Here’s a scenario that plays out thousands of times every day: A potential customer picks up their phone, types “real estate agent near me” or “best café in [suburb]” into Google, and within seconds they’re looking at a shortlist of local businesses. They glance at the star ratings, scan a few photos, check the hours — and then they choose. The whole process takes less than 60 seconds.
The question is: is your business on that shortlist?
That shortlist — known as the Google Local Pack — is powered almost entirely by Google Business Profile (GBP). Formerly called Google My Business, GBP is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears across Google Search and Google Maps. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s one of the highest-leverage marketing tools available to small businesses today.
Consider these numbers: 46% of all Google searches have local intent. 76% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a business within a day. And 28% of those searches result in a purchase. Your Google Business Profile is often the very first impression a potential client gets of your business — and unlike a paid ad, it doesn’t cost you a cent to maintain.
Yet most small businesses either rush through the setup, leave key fields blank, or set it up once and never touch it again. That’s a significant missed opportunity. In this guide, we’ll walk you through every major aspect of optimising your GBP — from the basics to the advanced features most of your competitors haven’t discovered yet. Whether you’re a real estate agent, a tradie, a retailer, or a consultant, this guide will give you a clear, actionable roadmap to improve your local search presence.
Complete Every Field in Your Profile
The foundation of a strong Google Business Profile is completeness. Google’s own documentation confirms that businesses with complete profiles are twice as likely to be considered reputable by customers. More importantly, Google’s algorithm rewards complete profiles with better visibility in local search results.
This sounds straightforward, but you’d be surprised how many businesses leave critical fields blank or half-finished. Let’s go through the key fields and what you need to know about each.
Business Name
Use your real, legal business name — exactly as it appears on your signage, website, and official documents. Do not add keywords, locations, or descriptors to your business name (e.g., “Ray White Real Estate – Best Agent in Sydney”). Google considers this spam, and it can get your listing suspended.
Address and Service Area
If you have a physical location that customers visit, enter your full address. If you operate as a mobile or service-area business (like a local plumber who travels to clients rather than having a shop), you can hide your address and instead define a service area by suburb, city, or radius. You can also do both — list an address *and* define service areas if relevant.
Phone Number
Use a local phone number rather than a national 1300/1800 number where possible. Local numbers reinforce your geographic relevance to Google’s algorithm. Make sure this number matches what’s listed on your website and other online directories.
Business Hours
Be precise and keep these updated. Include separate hours for public holidays and special events. Businesses with accurate hours reduce the risk of frustrated customers arriving when you’re closed — and negative reviews that follow. You can set “special hours” in advance for upcoming holidays so you’re never caught out.
Business Categories
This is arguably the **most important field** in your entire GBP. Your primary category tells Google what your business *is*, and it has a direct impact on which searches trigger your listing to appear.
For a real estate Google Business Profile, the right primary category might be “Real Estate Agency,” “Real Estate Agent,” or “Real Estate Consultant,” depending on your business structure. Take the time to research which category your top competitors are using — you can see a competitor’s primary category by looking at their GBP listing or using browser tools.
After selecting your primary category, add **secondary categories** to broaden your visibility. A real estate agency might add categories like “Property Management Company,” “Real Estate Rental Agency,” or “Commercial Real Estate Agency” to capture different types of searches.
Business Description
You have 750 characters for your business description. Use them thoughtfully. This is your opportunity to explain who you are, what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different. Write for humans first, but naturally incorporate the search terms your ideal clients are likely to use. Avoid keyword stuffing — Google can detect it, and it reads poorly to potential customers.
Products and Services
Many businesses overlook this section entirely, but it’s a valuable way to add more keyword-rich content to your profile. For a real estate agency, this could mean listing services like “Property Appraisals,” “Buyer’s Advocacy,” “Property Management,” or “Auction Sales” — each with a short description and, where applicable, pricing.
Add High-Quality Photos and Videos That Build Trust
Visual content is one of the fastest ways to make your GBP listing stand out. According to Google, businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more website clicks than those without. In a competitive local market, that difference is significant.
