Most small business owners I talk to worry about their website. They wonder whether it's pretty, whether it's modern, whether it needs new photos. And meanwhile they completely miss the thing that often matters far more for a local business than the website itself: the Google Business Profile. That's the card with the map, opening hours, phone number and stars that pops up when someone types your name or "plumber Ostrava" into Google.
The good news is that this profile is free and you can set it up yourself. The bad news is that small mistakes in it cost plenty of businesses customers every single day, and the owner has no idea, because they've never seen their own profile through the eyes of a stranger who is only just looking for them. Let's go through the five mistakes. You don't need to be technical, common sense is enough. If you want to know straight away how your profile is doing, go through the check below.
Check your Google Business Profile in 2 minutes
Answer 12 questions about your profile. You get a score and a list of fixes ordered by how much they matter. Nothing is sent anywhere.
- 1.Is your profile claimed and verified?
- 2.Does the primary category describe your main business exactly?
- 3.Do you have secondary categories for other services you really offer?
- 4.Does the profile show your business address?
- 5.Are your opening hours correct, including holidays?
- 6.How many Google reviews do you have?
- 7.When did you get your latest review?
- 8.What is your average rating?
- 9.Do you reply to reviews, including criticism?
- 10.Does your profile have real photos and video?
- 11.Have you filled in services or products?
- 12.Does the profile link to your website, with the same details (name, address, phone, hours)?
Answered 0 of 12.
Scores are indicative weights based on the Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors 2026 expert survey and my practice, not Google's formula.
How the profile and website work together
A local query may show a map and business results. Their format and order vary by query and location. Google names relevance, distance and prominence, without publishing exact weights or guaranteeing placement for a completed profile. Website links and information can contribute to the wider picture of a business.
The profile helps customers find contact and location details; the website can explain the offer. Use your own data to establish which brings enquiries. Google's local ranking guidance; more on local SEO.
Mistake 1: The profile isn't claimed and verified
A lot of businesses have a profile on Google without knowing it, Google sometimes creates one itself from public data. The problem is that a profile like that is run by no one. Anyone can suggest a change to it, the opening hours may be wrong, and you have no idea.
Claim the profile and complete whichever verification method Google offers your account. Verification enables management, not exclusive control over published information: Google can also use other sources and suggested edits. Check the details after verification too.
Mistake 2: The wrong category
The category is how you tell Google what your business does, and helps describe the relevant activity. Yet plenty of businesses breeze past it. A typical mistake is picking a category that's too generic ("Company", "Services") instead of the precise one.
The rule is simple:
Primary and secondary categories
- Primary category
- Describes the main activity as precisely as possible
- Not "shop", but "Hairdresser"
- Not "services", but "Plumber"
- Secondary categories
- For side services you genuinely offer
- For example "Barber shop" or "Beauty salon"
Don't add categories that have nothing to do with you just to appear in more searches. Google doesn't favour it, and it only confuses the customer.
Don't try to stuff keywords into the business name ("Jana's Hair Salon, the best cuts in Ostrava, cheap"). The name should contain only your actual business name. Tell Google what you do through categories and services, not the name. Write the description for customers; this article does not assign numerical ranking weights to individual fields. A stuffed name also risks a suspended profile.
Mistake 3: A NAP that contradicts itself everywhere
NAP is shorthand for three basic details: Name, Address and Phone. It sounds trivial, but this is exactly where almost everyone slips up. A business has one address on its website, a different phone format on Firmy.cz, an old branch on Mapy.cz, and a nickname instead of the official name on Facebook.
Why does it matter? Google assembles your business from information scattered across the whole internet. Minor formatting differences are not equivalent to an incorrect telephone number or address. The real problem is wrong details on key sites: Google may then overwrite your profile itself, such as the phone number or opening hours, based on what it finds elsewhere. The fix isn't hard, just tedious: write down one exact form of the name, address and phone number, and go through every place your business appears online with it:
Where to unify the name, address and phone
- Your website mainly the footer and the Contact page
- Google Business Profile name, address and phone
- Firmy.cz and Mapy.cz people in the Czech market use them a lot
- Social networks and directories Facebook, Instagram, business directories
Aim for correct, mutually understandable details. Matching facts matter more than an identical space in a telephone number. Check the published result after corrections; alignment cannot guarantee that future incorrect suggestions never arise.
