 4.5 stars or higher
A complete business description that includes your main services and the areas you serve
Recent photos of your team, your work, and your location
Updated hours including holiday hours
You responding to every review
Posts and updates showing you're active
How It Works With Your Website
Your Google Business Profile and your website work together. Your profile gets people to call or click. Your website convinces them to follow through. The profile needs to link to a real, professional website (https://www.mcgrawesome.com/web-design) — a bad website undermines all the trust your reviews built.
But don't make the mistake of thinking a great website is enough on its own. If your Google Business Profile is empty, you're invisible for a huge chunk of local searches before anyone ever sees your site.
Set it up. Fill it out completely. Ask every happy customer for a review. This is free marketing that most of your competitors aren't doing properly.
What It Shouldn't Include
Surprise fees for "extras" that should have been standard. Ongoing monthly charges just to keep your site live (unless it's hosting, which is legitimate). A handoff with no training on how to use your own site. A professional build is a complete package — design, development, SEO, copy structure, and support. If any of those pieces are missing, you're not getting a professional build. You're getting a good-looking problem. See what a full build looks like.
Ready to Talk?
McGrawesome Design has been building websites for Orillia and Simcoe County businesses for over six years. We're not going to oversell you something you don't need — and we're not going to hand you a template and call it custom.