Types of Photos to Upload
Profile photo: This should be your logo or a professional headshot. It appears alongside your business name across Google.
Cover photo: Think of this as your billboard. Choose an image that immediately communicates what your business does and why it’s great. This is the first visual impression most people will get.
Interior photos: Help customers know what to expect when they walk through your door.
Exterior photos: Make it easy for customers to find and recognise your location.
Team photos: People buy from people. Showing the faces behind your business builds familiarity and trust before a client ever makes contact.
Work/project photos: This is especially powerful for service businesses. For real estate professionals, this means showcasing recently sold properties, successful auction results (with a “SOLD” overlay), or photos from open homes. This kind of visual social proof is incredibly compelling for prospective clients evaluating which agent to list their property with.
Video Content:
Short videos (between 30 and 90 seconds) are increasingly influential on GBP listings. Consider creating a brief “meet the team” video, a walkthrough of your office, a client testimonial clip, or even a quick market update video. These don’t need to be professionally produced — authentic, well-lit smartphone footage performs well.
Best Practices
– Aim for a minimum of 10 photos when you first set up your profile, then add new images regularly (at least a few per month).
– Use high-resolution images (minimum 720px wide) with good lighting.
– Avoid stock photos — Google and customers both prefer authentic imagery.
– Don’t add text overlays or logos to every photo, as this can look promotional and reduce trust.
– Name your image files descriptively before uploading (e.g., “ray-white-paddington-team.jpg” rather than “IMG_4523.jpg”) — this is a small but useful SEO signal.
Build a Review Strategy That Actually Works
Online reviews are the digital equivalent of word-of-mouth — and they carry enormous weight, both with potential customers and with Google’s ranking algorithm. A business with a strong, consistent flow of genuine five-star reviews will almost always outperform a competitor with fewer reviews, regardless of how polished the rest of their profile looks.
How to Get More Reviews Consistently
The most effective way to get reviews is also the simplest: **ask**. Most happy clients won’t leave a review unless prompted — not because they don’t want to, but because it simply doesn’t cross their mind.
Here’s how to make asking for reviews a natural part of your process:
Ask at the right moment:- Timing is everything. For a real estate agent, the ideal moment is shortly after settlement day — when the client is experiencing the emotional high of completing their sale or purchase. A quick text or email at that moment, with a direct link to your GBP review page, dramatically increases the likelihood of a response.
Make it easy:- Don’t just say “we’d love a review.” Send a direct link to your review page so there’s zero friction. You can find this URL in your GBP dashboard under “Share review form.”
Train your team:- If you have staff, make sure everyone understands the importance of reviews and is comfortable asking satisfied clients.
Add a review link to your email signature:- A simple line like “Happy with our service? We’d love a Google review 🙏” with a hyperlink can generate a steady stream of organic reviews over time.
Follow up with a simple email sequence:- After completing a project or transaction, send a short follow-up email thanking the client and including your review link.
Read More : How to get 5-star reviews for your business
Responding to Reviews — Both Positive and Negative
Responding to reviews is non-negotiable. Google looks favourably on businesses that engage with their reviewers, and potential customers are watching how you respond.
For positive reviews: Don’t just say “thanks!” Personalise your response, reference something specific from their experience, and subtly reinforce your services. For example: “Thank you so much for trusting our team with the sale of your Newtown home, Sarah! It was such a pleasure working with you through the auction process. Wishing you all the best in your new place!”
For negative reviews: Take a breath before you respond. Never get defensive or dismissive. Acknowledge the concern, apologise for the experience (without necessarily admitting fault), and offer to resolve the issue offline. A calm, professional response to a negative review often does more to build trust with prospective clients than a dozen positive reviews — because it shows how you handle adversity.
Use Google Posts to Keep Your Profile Active and Engaging
Google Posts are short-form content updates that appear directly on your GBP listing in search results. They’re one of the most underutilised features in the entire platform — which means businesses that use them well have an instant competitive advantage.
Types of Google Posts
What’s New: General updates about your business, blog articles, team news, or industry insights.
