Google My Business Explained: Why Developers Shouldn't Ignore It
If you've ever searched "plumber near me" or "coffee shop open now," you've seen those little map cards with a business name, star rating, address, and hours. That's Google My Business at work — officially renamed Google Business Profile back in late 2021. Same tool, new name. Most people, including plenty of developers, still say "GMB" out of habit.
What Is Google My Business, Exactly?
A free tool from Google that controls how a business appears on Google Search and Google Maps. A GMB profile typically includes:
Business name, address, and phone number
Opening hours
Photos of the storefront, products, or team
Customer reviews and star ratings
Posts and updates (like a mini social feed)
A direct link to the business website
When someone searches for a local business, this is often the first thing they see — before they ever click through to the actual website.
Why Should a Web Developer Care About This?
GMB usually gets handled by marketing teams or business owners, not developers. But developers sit right next to it, for a few solid reasons:
1. Keeping the website and the listing consistent
A common local SEO mistake: mismatched info between the site and the GMB listing (old phone number, outdated address, wrong hours)
This match-up is called NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone)
Google factors this consistency into how much it trusts a business
Developers are often the ones best placed to catch and fix these mismatches
2. Structured data connects the site to the listing
Adding schema markup (JSON-LD, using schema.org's LocalBusiness type) helps Google understand what the business is and where it's located
This makes it easier for Google to match the website to the GMB listing
Can directly improve visibility in local search and map results
A small addition to a site's <head>, with a real SEO payoff
3. Embedding maps and reviews
Clients often want their location embedded on the site, or Google reviews displayed on the homepage
Developers implement this using the Google Maps API or third-party review widgets
Understanding how GMB data flows makes this work faster and less confusing
4. Site speed and mobile experience matter downstream
Typical user journey: search on phone → tap the map card → click through to the website
A slow or non-mobile-friendly site wastes all the trust built by a strong GMB profile
This is outside GMB itself, but developers control it directly — so it's effectively part of the same local-search puzzle
5. Clients will ask developers about it anyway
Common client questions: "Why aren't we showing up on Google Maps?" or "Can you fix our hours on Google?"
Even if managing GMB isn't a developer's job, knowing the basics means guiding the client instead of shrugging it off
A Quick Note on the Name Change
Google folded most day-to-day management directly into Google Search and Maps
The standalone GMB app was retired in 2022 — nothing to download anymore
Businesses with multiple locations use a bulk-editing tool called Business Profile Manager
Functionally, it's the same tool as before — just a new name and a different place to manage it
GMB (Google Business Profile) isn't a developer tool the way a CMS or DevTools is.
But it lives right next to a developer's work: structured data, consistent business info, map/review embeds, and overall site experience.
Understanding it doesn't make you a marketer — it makes you more useful to the local businesses that make up a huge share of the web.
Reena Meena
Web Development Specialist
AeroSoft Corp
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