Why Google is your business's front window

The business's first window

Think of someone who moved to your neighborhood and searches for "hair salon near me". They do not know you yet, have not walked past your window, and have not heard of you from a friend. The first thing they see is a list on the map, and in it your Google Business Profile: name, stars, hours, photos, and buttons to call and get directions.

Many times they decide right there, without visiting your website at all. They call, get directions, or move on to the next business on the list. So your Business Profile is a shop window, and it is open even when the business is closed.

This window belongs to you, but others write in it too. Customers write reviews and upload photos, and people can suggest that Google change your details. Whoever does not look at it sometimes finds out it looks different from what they thought.

How Google decides who to show

Google writes on its help page that ranking in local results is decided mainly by three things:

Google also writes that positive reviews and helpful replies can help a business stand out, and that replying to a review shows customers you value their feedback. There is no magic here. It is small, steady work.

What Google measures, and what you see in Shortip

A verified Business Profile has performance data. Google defines four of them: how many people viewed the profile on Search and Maps, what they searched for when they found you, how many times they pressed the call button, and how many asked for directions.

In Shortip you connect your Business Profile to the portal, and you see this in one place, without going into Google:

• How many people saw you on Google, called and asked for directions.
• What they searched for when they found you.
• Every review, and a ready draft reply that you edit and paste.
• If something changed on the profile, the address or the hours, you know.
• A Google post, written and published from here, only when you press.

Search words: what customers call you

For example only: "Vine Hair Salon" is a fictional salon. The owners are sure people search for them as a "hair salon". In the list of search words they find out that many find them through "hair straightening" and "hair color". This does not change the business, but it changes what is worth writing in the profile description and which photos to invest in.

Profile changes nobody notices

According to Google's help page, users can suggest updates to your Business Profile. When a suggestion needs your approval, you have four days to approve or reject it. If you did not reply, Google may publish the update, if it is supported by other public information.

In practice this means a closing time or an address can change without you noticing, and a customer arrives at a locked door. In Shortip, if something changed on the profile, the address or the hours, you know, and you check whether it is right.

Google posts

Google lets a business publish updates, offers and events on its profile, and they appear on Search and Maps. In Shortip you write the post in the portal, and it is published only when you press. Nothing goes up to Google on its own, not on a schedule and not automatically.

How to ask for Google reviews, with no incentive

Google itself recommends reminding customers to write a review, for example with a link or a QR code. It also sets a clear limit. Under the Google Maps content policy it is forbidden to offer an incentive, such as payment, a discount, or a free product or service, in exchange for posting a review or for changing or removing a negative review. It is also forbidden to selectively ask only satisfied customers.

1. Ask everyone. Including whoever did not smile at the register, and after a busy day too.
2. Ask at the right moment: when the customer gets their order, or finishes a treatment.
3. Give a short way: a QR code at the register, a button on the business card, or an NFC stand they bring their phone close to.
4. Do not dictate what to write, or how many stars to give.
5. Reply to every review, including the good ones. A short reply signed with a name sounds real.

Why everyone? Because reviews that come only from satisfied customers are a partial picture, and Google forbids asking that way. And because a customer who had a less good day and got a normal request, like everyone, feels taken seriously. What they write will tell you something worth knowing.

An NFC stand on the counter

Some businesses prefer something that stands on the counter rather than a sign on the wall. An NFC stand does that: bring a phone close to the stand, and the business card or a Google review opens, depending on what you chose. The customer does not need to search for the business on Google or scan anything. Here too there is nothing in return, and the stand is open to anyone who wants it.

How to reply to reviews

Google recommends replying politely and briefly, thanking for the feedback, and with a negative review, protecting the customer's privacy, checking what happened and replying without waiting long. In Shortip every new review reaches the portal with a ready draft reply. You edit it, adjust it to what really happened, and paste it on Google.

For example only, for the review "I waited half an hour even though I had an appointment", a draft could look like this: "Thank you for writing, and we are sorry about the wait. That day we had a delay, and that is not how we want you to feel. We would be glad to see you again. Dana." You adjust the name, what happened and the offer.

Why reply to a good review too? Because whoever reads your reviews next week sees there is someone listening. A one-line reply is enough.

A customer who does not want to write in public also needs a place to say what bothered them. On the Shortip business card they can write to you directly, and the offer to write on Google stays open to everyone.

What to check on the profile every week

1. That the hours and the address are correct, especially before a holiday.
2. That every review from the last week has a reply.
3. Which search words brought people, and whether the profile speaks their language.
4. How many called and asked for directions, compared with the week before.
5. Whether there is an update worth publishing: holiday hours, a new product, an event.

Frequently asked questions