Offer: Promote a limited-time discount, free consultation, or special package. These posts display a “View offer” button and are great for driving direct action.
Event: Announce an upcoming event with a title, date, time, and description. For a real estate agency, this is perfect for advertising open home inspections, community events, or client information evenings.
Product: Highlight a specific product or service with an image, description, and price.
Tips for Effective Posts
– Posts expire after 7 days (except Event posts, which expire after the event date), so aim to post at least once per week to maintain a consistently active listing.
– Always include a call-to-action button — options include “Learn more,” “Book,” “Order online,” “Buy,” and “Call now.”
– Use a high-quality image with every post. Posts with images significantly outperform text-only posts.
– Keep your copy concise and action-oriented. Lead with the most important information.
– For real estate professionals, consider posting weekly property market updates for your suburb or area. This positions you as a local expert, improves property listing visibility, and gives prospective vendors and buyers a reason to keep checking your profile.
Optimise Your Profile for Local SEO
Local SEO is the practice of optimising your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important — arguably *the* most important local SEO asset you have.
NAP Consistency
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Google cross-references the information in your GBP against hundreds of other online sources — directories, social media profiles, your website, review sites — to verify that your business is legitimate and consistent. Inconsistencies can undermine your local rankings.
Conduct a NAP audit: search for your business name across major directories (Yellow Pages, True Local, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, industry-specific directories) and ensure the information matches your GBP exactly.
Use Keywords Strategically
While you shouldn’t stuff keywords unnaturally into your profile, it’s important to include the terms your potential clients are actually searching for. Think about:
– What services do you offer? (e.g., “property appraisals,” “drain cleaning,” “tax returns”)
– What locations do you serve? (e.g., “inner west Sydney,” “Melbourne CBD and surrounds”)
– What problems do you solve? (e.g., “first home buyers,” “investment property management”)
Incorporate these terms naturally into your business description, services section, and even your responses to reviews.
Build Local Citations
Beyond your GBP, getting listed on reputable local directories strengthens your overall local SEO. For real estate professionals, this includes platforms like realestate.com.au, domain.com.au, and RateMyAgent. For a local plumber, it might mean listings on HiPages, Oneflare, and ServiceSeeking. Each consistent citation reinforces your geographic relevance to Google.
Embed Google Maps on Your Website
Adding a Google Maps embed to your website’s contact page creates a technical link between your site and your GBP, which can positively influence your local rankings. It’s a small step that takes five minutes and can have a meaningful impact.
Monitor Your GBP Insights and Analytics
Data should drive your decisions. Google Business Profile provides a built-in analytics dashboard called **Insights** (or “Performance” in some versions of the interface), and it’s packed with useful information that most small business owners never look at.
Key Metrics to Track
Search queries: What specific terms are people typing into Google that cause your listing to appear? This is incredibly valuable information. If you’re a real estate agent and you’re appearing for searches like “sell my house in [suburb]” or “real estate agent [suburb],” you’re on the right track. If you’re appearing for irrelevant searches, it might be time to refine your categories or description.
Views: How many times has your profile appeared in Search vs. Maps? This helps you understand where your visibility is coming from.
Customer actions: What do people do after they see your listing? Track clicks to your website, direction requests, phone calls, and message enquiries. If people are viewing your profile but not taking action, your photos, reviews, or call-to-action elements might need improvement.
Photo views vs. competitor photo views: GBP shows you how your photo views compare to similar businesses in your area. If you’re significantly behind, it’s time to invest in better visual content.
Review performance: Track your average star rating over time and the volume of new reviews. Set a goal to increase your review count by a specific number each month.
How Often to Review Your Insights
Check your GBP Insights at least once a month. Set a recurring reminder and spend 15–20 minutes reviewing the data. Look for trends, spikes, or drops in performance and try to understand what caused them. Over time, you’ll develop a clear picture of what’s working and where there’s room to improve.
