Google defines a Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) as: “an easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google. To help customers find your business, you can verify your business and edit your business information.”

Simply put, a Google Business Profile is a “home page” of sorts within the local search hierarchy that allows a company to create a unique local profile for their business that contains all of their business information including the business name, address, phone number, customer reviews, photos, and more. Better yet, a Google Business Profile is completely FREE.

Google Business Profiles have become so ingrained within our everyday activity that we access them every day without even cognizantly realizing. Think about it. It’s just after dinnertime on a Friday night and you have a craving for a pizza pie from someplace new, something different, a place you haven’t tried before. Are you going to open the yellow pages? In 2024, doubtful. You open Google and do a search for “pizza place near me”. The majority of consumers gravitate right to the 3 listings within the Google Map Pack (also known as the 3-pack).

You open one of the listings and browse their menu and the photos of the choices that they serve. You see something you like, but since you’ve never ordered from the place before and are not familiar with it, you want to make sure it’s reputable. You open up the reviews and see that all of their reviews are good. You click through and order your meal. Simple, right? As a consumer myself, I cannot tell you how many times a day I open up Google and Google Maps to solve my issue at hand.

The fact of the matter is that many people are making their choice on where to go based upon the results that pop up in their Google Maps search. The opportunity to connect with customers through Google Maps is practical and cutting edge and an everyday part of our lives.

What you may not realize is that there are specific algorithms that determine what Google Maps displays within that Google Map Pack when a consumer performs their search for a local business to serve their intent. It is a crucial component to the modern market, and you might be surprised to learn just how much business you are missing out on without a Google Maps and Local SEO strategy.