I'm a developer. I get paid to build websites. So take this for what it's worth: a lot of small businesses asking me for a website need a Google Business Profile first, and sometimes that's all they need for a while.
Nobody tells you this, because the people you'd ask are the people selling websites. Here's the honest breakdown.
What a Google Business Profile Actually Does
It's free, it takes about an hour, and it's what makes you show up when someone searches your business by name or searches "plumber near me" and gets that map with three businesses pinned on it.
A complete profile gives you:
- Your name, hours, address, and phone in the box that appears next to Google search results
- A pin on Google Maps, which is how most people find local businesses on their phones
- Reviews — the single most persuasive thing on the internet for a local business
- Photos of your work, your storefront, your team
- A call button and a directions button, which are the two actions most local customers actually want
- Messaging, if you want people to text you
For a barbershop, a mechanic, a food truck, a cleaning service, a contractor — that covers the majority of what a customer needs to decide to give you money.
What It Can't Do
The profile is a listing. It isn't yours, and it can't do much beyond the basics:
- You can't explain anything complicated. Services with options, pricing tiers, a process that needs describing — none of that fits.
- You can't sell. No checkout, no booking, no forms, no deposits.
- You don't control it. Google decides how it looks, what shows, and what's next to it. Anyone can suggest an edit to your hours.
- It doesn't rank for anything but you. A profile helps you show up for "barber in Bayamón." It won't help you show up for "how much does a fade cost."
- It's not a place to send people. Putting a Maps link on a business card, a flyer, or a truck door doesn't inspire the same confidence as your own address on the internet.
The Honest Test
Four questions. Be blunt with yourself.
1. Can a customer decide to hire you from four facts and some photos? If what you do is understood the moment someone hears it — haircuts, oil changes, lawn care — the profile carries most of the weight. If you have to explain what you do before someone understands the price, you need a page.
2. Does anyone need to do something before they can pay you? Book a slot, pick a package, fill out an intake form, put down a deposit. If yes, the profile can't hold that.
3. Are you sending people somewhere? Running ads, printing flyers, handing out cards, posting to Instagram with a link in bio? All of those need a destination. A Maps pin is a weak destination.
4. Does anyone check you out before calling? If your customers are other businesses, or the job is expensive, or trust is the deciding factor — they're going to look for a website, and not finding one is a data point.
Zero or one "yes" and you're fine with the profile for now. Two or more, and something's leaking.
Do Both — In This Order
The order matters more than people think:
- Claim and complete the profile first. It's free, it's fast, and it's where local search traffic actually comes from. Fill in everything — hours, categories, service area, twenty photos, a real description.
- Ask for reviews. Five honest reviews will do more for your business this month than a website redesign will.
- Then get a page that the profile can point to, with the things a listing can't hold.
Skipping step one and building a website first is the most common mistake I see. You end up with a nice site nobody finds, because local searches surface the map, not your homepage.
If You Do Need a Page
It doesn't have to be a big project. A single page with your services, your story, a few photos, and a contact form covers most businesses that outgrow a listing — and it's the cheapest tier of work I do for exactly that reason. I broke down what every level of website actually costs in What Should a Website Actually Cost?.
What matters is that the page and the profile agree with each other: same name, same address, same phone, same hours. Google cross-references those, and mismatches quietly hurt your local ranking.
The Short Answer
If you're brand new, have no budget, and do something people understand instantly — do the profile, get reviews, come back to the website when you have something to say that a listing can't hold.
If you're sending people somewhere, explaining something, or asking for money up front — you needed a page yesterday.
Not sure which one you are? Tell me what your business does and I'll tell you straight, even if the answer is "spend an hour on Google and don't hire me yet."
Angel G. Gonzalez
Full-stack developer from Puerto Rico. I help businesses build, deploy, and maintain their technology.