If you run a business on the Costa Blanca and want more clients finding you through Google, there's one free tool that makes more difference than almost anything else. Most businesses have it. Most use it wrong.
Google Business Profile: the free tool most Costa Blanca businesses use wrong
If you run a business on the Costa Blanca and want more clients finding you through Google, there's one free tool that makes more difference than almost anything else.
It's called Google Business Profile.
Most businesses have heard of it. Many have set it up at some point. But a surprising number are leaving most of its potential completely unused: either because the profile is incomplete, because it was set up years ago and never touched again, or because they didn't realise just how much it influences what Google shows to people searching locally.
Here's what it actually is, why it matters, and exactly what to do with it.
What Google Business Profile is
Google Business Profile is the free listing that appears when someone searches for your business by name or searches for a service in your area.
You've seen it. When you search "restaurant Moraira" or "plumber La Nucia" or "hairdresser Altea," a box appears near the top of results showing 3 local businesses on a map, with their name, rating, address, and opening hours. That's the local pack. It's powered entirely by Google Business Profile.
Getting into that box matters. Most people click one of those 3 results before they scroll further. If you're not there, you're invisible to everyone who searched that way.
Google's official Business Profile documentation covers the technical setup in full. This guide focuses on what actually makes the difference in a local market like the Costa Blanca.
Step 1: claim and verify your profile
Go to business.google.com. Search for your business. If it appears, claim it. If it doesn't, create it.
Google decides which verification methods are available for your profile. Depending on the business, that can include video, phone, text message, email, live video or mail. You cannot always choose the method yourself, so follow the verification flow Google shows in your account and complete it fully.
Step 2: choose the right primary category
This is one of the most important decisions in the whole profile. Google uses your primary category to decide which searches your business should appear for.
Choose the available Google category that most accurately describes your main activity. You cannot create your own category. Add secondary categories only for services the business actually provides.
You can add secondary categories for additional services. But the primary category is what determines most of your local pack eligibility.
Step 3: fill in every section
Hours, address, phone number, website, services, attributes. All of it. Completely.
A complete profile helps customers understand the business and gives Google the information needed to display the listing correctly. Google does not publish a rule that incomplete profiles automatically rank lower, but missing hours, contact details or services make the profile less useful and can remove relevant information.
For the description, write 2 or 3 sentences that explain what you do, who you serve, and where. Include your main service and the Costa Blanca towns you cover. "Web designer based in La Nucia, building professional websites for businesses across Altea, Calpe, and Javea" is far more useful than "We are a web design company."
Step 4: add real photos
Good, current photos make a profile more useful and credible to potential customers. Add real photos showing the business, location, team or work. Use photos primarily for users; Google does not publish a general ranking rule that frequent photo uploads improve position.
Add photos that help people recognise and evaluate the business, and update them when there is something meaningful to show. Profile 'activity' by itself is not an official local ranking factor.
For real estate agencies, property photos on the GBP profile draw buyers who are researching before they even visit the website.
Step 5: ask for reviews consistently
Google includes reviews and positive ratings as part of local prominence. Reviews therefore matter for trust and can contribute to local visibility. Google does not publish a simple formula where review count, recency or owner replies each operate as direct standalone ranking factors.
Most satisfied clients won't leave a review unless you ask. The easiest way is to send them the direct link to your Google review page after a successful job. A WhatsApp message with the link, sent within a day or 2 of completion, converts well.
When a review comes in, respond to it. Positive or negative. A brief, genuine response to a positive review reinforces trust. A professional, calm response to a negative review often does more for your reputation than the negative review itself damages it.
Step 6: keep the NAP consistent everywhere
NAP: Name, Address, Phone number. Google cross-references your business details across every directory, listing, and mention it can find.
Keep your business name, address and phone number accurate and current on important listings. Small formatting differences in an address are not automatically a ranking problem. Old addresses, wrong phone numbers and duplicate listings are worth fixing.
Check your own website, Google Business Profile and relevant business listings. Keep the information correct and recognisable rather than trying to make every character identical everywhere.
What most businesses get wrong
A common mistake is forgetting the profile after setup. Update hours, services, contact details and photos when something genuinely changes and respond professionally to relevant reviews. Posts can be useful for communication, but do not publish them simply because you expect regular activity to create an automatic ranking boost.
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. A well maintained profile helps Google and customers understand the business, but there is no fixed activity score that automatically moves you above competitors.
For everything beyond GBP, the full local SEO guide for the Costa Blanca covers what else actually moves the needle.
If you want help setting up or improving your Google Business Profile, send me a message on WhatsApp and I'll take a look at where things stand.
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