Try it now: search "electrician Altrincham" or "dog groomer Sale." Before any normal website appears, Google shows a map with three local businesses — names, star ratings, photos, a call button. That block is called the map pack, and for local businesses it's the most valuable real estate on the entire internet.
The way into it is a Google Business Profile — and unlike almost everything else in marketing, it's completely free.
What it actually does for you
A Google Business Profile is your business's listing across Google Search and Google Maps. Done properly, it shows your phone number with a tap-to-call button, your reviews and star rating, photos of your work, opening hours, the areas you serve, and directions to you if customers visit. Many customers will ring you straight from the listing without ever visiting a website — which means it's earning you calls even from people in a hurry.
Reviews: the engine inside it
The star rating next to your name does more selling than any line of copy ever will. A business with 4.8 stars and forty reviews wins the call over one with no reviews at all, almost every time — even if the second one is cheaper. The habit that builds this is simple: after every happy job, send the customer your review link by text. Ask while the goodwill is fresh. Most won't bother; enough will.
The mistakes we see constantly
Most small business profiles are losing work through fixable problems: the profile was never claimed (so anyone can suggest edits to it), the phone number or hours are wrong, the business categories are too vague for Google to match you to searches, there are no photos, or reviews sit unanswered — including the bad ones, which deserve a calm, professional reply more than any other. Each of these quietly tells Google, and customers, that nobody's home.
Profile and website: a team, not a choice
A common question: "If the profile is free, do I still need a website?" Yes — they do different jobs. The profile gets you found; the website gets you chosen. Google also uses your website to verify and understand your business, so profiles linked to a proper site tend to rank better in the map pack. The two reinforce each other: the profile catches the search, the website closes the sale, and the reviews feed both.
One practical note: Google will ask you to verify the profile — usually by video, postcard or phone — before everything goes live. It's a mild faff, but it's also the moat: every competitor who can't be bothered with that step stays invisible, which is precisely why finishing it matters.
If you set up one free thing for your business this month, make it this. And if you'd rather have it set up properly — categories, services, photos, review link and all — it's included in every plan we offer.