Before Google, a lot of local business started with a thick yellow book. You looked up a category, scanned the listings, and called whoever stood out. In the Cincinnati market, the prize spot was the back cover. It sat face-up on kitchen counters and office desks, and it was not cheap. From experience selling in that era, the back cover ran about $10,000 a month in a midsize market of roughly two to three million people.
That ad is free now. The Yellow Pages today is your Google Business Profile.
People are not flipping through a directory. They pull out a phone or open a browser and look the business up on Google. The profile is the listing. On a desktop search it often shows as the panel on the right side of the results, the badge next to the map. On a phone it is usually the first thing they see. A thin, unclaimed profile is the old one-line listing in the middle of the book. A complete one is the back cover.
Claim it first
The listing is free. Set up a Google account, go to Google Business Profile, and claim the business. If the profile already exists, claim that one instead of creating a duplicate. If you get stuck, this is something we will set up complimentary. Call or email and we will walk through it. Claiming it is what lets you control the name, the category, the hours, the phone number, and the link to the site. Until you do that, Google and other people are writing the listing for you.
Make the listing complete
A complete profile is what moves you toward the back cover.
- Put the business information in and keep it accurate.
- Add the hours you are actually open.
- Add a contact link. Google will create the directions link and the link to the website.
- Add an appointment link if customers book with you.
- Add your products and services. You do not have to publish pricing if you do not want to share it. Naming what you do still helps you show up when someone searches for that work.
- Add photos. About 10 photos is enough to get Google’s attention. That is a ranking signal. Phone photos are fine. Professional photos usually look better. Either way, get them on the profile.
The more complete the listing, the closer you are to the back of the book.
Ask for reviews, do not buy them
Reviews matter, and they are harder to get than they look. You are not allowed to incentivize them. No discounts, gift cards, or freebies in exchange for a star rating.
What you can do is ask. Build it into the end of the job. When the work is done, ask the customer for a review. That is what we do after a website launches. If the work was good, the review follows. Respond to the ones you get.
Post like it is a news feed
Google posts are the part most owners skip. A post works like a short update on LinkedIn or Facebook: an image and a message, published on the profile itself.
Two things happen when you post. You show Google the company is active. You can also work in the words customers actually search, as long as it reads naturally. That is what Google wants. Keyword stuffing is not the point. A real update about a service, a project, or a seasonal offer is.
The short version
- Claim the listing.
- Finish it: photos, products, services, hours, links.
- Ask customers for reviews after the work is done.
- Use Google posts so the profile stays active.
If you do not know how to do these, or you get stuck halfway, call or email. We will help you get the back-cover listing, the one that used to cost a fortune and now costs a complete profile.