Online Business Card and Google Business Profile: A Guide
By Online Business Cards Editorial Team | Published | Updated | Online business cards for local businesses
Your Business Profile gets you found; your card does the follow-up. What goes where, how to link the two both ways, keeping hours and services in step, and a ten-minute monthly check.
Your Google Business Profile and your online business card do different jobs. The Business Profile is how strangers find you on Google Search and Maps. The card is what you hand over, send or show once someone has met you, been recommended to you or clicked through to learn more. Used together, each makes the other more useful.
This guide explains what belongs where, how to link the two both ways, how to keep hours and services in step, and a ten-minute check to do once a month.
Two tools, two moments
Think about how a customer actually meets your business.
- Moment one: they are searching. They type "dog groomer near me" or "electrician Bath". Google shows a map and a list. Your Business Profile is what they see first: your name, reviews, hours, photos and a button to call or get directions.
- Moment two: they already know about you. A friend passed on your name, they saw your van, they met you at a market, or they clicked through from Google. Now they want detail: what you do, what it costs, what your work looks like, and how to book or ask a question. That is the card's job.
Neither replaces the other. A Business Profile cannot hold your price list as a document or an enquiry form with the questions you need to quote. A card cannot put you on the map.
What goes where
Google Business Profile | Online business card
Main job | Being found by people searching on Google | Turning people who know of you into customers
Who controls the page | You, under Google's rules and policies | You, from your dashboard
Where it appears | Google Search and Maps | Wherever you share the link or QR code
Reviews | Customers write them here | A reviews button sends customers to your review page (Business Plan); testimonials with permission on both plans
Opening hours | Yes, including special hours | Yes, in your details
Services and prices | Services list; prices optional | Products and services with prices, plus price list documents
Photos | Yes | Gallery
Bookings | Booking links, where Google allows them | Built-in bookings on the Business Plan
Enquiries | Calls, messages and website clicks | Enquiry and custom forms, saved as leads (Business Plan)
Saving your contact | Not its purpose | A save-contact button
Cost | Free to create | £45 or £90, paid once
Linking from your card to your Business Profile
Add two links to your card. Both take a minute.
Your review link
Google gives every verified Business Profile a link that opens the review form. Google explains how to find it in its help article Tips to get more reviews. On the Business Plan, put it behind your card's reviews button. On Brand Presence, you can add it as one of your links.
Your directions link
If customers visit you, add a directions link. Open Google Maps, find your listing, use Share and copy the link. Add it to your card with a clear label such as "Find us on Google Maps". People who press it get directions in the maps app they already use.
Mobile businesses that go to the customer can skip this. Instead, write your service area clearly on the card.
Linking from your Business Profile to your card
The website field
If you do not have a website, your card can go in the Business Profile's website field. People who press "Website" then land on your services, prices, photos and contact buttons, instead of nowhere.
If you do have a website, put the website in that field. Your site is the page you own, and it is the better destination for searchers. Link to your card from your site instead. Our comparison of an online business card vs website explains why owning a site matters.
Booking links
Google lets eligible businesses add links for actions such as booking an appointment. Its help page on how to manage your local business links shows where to add them, and the business links policies set the rules. The main ones:
- your profile must be verified before you can add a link;
- not every type of business can use every type of link;
- the link must lead to a page where the customer can actually complete the action, such as making a booking;
- social media links, messaging links, app store links and link shorteners are not accepted.
If you take bookings through the Business Plan, check whether your business is eligible and whether your booking page meets those rules before you add it. Google checks links, and can remove ones that do not comply.
Keeping hours and services in sync
Nothing loses a customer faster than turning up to a closed door, or ringing on a day your card says you are open. Two habits prevent it.
- One change, two places, same day. When your hours change, update the Business Profile and the card together. Do the same for your phone number, service area and main services.
- Holidays and special hours. Google lets you set special hours for bank holidays and closures. Add the same note at the top of your card's details: "Closed 24 December to 2 January. Back on 3 January."
Services need the same care. Use the same names in both places. If the Business Profile says "Boiler servicing" and the card says "Annual heating check", a customer may wonder if they are different things.
Example: one business, both tools
This is an Example for a made-up mobile dog groomer, not a real customer.
- Business Profile: verified as a service-area business covering three villages, category "Dog groomer", hours Tuesday to Saturday, eight photos, replies to every review. Website field holds the card link, because there is no website yet.
- Card: header with name, service area and hours exactly as on the Business Profile; booking button for Full groom, Bath and tidy, and Puppy intro; price list document dated October 2026; gallery of eight recent grooms, shown with owners' permission; reviews button pointing at the Google review form; WhatsApp button.
- Where the card gets shared: the van's QR code, every booking confirmation, the WhatsApp Business away message and the Instagram bio.
The ten-minute monthly check
Put a recurring reminder in your calendar. On the first Monday of each month, work through this list.
- Hours (2 minutes). Open your Business Profile and your card side by side. Do they match? Any bank holidays coming up?
- Contact details (1 minute). Same phone number, same email, same service area.
- Services and prices (2 minutes). Has anything changed? Is your price list document still current?
- Reviews (3 minutes). Reply to any new Google reviews. Test the reviews button on your card from your phone.
- Links (1 minute). Does the website field still go to the right place? Does the directions link still work?
- Photos (1 minute). Add one recent photo to each, if you have a good one.
That is ten minutes a month. It keeps both pages accurate, which is the thing Google's own advice comes back to again and again. For the wider picture of what helps local search and what does not, read our explainer on online business card local SEO.
Our online business card page shows both plans side by side. More guides for local businesses are in the journal.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need both a Google Business Profile and an online business card?
Most local businesses benefit from both. The Business Profile gets you found on Google Search and Maps. The card gives people who already know about you your prices, photos, documents and a way to book or enquire.
Should I put my card in the Business Profile's website field?
If you do not have a website, yes. If you do, put your website there and link to your card from the site, your quotes and your messages, because the website is a page you own.
Can I use my card as a booking link on Google?
Possibly. Google allows booking links for eligible businesses on verified profiles, and the link must let customers complete a booking. Social media, messaging and shortened links are not accepted. Check Google's business links policies before you add it.
How do I add my Google review link to my card?
Find your review link in your Business Profile, as Google explains in its help article on getting more reviews. On the Business Plan, add it to the reviews button. On Brand Presence, add it as a link.
How often should I check that both match?
Once a month, and whenever something changes. A ten-minute monthly check of hours, contact details, services, reviews, links and photos keeps both accurate.
Does my card show up on Google Maps?
No. Google Maps shows Business Profiles. Your card can be linked from your profile, so people who find you on Maps can click through to it.