Website or Google Listing: Which Matters More?
It is one of the most common questions owners ask. The short answer is both, in that order: the listing first, the website second. This guide gives you an afternoon plan to check each one and make them agree. Plan on about two hours.
You need: your Google login, your website, and a notes page.
Why the listing comes first
For many local searches, people see your Google listing before they ever reach a website. It is the box with your name, hours, photos and reviews that shows up in the results and on the map. If that box is wrong, some people never get as far as your site. They see the wrong hours, or a thin listing, and they call someone else.
Step 1. Check your listing (30 minutes)
Search your business name and city on your phone. Check each of these against your master copy of details, and write down what is wrong:
- Hours, including holidays and any day you are closed.
- Address, or your service area if you travel to customers.
- Main category, and any others that really apply.
- Description, in your own words.
- Photos that are real and recent.
- Phone number and website link that match your site.
Fix what you can. The guides for each are Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile, Choose Your Google Categories, Services and Service Area, Write Your Google Business Description, and Which Photos to Put on Your Google Listing.
Step 2. Check your website (30 minutes)
Open your site on your phone and look for the same things a customer needs:
- What you do, in plain words, with each service explained.
- Where you are or where you work.
- Your hours and how to reach you.
- A clear next step: call, book or ask a question.
- A few real photos.
If a main service has no page of its own, write one. See How to Write a Service Page That Answers Your Customers.
Step 3. Compare them line by line (30 minutes)
Put the two side by side. Hours, address, phone number, business name, services. Every difference is a problem. A listing and a website that disagree cost you trust. If Google says you close at 7 and your site says 6, a customer shows up to a locked door or decides not to come at all.
Decide which one is right, then fix the other. If you change something in one, change it in the other the same day.
Step 4. Fix the biggest gaps (30 minutes)
Do the fixes in this order:
- Anything wrong on your Google listing.
- Anything wrong on your website that a customer would act on, such as hours and phone.
- Missing pages or photos.
Do not try to redo your whole website in one day.
Check your work
- Your Google profile and your website say the same thing about hours, address, phone and services.
- A stranger can tell what you do and how to reach you from either one.
- You have a date on your calendar to check them again in three months.
Keep it up
Any time you change hours, prices or services, change both. See Check Your Hours Before the Holidays for a method that works for any change.
If you would rather hand this off
We keep both saying the same thing. Your website is yours to keep either way. See our Google Business Profile Management page, or get started.