The thirty-minuteGoogle BusinessProfile checklist.

Your Google Business Profile is the panel that appears when somebody searches your name, and one of the three listings in the map box when they search your category. It is free, it is where most local buying decisions start, and it is usually set up once and never touched again. Half an hour a month changes that.

1. Check that nothing has been changed for you

Google accepts edits from the public and applies some of them automatically. Open your profile and confirm the name, category, address, phone, website and hours are still correct. Businesses discover a wrong closing time months after it was suggested by a stranger.

2. Update hours for the month ahead

Add holiday hours before the holiday. A profile that says you are open on Thanksgiving, when you are not, produces a wasted trip, an annoyed customer, and sometimes a one-star review.

3. Read and respond to new reviews

Reply to every review from the past month, positive or otherwise. Keep it short, thank the person, mention the service. A calm, specific reply to a bad review is read by far more prospective customers than the review itself.

4. Add at least three new photos

Recent work, the team, the premises, the trucks. Real photos from a phone do better than polished stock. Profiles that add photos regularly are treated as active, and active profiles show up more.

5. Publish one post

A seasonal offer, a recent job, a new service, a change in hours. Posts expire from view after a week or so, which is why one a month is a floor, not a target.

6. Answer the questions section

Anybody can ask a question on your profile and anybody can answer it, including competitors and people guessing. Answer the open ones yourself. Then add the five questions you get asked on the phone every week and answer those too.

7. Review your services and products

The services list is used to decide which searches you match. Make sure it covers everything you actually do, with a sentence of description each, and remove anything you have stopped offering.

8. Look at the performance report

Inside the profile Google shows how many people found you, what they searched, and whether they called, visited the website or asked for directions. Compare it with last month. A sudden drop usually means a suspension, a category change or a new competitor, and all three are worth knowing about quickly.

9. Check for duplicates

Search your business name and address in Google Maps. Old locations, a listing a former employee created, or an automatically generated duplicate all split your reviews and confuse the map. Report and merge any you find.

Put it in the calendar

None of this is difficult. It simply does not get done unless it has a date. The first of the month, thirty minutes, with the list above open. Businesses that keep to it tend to hold their place in the map box while competitors drift out of it.