Google Business Profile Tips for Small Businesses
Google Your Business. What Comes Up?
Go on, give it a Google. Search your business name. Then search for the product or service you offer in your local area.
Do you show up? Are your opening hours correct? Are the photos recent? Can people quickly work out what you do, where you are and how to get in touch? Or is the business down the road stealing the show?
Your Google Business Profile is one of the most powerful free marketing tools available to small businesses. But so many of us set one up, tick it off the list and then completely forget it exists.
KC member Goran from Three Nine Digital wants to change that. He recently ran a hands-on Google Business Profile workshop for a room full of local business owners—and the response was huge. Attendees updated their profiles, discovered what customers were actually searching for and left with practical changes they could make straight away.
This article shares some of the gold from Goran’s original blog, Google Business Profile Workshop Melbourne – A Game-Changer.
First things first: what is a Google Business Profile?
It’s the business listing that appears when someone searches your business name or looks for a product or service nearby on Google or Google Maps. It can show people:
What you do
Where you’re located
When you’re open
Your phone number and website
Photos and videos
Customer reviews
Services, offers, news and events
And here’s the important bit: people can find all of that information without ever visiting your website. Goran calls it your “zero-click storefront” your business out there working for you 24/7, without paying a cent for advertising.
You can read Goran’s full explanation in his original Google Business Profile article.
Why local businesses should care
Social media is great. We love social media.
But someone scrolling Instagram while watching TV isn’t necessarily looking to book, buy or visit right now.
Someone Googling “electrician near me”, “family photographer Mordialloc” or “best café in Kingston” probably is.
They have a problem, need or craving—and they’re actively looking for a local business to help.
That’s why your Google Business Profile matters. It helps you get in front of people at the exact moment they’re searching for what you offer.
As a local Bayside web design and digital studio, Three Nine Digital helps small businesses improve how they show up online, get found more easily and turn that visibility into real enquiries.
Is your profile gathering digital dust?
No judgement here. Small business owners have approximately 4,738 things on their to-do lists at any given moment.
Your Google Business Profile may not have had any attention since the day you created it. But while your profile is sitting untouched, other local businesses may be:
Uploading fresh photos
Asking happy customers for reviews
Responding to existing reviews
Adding services and products
Posting offers and updates
Checking their contact details
Learning which searches bring customers to them
None of this needs to be complicated or expensive. It just needs a little bit of regular love.
Where should you start?
According to Goran, the basics can make a big difference.
Check your details
Make sure your address, phone number, website, opening hours and service areas are correct. If you’re a local business, clearly name the suburbs or areas you serve.
Add recent photos
Show people the real humans, products, spaces and work behind your business. Current photos help customers feel confident that your business is active and legitimate.
Ask for reviews
Reviews build trust. Make it easy for happy customers to leave one and take the time to respond when they do.
Tell Google what you do
Choose the right business categories and clearly list your products and services. Google needs to understand your business before it can confidently show it to the right people.
Keep it alive
Add news, offers, photos and updates regularly. You don’t need to post every day; you just don’t want your profile to look abandoned.
Check the numbers
Your performance dashboard can show you how customers found your business and whether they called, visited your website or requested directions.
Goran brings more than 15 years of digital experience to this stuff, but his approach is refreshingly simple: make technology easier to understand and use it to create real business results. You can learn more about Goran and Three Nine Digital here.
Want Goran to show you how?
Good news: after the fantastic response to his first workshop, Goran is doing it again.
This is a practical, hands-on session created for busy small business owners—not tech experts.
Bring your laptop, bring your Google login and bring the business profile you’ve been meaning to sort out for the past three years.
You’ll learn how to:
Set up and optimise your Google Business Profile
Improve your local search visibility
Use photos, posts and reviews properly
Understand what helps Google rank local businesses
Read your profile’s performance data
Use Bing Places for even more online visibility
You’ll also work on your own profile during the session, so this isn’t another workshop where you leave inspired and then add everything to the “I’ll do it later” pile.
Google Business Profile Workshop for Small Business Owners
Thursday 8 October 2026 | 9:30am–12:30pm
Events on Citrus, 21 Citrus Street, Braeside
$97 per person | Light refreshments included
See the workshop details and book your spot.
Meet KC member Three Nine Digital
Three Nine Digital is a Bayside-based web design studio building smart, SEO-ready websites for small businesses that want to get found and grow.
Founded by Goran, Three Nine Digital combines web design, SEO, analytics and digital strategy with a genuine love for helping local businesses do better online.
You can explore Three Nine Digital’s small business website services, read more practical tips on the Three Nine Digital blog or contact Goran for a friendly chat about your online presence.
And make sure you read Goran’s original article, Google Business Profile Workshop Melbourne – A Game-Changer, for the full story behind the workshop and even more Google Business Profile tips.
Small local businesses deserve to be found. Sometimes, the best place to start is simply Googling yourself.
