How to Increase Google Business Profile Traffic in 5 Easy Steps

Trying to attract more people to your Google Business Profile? Many businesses are doing the same, but a lot of them don’t know where to begin. Let’s face it: Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is no longer just an option; it’s now a necessity for small businesses. But setting up a profile is not the end of the journey — it’s just a start. The real money starts coming in when you’ve optimized your profile and checked all the boxes to lure in traffic.

A professional Google My Business optimization service can help you get more visitors from Google Maps, leading to more calls and leads. But if you want a complete guide to maximize your GBP traffic, this blog will tell you how it works, what you might be doing wrong, and what are the five steps to increase Google Business Profile traffic.

How Does Google Business Profile Work

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool for business owners to customize how their business appears on Google Search and Maps – that’s the basic definition. But GBP is much more than that. It’s a way for your business to connect with customers, post updates, list your products or services, receive and respond to reviews, and more.

For example, if you own a bakery, your Google Business Profile will help your bakery show up on the map when people search for your business. A Business Profile that’s optimized for traffic will also appear in local searches when people look up “bakery near me.” A GBP is also the right place to share your menu, specialties, contact information, opening and closing hours, and other promotional offers, pretty much like a Facebook page.

Why is My Business Not Showing Up on Google?

You’ve made your business website, added content, and maintained social media pages, so why is your business still not showing up on Google? That’s probably because you don’t have a Google Business Profile. And if you do, it might not be verified or optimized for local searches.

When a business website does not show up on Google search results, people often associate this issue with poor website structure, duplicate content, poor backlink profile, and technical SEO issues. While these are all relevant reasons why your website might not be ranking, a major issue may lie with your Google Business Profile, especially if you are a local business.

So what can you do to change that and maximize traffic on your Google Business Profile? Let’s break it down.

5 Easy Steps to Attract More Visitors to Google Business Profile

Having a GBP is great for your business’s online visibility and getting more orders or bookings. But the elephant in the room still exists: how do you attract more visitors to your Google Business Profile to send leads through the roof? Here are 5 easy steps to do that:

Step 1: Verify Business on Google

The first step to get your business verified on Google is to claim your Google Business Profile if you haven’t already done so. Once you’ve claimed your GBP, follow the steps below:

1. Find your business: Log in to the Google Account associated with your profile and find your business on Google Search. Just type in [business name + city]or [my business].
2. Verify your business: You will see a bunch of verification options on your Business Profile. The options available to you depend on your business category, public info, region, or business hours. Some common options include video recording, phone or text, email, live video call, and mail. If they ask you to verify with more than one option, don’t stress. It’s common practice.
3. Wait for verification: It takes Google up to 5 business days to verify your Business Profile. Once you are verified, you will notice an increase in the number of customers finding you on Google Search and Maps. You’ll also be able to post updates and interact with your customers after verification.

Step 2: Add Accurate Information & Update Regularly

Now that your Business Profile is verified on Google, it’s time to add business information. Accuracy is the key here. You don’t want to add information that’s not true to your business. Similarly, leaving out any unique selling points that can help generate revenue would be a disaster. From basic contact information and a website link to lead generation forms and product or service descriptions, each element needs to be error-free.

Secondly, this information needs to be updated regularly. If your business hours are changing, update it. Closed for a week due to renovations? Update it. Launched a new dish on the menu? Update it. The point is: your customers should never be inconvenienced because you didn’t update information on your GBP, and you should never miss out on profits because you didn’t market yourself properly.

Step 3: Upload High-Quality Photos & Videos

Businesses with photos in their Google Business Profile get 35% more clicks to their website than listings without photos. These businesses also receive 42% more requests for driving directions (Google). The reason why photos or videos are a big factor behind growth is that people don’t just want your basic business information. They want to get to know your business inside and out and see what your brand personality is. If they like what they see, you’ll enjoy more traffic.

That said, don’t put photos just for the sake of it. No one likes to see low-quality images with bad angles and poor lighting. What will really earn you clicks are high-quality, perfectly angled photos that showcase your unique business elements. If you own a bakery, take photos of your bakery’s entrance, interior space, and menu. If you are a general contractor, you can show your processes through videos. Google has specific tips for each type of photo you can upload to your GBP.

Step 4: Encourage Customers to Leave Feedback

Almost 95% of consumers read reviews before buying a product or a service. The number is 75% for local businesses (Global News Wire). If your Business Profile is a ghost town, chances are that your visitors will look for other options. So how do you get more reviews? Here are some tips:

• Don’t get fake reviews. It’s 2025. People can spot a fake review from a mile away. Google can also detect fake reviews and take action, and you don’t want to end up on Google’s bad side.  
• Remind your customers to leave a review. A happy customer doesn’t mind leaving a review. They only need a friendly reminder in the form of a link or a QR code.
• Respond to all reviews. This shows that you care about your customers’ opinions and encourages more people to leave feedback.
• Don’t take negative reviews to heart. Be kind in your response and try to rectify the problem if possible. If not, apologize and move on. You can’t please everyone.
• Another way to get reviews is to incentivize your customers. You can offer them a complementary product or a 5 to 10% discount on their next purchase and ask for a review in return.  

Step 5: Use Performance Insights to Improve

In order to keep more and more traffic coming in, you’ll need to improve with time. And you can’t improve what you don’t track.

Imagine you’ve ticked all the boxes and executed all the steps and still don’t see any traffic growth. How will you figure out your next steps? You’d feel stuck, right? That’s why we have insights. With Google Business Profile, you can generate reports to check your GBP's performance over a given period.

The report shows a range of metrics, including:

• Searches for your business
• Number of times your business appeared in the results against generic queries
• Unique views
• Direction requests
• Clicks on the call button
• Website clicks
• Messages
• Clicks on the booking link
• Total interactions
• Number of views on products and/or services
• Number of clicks on the menu

How will these metrics help you? Well, suppose you run a local plumbing business with three services in your Google Business Profile. One of your services doesn’t receive as many bookings as the other two. What could be the reason? To find out, you check your performance reports and see that the service with the least bookings isn’t getting as many views by visitors as the other two. Now that you’ve figured out the problem, you can easily create a solution plan: write a compelling, engaging service description and target localized keywords to gain visibility.  

Let’s Wrap This Up

Your Google Business Profile can be a lead-generating machine for small businesses, but only if you optimize it for maximum traction.

Start by getting your Business Profile verified on Google, then move on to adding relevant, accurate information and uploading high-quality images.

Encourage your customers to drop feedback. This helps you build and maintain your brand reputation, leading to more calls and bookings.

And while you’re doing all that, don’t forget to keep track of your Business Profile’s performance so that you can improve over time.