Do these Google Business Profile features cost anything?

No. Everything in this post is included with a standard Business Profile at no charge.

How often should I add photos?

A few new photos every month beats a big batch once a year. Keep it simple and keep it going.

Can I post a question on my own profile?

Yes. Anyone can post a question on a profile, including the owner, and you can answer it. Stick to questions customers really ask you.

What should I turn on first?

Hours and photos. They are quick to fix, and they are what people check right before they call you.

Free Google Business Profile Features You're Not Using

A hand holding a phone showing a map with one location pin outside a small shop

Why the free tools sit unused

Nobody from Google calls to tell you what your profile can do. The tools are already in your dashboard. They cost nothing. And they stay switched off until you go looking for them.

I heard a version of this on a podcast last week. A guy rented out trailers for years and kept losing track of them. He eventually found out his leasing company would have installed trackers for free the whole time. He had just never asked.

Your Google Business Profile is the same story. In our experience across 2,300+ profiles, most owners are using a small slice of what they already have. The rest is free and waiting.

Photos: the one most owners quit on

Almost every owner adds photos once, at setup, and then stops. That is the single most common gap we see.

Photos are how a stranger decides you are real. They want to see the front of your building, so they know they are at the right door. They want to see your work, your team and your van. They want to see what the inside looks like before they walk in.

Add a few every month. Take them on your phone. You do not need a photographer. Shoot the job you finished this morning, the shelf you restocked, the truck in the driveway.

And remember that customers add photos too. Those count. When someone posts a picture of your work, your profile gets richer without you touching it.

A small neighborhood storefront with an open door and a service van parked outside

Posts: your free space to say what is happening

Your profile has a spot for short updates. Most owners never use it.

Use it for the stuff you would put on a sign in the window. A seasonal special. New hours for a holiday. A service you just added. A photo of a job you are proud of.

Keep each one short and write it like you talk. One idea, one picture, one link if you have somewhere useful to send people. Doing this twice a month is plenty, and it is more than most of your competitors will bother with.

Questions, services and your description

Three more free fields that sit empty on most profiles.

Questions and answers. Anyone can post a question on a profile, and you can answer it. Go read the ones already there. If a real customer asked something and nobody replied, that reply is overdue. You can also post the questions you get on the phone every week and answer them yourself.
Services and products. List what you actually sell, in the words your customers use. Not industry words. If people ask for a slab leak, write slab leak.
Your description. Plain language about what you do, who you do it for and where. No sales pitch. Just be clear.

Messaging and booking links

A lot of people will not call. They will tap a button and type.

If your profile offers chat, decide honestly whether you can answer it within a few minutes during business hours. If you can, switch it on. If you cannot, leave it off. A message nobody answers is worse than no message button at all.

If you take appointments, add your booking link so people can grab a slot without talking to anyone. The whole point is to remove the step where they have to work to reach you.

Let your customers do the heavy lifting

Here is the part that matters most, and it is also free.

Your reviews, the photos your customers post, the questions they ask and the words they use are all doing your SEO for you. That is the Local Guide Method in one line: your customers do your SEO for you. Your job is to give them an easy way to do it and then say thank you.

So ask. Every finished job, every happy customer, a short ask and a direct link. Reply to every review you get, good or rough. In our experience, owners who reply to reviews get more of them, because people can see that someone is actually home.

Your 30 minute plan for this week

Open your profile and check your hours, including holiday hours. Fix anything wrong. Five minutes.
Add six photos from your phone. Front of the building, two finished jobs, your team, your vehicle, one inside shot. Ten minutes.
Read your questions and answer anything sitting there. Five minutes.
Write one short post about what is going on this month. Five minutes.
Send a review request to the last three customers you made happy. Five minutes.

That is it. No budget, no agency, no new software. If you want a second set of eyes on what is still missing, you can run a free audit of your profile and work the list from the top.

The free stuff was there the whole time. You just have to ask for it.

Idea spark: Chris Koerner and guest Eli Galarza on The Koerner Office podcast.

Quick answers

Do these Google Business Profile features cost anything?: No. Everything in this post is included with a standard Business Profile at no charge.
How often should I add photos?: A few new photos every month beats a big batch once a year. Keep it simple and keep it going.
Can I post a question on my own profile?: Yes. Anyone can post a question on a profile, including the owner, and you can answer it. Stick to questions customers really ask you.
What should I turn on first?: Hours and photos. They are quick to fix, and they are what people check right before they call you.