Worked example: One workshop, conflicting details
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
| Source | Now | After alignment |
|---|---|---|
| Website | North Workshop / Old St 2 | North Workshop / New St 8 |
| Profile | North Repairs / New St 8 | North Workshop / New St 8 |
| Directory | North Workshop / Old St 2 | North Workshop / New St 8 |
Fictional addresses. Confirm accuracy with the operator.
Mistake 4: A half-empty profile
A verified profile with the right category is the foundation. Now you have to fill it in, and this is where most businesses stop halfway. Empty spots in the profile are a wasted opportunity, because the customer decides based on what they see:
- Opening hours, they must be right, including holidays. Nothing annoys a customer more than driving up to a locked door because Google said "open". Wrong opening hours are the fastest way to earn an angry review.
- Real photos of the premises, not stock photos off the internet, but your actual workshop, shop, team, finished work. People want to see where they're going. A few honest phone photos do more than one staged shot.
- The Services and Products section, list exactly what you offer, ideally with a price or a price range. It helps both the customer and Google understand which searches to show you for.
- The business description, a few sentences about what you do, for whom and where. Naturally, in human language, not as a list of keywords.
You don't need to fill the profile in perfectly in one afternoon. But a half-empty profile next to a competitor who has photos, prices and current hours loses, even if your work is better.
Worked example: Add what people need to plan a visit
ORIGINAL EXAMPLE · FICTIONAL DATA
| Field | Missing | Example completion |
|---|---|---|
| Service | "Various services" | Bicycle servicing |
| Hours | Not provided | Mon-Fri 9-17; holidays separately |
| Arrival | No directions | Entrance through courtyard |
| Photo | Generic decoration | Own photo of the actual entrance |
A profile brief, not a live Google profile.
Mistake 5: Reviews you write yourself
Reviews are the fuel of local search and the first thing a customer looks at. And it's exactly here that businesses make a mistake that can even get the profile blocked: they write the reviews themselves or have employees write them.
Google prohibits fabricated experiences and reviews based on a conflict of interest. Current rules also prohibit requiring staff to solicit a set number of reviews or specified content. This concerns gathering customer reviews, not only staff writing them. This article does not infer detection mechanisms or an introduction date. Google policy, checked 3 October 2026.
The right way is slower, but safe and works long term, just politely ask real customers for a review:
How to collect reviews
- Ask after a job or a visit, without selecting only satisfied people, offering incentives or requesting a score
- Make it easy with a short link from the profile or a QR code at the premises
- Reply to praise and criticism alike, for a negative review thank, apologise and offer a solution
Other customers see your replies too, and a calm, matter-of-fact response to criticism often makes a better impression than the five-star review itself.
How to tell your profile is in good shape
Quickly run through these six points, if you hesitate on any of them, you've found where to start:
- The profile is claimed and verified (you run it, not Google on your behalf).
- You have a precise primary category and sensible secondary ones.
- Your NAP (name, address, phone) is the same on the website, Google, Firmy.cz and Mapy.cz.
- The opening hours are right, you have real photos and filled-in services.
- The reviews come from customers, not from you or your staff.
- You reply to all ratings, even the bad ones.
The profile itself is free; maintaining it takes time. Accurate information can facilitate contact, but neither call volume nor a better return than advertising can be promised.
If you're not sure whether your profile and overall online presence are in good shape, I'm happy to take a look, I'll go through your website and profile for free and send you a few concrete things holding you back, with no obligation and no sales pitch. Just get in touch via the free mini-audit. If you're only just finding out where you stand, start with how to tell if you have a bad website. And when you want to set the business profile into a wider strategy, local SEO is part of what I do.