Using Google Business Profile to Increase Footfall
For most local businesses, this listing is seen before the website ever is.
Footfall and Conversion · 7 August 2026 · 2 min read
Written by the Biztour team - Google Trusted Photographers since 2013.
For most local businesses, the Google Business Profile is the first thing a customer actually sees, before the website, sometimes before they've even decided to look you up by name. It shows in the local pack, on Maps, and in the knowledge panel next to a branded search, all before a single click to your own site.
That means the profile itself has to do real persuasive work, not just exist. Here's what actually moves the needle on it.
- A complete profile (category, hours, description, photos) outperforms an incomplete one in both ranking and conversion
- Photos and a virtual tour are the highest-leverage additions, because they're what a searcher actually engages with
- Regular posts and updates signal an active, currently trading business
- Reviews and review responses sit on the same listing, working alongside everything else
Completeness is not a formality
Category, hours, phone number, website and service area are the baseline, and most businesses have them. What's usually missing is everything after: a full description using the terms customers actually search, every relevant secondary category filled in, and a real photo set rather than a handful of phone snaps taken once, years ago.
Photos and a tour: the highest-leverage addition
A searcher deciding between three similar businesses is scanning the listing, not reading the website. Photos, and a virtual tour where you have one, are what they actually engage with at that moment, and Google itself associates higher engagement with listings that offer more to look at than a single storefront shot.
This is the direct link between what a listing shows and what happens next: someone who's spent time exploring your photos or tour has already started deciding before they've called, which is a meaningfully warmer enquiry than a cold click from a search result.
Staying visibly active
Posts and updates matter even when brief. A profile that's visibly maintained reads as a genuinely open, active business, which is exactly what both Google and a searching customer are trying to establish before committing to a visit. This costs almost nothing and is the part most businesses let lapse first.
Questions people ask
Does adding a virtual tour actually change GBP performance?
It changes engagement, which is measurable in the profile's own Insights panel as photo and tour views. The Roundhouse's enhanced tour has averaged over a minute of engagement per session for six years, well beyond what a static photo holds attention for.
How often should I post on my profile?
Consistency matters more than frequency. A short update every few weeks, genuinely current, outperforms an occasional burst of posts followed by months of silence.
Is a complete profile really worth the time it takes?
Yes, it's a one-time setup cost against an asset that keeps working indefinitely, unlike paid ads, which stop the moment you stop paying.
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