How We Update Our Google Business Profile to Rank #1 in 2025

Picture this: a customer searching for a business like yours online, hungry for what you have to offer, but they’re greeted with outdated hours or a wrong phone number. Frustrating, right? Keeping your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) fresh and accurate ensures your business doesn’t miss out on potential customers. Let’s explore how you should update your Google Business Profile (GBP) in 202 5 to attract new customers directly to your location or have them book a service!

Why You Should Update Your Google Business Profile in 2025

Think of your GBP as your digital storefront – the first impression you give to potential customers who come across your business either on Google Search or Google Maps. Let’s look at the benefits of keeping your GBP always up to date:

• Accuracy Matters: Nobody likes uncertainty. If your hours or address are wrong, customers will move on. You don’t want to be "that business." Nothing is worse than a customer standing before closed doors or reaching a dead phone line.
• Boost Visibility: Google’s algorithms are like matchmakers – they pair local searchers with accurate profiles. Complete and accurate information functions like a signal and will put you ahead of competitors who are slacking on updating their profiles.
• Build Trust: People trust businesses that have complete and updated information online. A polished profile says, "We’re here and we care." It also assures them that your business is active, engages with customers, and values good customer service.

Our tip: We see so many businesses daily that are putting very little thought into their digital presence. From pictures that do not represent their business at all (think of little to no images or just the obligatory Google Street View Photo – very bad!), to no description or attributes used. There are so many businesses out there, and you will end up on page 10 of the search results if you don’t take action and update your GBP. Trust us, if you are on page 2 of the search results, you are practically invisible!

How to Update Your Google Business Profile

To avoid being invisible, let’s look at the different steps that you need to take to update your GBP and to make use of all the functions available to you in 2025.

Step 1: Access Your Google Business Profile

Gain access to your GBP and make sure that it is verified by following these steps:

1. Visit Google Business Profile Manager.
2. Sign in with your details.
3. If you haven’t claimed your GBP yet, search for your business by entering its name. If your business shows up in the list of suggestions, you need to request ownership from whoever owns the GBP currently (this can be a former owner of your business or a colleague who has been in charge of managing the GBP previously).
4. If your business doesn’t have a GBP yet, continue with selecting the business category.
5. Select if you have a physical location or a service area business (when you visit clients rather than them coming to you).
6. Fill in your details such as phone number, address, website URL.
7. If you have a service area business, you can enter up to 20 service areas (cities, neighborhoods). In most cases, it is recommended to not add any service area outside of a 2-hour travel radius. However, for some businesses, larger service areas might apply (e.g., if you offer a lot of online consultations).
8. Next, you need to verify your GBP. Follow the steps shown on the screen. You need to complete the verification process first before being able to edit your profile.

If your GBP is set up and verified already, you can skip these steps.

Step 2: Verify Key Information

Make sure that your key information is accurate and consistent with what you have entered on your website or other business directories.

• Business Name: Keep it consistent. It’s like introducing yourself – always use the same name. Don’t keyword stuff your business name for the sake of keywords. This approach is outdated and can get your GBP flagged! Avoid ridiculous names such as: Secret Garden - Restaurant, Pasta, Brasserie, Brunch Place.
• Address: Double-check every detail. If you’ve moved, update it immediately. Service-area businesses can skip listing a full address and share the regions served instead.
• Phone Number: Ensure the number is active. Nobody likes calling and hitting a dead line – or worse, the wrong business.
• Business Hours: Be honest about your hours. Google lets you add temporary changes for holidays or special occasions. This avoids customers being stranded in front of closed doors.

Step 3: Revise Your Business Description

This is your chance to charm potential customers. Keep it short and sweet, like an elevator pitch:

• Highlight what makes you different.
• Sprinkle in local keywords that you researched prior using a keyword research tool.
• Speak their language - no jargon that your customers have difficulties understanding.

Example: "Bella’s Bistro serves authentic Italian meals using fresh, local ingredients. From savory pasta to decadent desserts, our dishes bring Italy to your plate. Find us in the heart of Amsterdam at the lively Leidseplein and indulge in your next comfort meal."

Our tip: Don’t make the description too long or too complicated. People’s attention span is practically non-existent anymore. To make a good first impression, keep it simple yet personal.

Step 4: Upload Fresh Photos

A picture says a thousand words, so make them count. Your uploaded photos should:

• Showcase your products, services, offers, or amenities.
• Include interior and exterior shots.
• Feature your team for a personal touch.
• Be high quality.
• Meet Google’s guidelines for images.

Tips:

• Avoid blurry images – this isn’t a guessing game.
• Update regularly. Customers want the "now," not the "three years ago."
• Authenticity trumps perfection. Skip the stock photos.

Learn from our experience: Pictures are insanely important for your Google Business Profile. It is basically the first thing potential customers see. If you don’t upload proper pictures, Google will choose a cover photo for you. This can be a less favorable one from a customer review, or even worse, the Google Street View Photo while it rains, and the lighting is beyond ugly! Also, customers will be confused when they arrive at your location and suddenly everything looks different, or the menu items shown on the photos haven’t been served anymore since two years. Better to take your visual aesthetic into your own hands and keep your photos up to date!

