SAN JOSE, Calif. — Once a Google Business Profile is verified and operational, the real work begins — transforming a basic business listing into a customer acquisition tool that drives foot traffic and builds relationships.
For drycleaning operators, this can mean the difference between being overlooked and becoming the go-to choice for local customers.
Tracey Lee Davis, owner of ZingPop Social Media and a certified social media coach, offered business owners her advice on using this tool during the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) webinar, “How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile to Boost Your Online Presence.”
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at what a Google Business Profile is and how to initially set one up. Today, we’ll conclude by exploring how to best optimize a profile and utilize strategies to use it to its best advantage.
Maximizing Profile Completeness
Davis believes that profile strength directly impacts visibility, and Google provides guidance for making sure profiles have enough information to be effective.
“At the top right corner of the screen, you’re going to see profile strength,” she says. “It’s a little circle that’s going to be different colors. If it says ‘Looks Good’ and it’s green, it means you have a complete business profile.”
Incomplete profiles receive differently colored indicators, signaling missed opportunities for enhanced visibility. For drycleaning businesses competing in saturated markets, achieving and maintaining that green “complete” status becomes crucial for standing out above competitors.
The business description field offers particular value for drycleaning operations.
“Your business description should be what you offer, what sets you apart and any details that are helpful for customers to know,” Davis says. “The description is limited to 750 characters, and you want to use it to its full extent whenever you can.”
This space allows drycleaning businesses to highlight specialty services like wedding dress preservation, leather cleaning or eco-friendly processes that differentiate them from competitors.
Leveraging Visual Content
Visual elements can dramatically impact customer perception and engagement, Davis says: “Photos and videos can really help your business profile stand out. You can add a logo and a cover photo, and I definitely would encourage you to have at least those two things.”
There are specific visual content strategies that Davis has found to be effective.
“If you have a storefront, add a picture of it,” she says. “Add a picture of your products, and pictures of happy customers getting services done.”
However, there are common mistakes to avoid.
“You do not want to include phone numbers in images or videos,” she says. “That’s called ‘phone stuffing,’ and Google doesn’t like it, so don’t do it.”
Creating Engaging Posts
Google Business Profile’s posting feature allows businesses to maintain fresh, relevant content that appears in search results. “You can absolutely keep your business profile fresh by creating posts,” Davis says.
The platform offers three post types, each serving different purposes.
“Use updates to share announcements and highlights, or any important details such as a new product or a new service,” she says. For drycleaning businesses, this might include announcements about new location openings, expanded service hours or specialty cleaning capabilities.
“You want to use offers to advertise any promotions or sales,” Davis says. “They require a title and then a start and an end date.” Seasonal promotions like wedding dress cleaning specials or back-to-school services in this category might work for dry cleaners.
Event posts prove valuable for community-oriented drycleaning businesses.
“You want to use events to promote workshops, celebrations, fundraisers or any events that you’re having in-store,” Davis says.
Managing Customer Reviews Strategically
Perhaps no aspect of Google Business Profile management carries more weight than review responses.
“Google reviews can be accessed through your business profile once it’s verified, and you have the option to publicly respond,” Davis says.
When it comes to review management, Davis believes that consistency and professionalism are key.
“You want to keep your responses short, sweet, polite and professional,” she says. “You want to respond to all of your reviews, good ones and bad ones, as quickly as possible.”
For the inevitable negative reviews, Davis recommends taking a positive approach and looking at it as an opportunity.
“If someone leaves a negative review, you want to try to address it constructively,” she says. “Google encourages business owners to respond, perhaps explaining a company policy or encouraging the customer to contact you to resolve the issue.”
She also offers some practical advice for handling difficult reviews: “They always hurt and they’re not fun to get, so if you get one, I would recommend taking a beat before you respond, and perhaps have a close friend or family member read your response before you publish it and ask if it sounds defensive.”
She also recommends taking a long-term perspective on review management, focusing on future customers.
“People who come through are looking at your reviews,” she says. “If they see a response from a business owner that is polite, who is taking that feedback in stride, that can help make it so that this future person actually will do business with you.”
Measuring Success
Google’s analytics feature allows businesses to track their online performance.
“You can click on the performance icon to find out,” Davis says, pointing to information about customer interactions. “This feature offers insights into how customers use search and apps to find your business profile and what they did once they found it.”
These metrics can help drycleaning companies understand which aspects of their profile drive more customer actions, she says, enabling data-driven optimization decisions.
The Bottom Line
The free Google Business Profile is essential for companies to stand out from what can be a crowded, competitive landscape, Davis says.
“If you haven’t done it already, you want to create and verify your profile for your business, and then follow all of these steps to make the most of it.”
For Part 1 of this series, click HERE.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].