Keep Your Information Current — Always
This might seem like the most obvious advice in this entire guide, but outdated information is one of the most common — and damaging — mistakes small businesses make with their GBP. Nothing frustrates a potential customer more than driving to a business that Google said was open, only to find it closed. And that frustration often translates directly into a negative review.
Make it a standing habit to update your GBP whenever:
– Your hours change — especially for public holidays, school holidays, or seasonal variations
– You move location or open a new location
– You add or remove services
– Your phone number or website URL changes
– You rebrand or change your business name
– You temporarily close — GBP allows you to mark your business as “temporarily closed” without affecting your ranking
For professionals specifically, keeping your service areas updated is particularly important. If you’ve recently expanded into new suburbs or acquired a new office location, update your GBP immediately to ensure you’re appearing in searches for those areas and improving property listing visibility across your expanded market.
Unlock the Advanced Features Most Businesses Ignore
Once your core profile is optimised, there’s a whole suite of additional GBP features that can set you apart from competitors who are only doing the basics.
Q&A Section
The Questions & Answers section appears on your GBP listing and allows anyone — including you — to post questions and answers. The problem? Many businesses don’t realise they need to proactively manage this section. If you leave it unattended, customers (or even competitors) might post inaccurate or unhelpful answers.
Take control: Log into your GBP and proactively populate the Q&A section with the questions your clients most commonly ask. For a real estate agent, this might include:
– “Do you handle both residential and commercial properties?”
– “What suburbs do you service?”
– “Do you offer free property appraisals?”
– “How long does the average property take to sell with your agency?”
By answering these questions yourself, you control the narrative and provide immediate value to prospective clients who are in research mode.
Messaging
The messaging feature allows potential clients to send you a direct message from your GBP listing without needing to call or email. When enabled, a “Message” button appears on your profile. This is particularly valuable for capturing leads from people who prefer text over phone — a growing demographic.
Important: Google monitors your response time and will display it on your profile (e.g., “Usually responds within a few hours”). If you enable messaging but respond slowly or not at all, it can actually hurt your profile. Only enable this feature if you’re committed to monitoring and responding promptly.
Booking Button
If you use an online booking or scheduling tool — whether that’s Calendly, Acuity, a CRM system, or an industry-specific platform — you can connect it directly to your GBP. This adds a “Book” button to your listing that allows potential clients to schedule an appointment instantly, without leaving Google.
For a real estate agent, this could be linked to a property appraisal booking form or a buyer consultation scheduler. Removing friction from the booking process can meaningfully increase conversion rates.
Menu and Service Lists
Depending on your business category, you may have access to menu or service list features. These allow you to showcase specific offerings with descriptions and prices directly on your GBP. The more detail you provide here, the more surface area you create for Google to match your profile to relevant searches.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Before we wrap up, let’s quickly cover some of the most common GBP mistakes that undo all the good work above:
Keyword stuffing your business name : This is against Google’s guidelines and can get your listing suspended.
Using a virtual office address to appear in a city where you don’t actually operate: Google is increasingly effective at detecting this, and the consequences (suspension) are severe.
Ignoring negative reviews: Leaving negative reviews unanswered signals to potential customers that you don’t care.
Only uploading photos once: Fresh, regular photo uploads signal to Google that your business is active.
Not verifying your listing: An unverified GBP has significantly less visibility than a verified one. Make sure you complete the verification process when you first set up your profile.
Inconsistent NAP across the web: As discussed, inconsistencies undermine your local SEO efforts.
Conclusion: Start Today, Build Consistently
Your Google Business Profile is not a “set and forget” tool — it’s a living, breathing marketing asset that rewards regular attention. The businesses that consistently show up at the top of local search results aren’t always the biggest or most established. They’re the ones who take their GBP seriously, keep it updated, engage with their customers, and use every available feature to its full potential.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything covered in this guide, don’t be. You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with the quick wins: complete every field in your profile, add 10 high-quality photos, and send a review request to your last five happy clients. Then work through the rest of the checklist over the coming weeks.
The payoff — more visibility, more enquiries, and more trust — is absolutely worth the effort. And the best part? It’s free.
