Google Business Profile or a website? You need both
Owners ask me this every week: "I have the Google listing. Why do I need a website?" Fair question. Here is the honest answer.
What the Google Business Profile does
Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up on Google Maps and in the box of three businesses at the top of a local search. It is free, it shows your reviews and hours, and for "near me" searches it is the single most important thing you own online.
If you do not have one, stop reading and go set it up. It matters more than this article.
What the profile cannot do
It cannot show your prices in a way you control, explain your services, show twenty photos in the order you want, or make the case for why someone should pick you over the two companies listed next to you. It is a listing. It looks like every other listing on purpose.
It also has a field called "Website." When that field is empty, Google is quietly telling the customer that the business next to you is more established than you are.
How the two work together
- The customer searches "AC repair near me." Google shows the map with three businesses. Yours is one of them because your profile is complete and your reviews are good.
- The customer taps your name. They see your hours, your reviews, and a "Website" button.
- They tap the website. Now you are the only company on the screen. Your prices, your photos, your license, your number at the top.
- They call. That call started on Google and closed on your website. Neither one does it alone.
Setting them up to point at each other
- Put your website in the Website field of your profile, and use the exact same business name, address and phone number on both.
- Put a link to your Google profile on the website, so customers can leave reviews and see that the two match.
- List the same services on both. Google compares them.
- Use the same photos. When Google sees the same business in both places, it trusts both more.
The Business Website plan includes setting up or cleaning up your profile, because a good site with a bad profile is half a system. It is also available on its own as an add-on.