Of all the free digital presence tools available to a local business, none has an impact as direct and as underused as the Google Business profile (formerly Google My Business). It’s free, takes minutes to set up, and yet a large share of local businesses in Colombia have it incomplete, outdated, or not even claimed.
What it actually is, and why it matters so much
When someone searches for your business by name, or searches for the service you offer combined with your city or neighborhood, Google can display a listing with your name, address, hours, photos, reviews, and a direct contact button — without the user even having to visit your website. That listing is your Google Business profile, and for many local searches, it’s the first (and sometimes the only) thing the person sees before deciding.
The elements that impact the profile most
- The correct, specific business category. Picking a generic category when a more precise one exists reduces your profile’s relevance for the exact searches you care about.
- A verified address, with the map pin placed correctly. A misplaced pin can push away customers who are literally around the corner.
- Updated business hours, including holidays and special schedules — few things cause more frustration than showing up to a place Google marked as open.
- Real photos of the location, the team, and the work done — not generic stock photos.
- Active reviews, with responses from you.
- Questions and answers: the profile’s Q&A section, where any user can ask and any other user can answer — it’s worth checking regularly and answering it yourself before someone else does with incorrect information.
Features almost nobody uses (and that actually help)
Beyond the basic information, the Google Business profile has features many businesses never even open:
- Posts: similar to a social media post, they show up directly on your listing and let you announce promotions, news, or events without depending on any outside platform’s algorithm.
- Products or services with pricing: giving direct visibility to what you offer, without the user having to look for it on your site.
- Direct messaging: lets a user message you straight from the profile, an extra channel many businesses leave switched off without realizing it.
- Profile stats: how many people viewed your listing, how many requested directions, how many called — free information that most businesses never check.
Businesses with multiple locations: a special case
If the business has more than one location, each one needs its own profile, with its own address and hours — it’s never a good idea to mix multiple locations into a single profile or create duplicates for the same address, since Google can penalize both. Each well-maintained individual profile helps the customer find exactly the location closest to them, instead of ending up at one that’s far away.
Common mistakes that hurt the profile’s effectiveness
Not every profile problem comes from neglect — some are active mistakes a business makes without realizing it: using the address of an administrative office the customer never visits instead of the actual location, picking multiple categories that confuse more than they clarify, or letting untrained staff answer reviews with copy-pasted messages that read as generic. Each of these details looks minor on its own — but together they determine whether the profile comes across as serious or careless.
How to get started today, in under an hour
- Search for your business on Google to see if there’s already an unclaimed profile, or create a new one on Google Business Profile.
- Fill in every field of the profile: category, address, hours, phone number, website.
- Upload at least five real, recent photos.
- Write a short business description, using the same words a customer would use to search for you.
- Check the questions and answers section, and respond to whatever’s already there.
None of these steps require a budget or technical knowledge — just time, attention to detail, and the discipline to keep it updated after the initial setup.
The free listing with the best possible return
No other digital presence tool combines zero cost, direct impact on local searches, and ease of implementation as well as this one. Most businesses that still aren’t making full use of it aren’t held back by budget — they’re held back because nobody sat down for half an hour to fill it out properly. That half hour tends to be, article after article on this blog, the investment with the best return of all — and unlike a paid ad campaign, the work you put in today keeps paying off months later, with no need to pay for it again.