When someone searches for a business like yours, your Google Business Profile is usually the first thing they see. It shows up before your website, before your social media, before anything else you do online. If it is incomplete or outdated, you are losing customers before they even get a chance to click through.
The good news: your Google Business Profile (GBP) is completely free, entirely under your control, and one of the most effective marketing tools available to any local business. MarketBase scores your profile against other businesses in your area so you can see exactly where you stand and what to fix first.
In this article
- 1. Why your GBP matters more than your website for local search
- 2. What MarketBase looks at when scoring your profile
- 3. The five most common GBP mistakes costing NZ businesses customers
- 4. A step-by-step plan to improve your score this week
Why your GBP matters more than you think
Forget your website for a moment. When a customer in your town searches "plumber near me" or "best cafe in Ponsonby," Google shows a map with three businesses underneath it. That is the Maps Pack, and the information it displays comes directly from Google Business Profiles.
Your GBP controls what people see in that Maps Pack: your name, your hours, your photos, your reviews, your phone number. If any of those are missing or wrong, customers will pick a competitor who looks more trustworthy. It is that simple.
Key point
Your GBP is not a set-and-forget task. Google favours profiles that are actively maintained. A profile claimed three years ago and never touched again will gradually lose visibility to competitors who keep theirs updated.
What MarketBase measures
Your MarketBase GBP score reflects how your profile compares to other businesses in your local market and category. A hair salon in Christchurch is compared to other Christchurch hair salons, not businesses in Auckland or overseas.
We look at the things that actually influence whether a customer chooses you or scrolls past:
- Verification status - is your profile claimed and verified? This is the single biggest factor.
- Contact information - phone number, website link, and whether customers can reach you directly from search results.
- Business hours - are they accurate and complete, including public holidays?
- Photos and visual content - do customers get a real sense of your business before visiting?
- Description and categories - does Google understand what you do and who you serve?
Your score runs from 0 to 100 and reflects your rank among local competitors, spread evenly across the market. A score of 75 means you are outperforming roughly three quarters of the businesses in your area for this dimension. A score of 30 means most of your competitors are doing better. The higher the number, the stronger your position.
Five GBP mistakes that cost NZ businesses customers
We see the same problems across hundreds of New Zealand businesses. Most are easy to fix once you know they exist.
1. Unclaimed or unverified profiles
If you have never claimed your profile, Google may have created one automatically from public information. It will be incomplete, possibly inaccurate, and you have no control over it. Claiming and verifying takes about 10 minutes and is the single most impactful thing you can do.
2. Stale business hours
A surprising number of profiles still show COVID-era hours or hours from years ago. Wrong hours mean frustrated customers arriving to a closed door, and a negative impression that is hard to undo. Check yours right now. If you close early on Saturdays or have different summer hours, update them.
3. Wrong or missing categories
Selecting "Business Service" or "Company" as your primary category is like filing your business under "miscellaneous." Google uses your category to decide which searches to show you in. A plumber should be listed as "Plumber," not "Home Services." You can also add secondary categories to capture searches for related services you offer.
4. No photos, or poor quality ones
Profiles with photos get significantly more clicks than those without. But blurry phone snaps or a single exterior shot from five years ago will not help. Aim for 10 to 15 good photos covering your shopfront, interior, products or work, and team. Customers want to know what they are walking into.
Tip
Take photos during your best light. Mid-morning on a clear day works well for most businesses. Natural light makes interiors look inviting rather than dingy. Ask a friend with a decent phone camera if yours is not up to the job.
5. Empty or generic business description
You get 750 characters to explain what your business does and why someone should choose you. Many profiles leave this blank entirely. Others paste in generic text that could describe any business in the country. Use this space to mention your location, your specialities, and what makes you different from the place down the road.
How your GBP connects to everything else
Your Google Business Profile does not exist in a vacuum. It feeds into other parts of your online presence that MarketBase also tracks.
Reviews display on your GBP, so a strong profile encourages more of them. Your Maps visibility improves as your profile quality increases, which means more people find you. And a good chunk of your website traffic comes from people clicking through from your GBP listing.
Think of your profile as the foundation. Everything else you do in local marketing builds on top of it.
Improve your GBP score
5 minutes today
- Claim your profile if you have not already (search your business name on Google and click "Own this business?")
- Check your phone number is correct and your website link works
- Verify your opening hours are accurate for this week
30 minutes this week
- Write a business description that mentions your town, your services, and what sets you apart
- Upload 10 to 15 photos: exterior, interior, your work, and your team
- Set your primary category to something specific (not "Business Service") and add secondary categories
Ongoing this month
- Set a monthly reminder to refresh your photos and check your hours
- Update your holiday hours before each public holiday (Google prompts you, but check anyway)
- Respond to customer questions that come through the Q&A feature on your profile
Where MarketBase fits in
You can do everything above without MarketBase. But what you cannot do on your own is see how your profile compares to every other business in your local market. MarketBase shows you exactly where you rank, which competitors are ahead of you, and which specific improvements will close the gap fastest.
Your GBP score updates as we collect new data, so you can track your progress over time. Fix the gaps, watch the score move, and know that every improvement is making it easier for customers to find and choose you.