Step 5: Post Regular Updates with Google Posts

Posts are like mini-billboards or your own little social media feed within your GBP. Use them to:

• Tell more about your business
• Introduce your team.
• Showcase your amenities, how your location looks from the inside and outside, or show before and after images of your services.
• Share promotions or events.
• Highlight new services or products.
• Offer quick tips or announcements.

Our tip: These regular Google Posts ensure that your visual aesthetic that we emphasized in the former chapter is taken care of! Thus, regular posting has been shown to be very effective. To make it even easier, use an automatic post scheduling solution as included in our Obenan tools! With that, you never have to worry about posting fresh content manually every day anymore! Set it up once, and you are good to go!

Step 6: Engage with Reviews

A big part of keeping your Google Business Profile updated is to continuously request new reviews from past customers and engage with these reviews timely.

Encourage Reviews on Your Google Business Profile

• Ask Your Customers Directly: Politely request reviews from happy customers after providing excellent service. Timing is key – ask when they’re most satisfied.
• Simplify the Process: Share a direct link to your Google review page via email, text, or social media to make it easy for customers to leave feedback.
• Offer Incentives (Legally): Encourage reviews by offering incentives like discounts or small perks while staying compliant with Google’s guidelines.
• Leverage Follow-Ups: Send gentle reminders through email or text to customers who haven’t reviewed, emphasizing how their feedback helps others.
• Highlight Existing Reviews: Showcase positive reviews on your website and social media to build trust and inspire more customers to share their experiences.

To avoid negative reviews being published online and to speed up the collection process, you can use the Obenan Review Management Tool. It allows you to create easy follow-up campaigns or the creation of a QR code that can be printed on flyers, signs, or receipts. Negative feedback will be redirected to a private survey, allowing you to still get the feedback for internal evaluation but without it being published online!

Respond to Your Google Reviews

Reviews are gold, but only if you engage:

• Positive Reviews: Thank them like a gracious host. “Thanks, Sarah! We’re so glad you loved the cupcakes.”
• Negative Reviews: Stay friendly and professional. Apologize and offer solutions. "Hi John, we’re sorry to hear about your experience. Please contact us at [your business e-mail] so we can make it right."

Learn more about how to respond to reviews correctly and especially, how to handle negative reviews and transform them into real opportunities!

Replying in a timely manner is important. Google rewards businesses that respond quickly to their customer reviews. This makes sense as you would probably also not care anymore about a reply from a business for a review you left three months ago. Thus, as soon as a review comes in, you should check it and reply!

Our tip: We understand that it can be almost impossible to reply to reviews within the first hour or a maximum of 24 hours after it has been posted. Thus, our Obenan Review Management Tool includes an automatic reply function! You can select a set of options and train our AI to respond in your brand’s tone of voice automatically within the first hour of receiving a review on Google!

Step 7: Explore Extra Features

Google offers nifty tools based on your industry:

• Menus or Services: Ideal for restaurants or salons.

• Booking Options: Let customers book directly by adding a booking link. With that, they can directly book a table, service, or room! Learn how to add a booking link to your GBP.

• Q&A: Answer common questions upfront. Always make sure that every question has a response from you as the owner. The last thing you want is potential customers being confused by (unintentionally) wrong answers from prior customers.

• Attributes: Highlight perks like "Pet-Friendly," “Wifi,” or "Free Parking” in your attributes. They help Google and potential customers to better understand what your business is offering and enable them to match your business with relevant search queries (Google) or make a quick decision whether to choose your business or a competitor (customers).

Step 8: Check Performance Metrics

Your Google Business Profile isn’t "set it and forget it." Use Google’s insights to see what’s working:

• Keywords: What are people searching for? Distinguish between branded keywords (that include your business name) or discovery keywords (broad keywords such as “restaurant near me”). Discovery keywords should always outweigh branded keywords as they are the keywords that bring in new customers!
• Profile Views: Are more eyes on your profile? If yes, great, you are on the right path. If they stagnate or even decline, you need to check your Google Business Profile again. But not only your GBP influences its ranking. There are more factors that Google takes into account when deciding where to rank your business. These local SEO ranking factors are explained in our local SEO checklist. Make sure to check it out and learn how to optimize your entire online presence for growth in your online visibility!
• Actions Taken: Are customers requesting directions or visiting your website? Are many customers visiting your GBP but not many actually interact with your profile? Then you should consider updating your information (especially your photos, attributes, and description).

Small Tweaks, Big Payoff! Even small updates – like tweaking holiday hours or adding a fresh photo – can improve rankings. Regular attention keeps your profile at the top of its game.

What We Have Learned Today

Your Google Business Profile is more than an online listing. It’s your introduction to potential customers. Keep it fresh, accurate, and engaging. Regular updates build trust, improve visibility, and ultimately bring more people through your doors.

If you need help with updating your Google Business Profile and especially with managing your reviews, don’t hesitate to check out our local SEO tools or contact us directly for a free demo of our tools and advice on how to grow your online visibility to attract new clients!