Your Google Business Profile is probably doing more for your bookings right now than your Instagram is, and if you set it up once and walked away, Google may already be wondering if you’re still in business. In this episode, Melissa Arlena, photographer, SEO educator, and TMA mentor, breaks down the five-move monthly maintenance routine that keeps your profile active, accurate, and showing up in front of the clients searching for you.
Melissa spent years in IT before becoming a portrait photographer, and she now runs Picture Perfect Rankings, where she helps photographers get found on Google instead of waiting on the algorithm to hand them a client. She’s also a year-round mentor inside TMA answering SEO questions for members.
The Five-Move Monthly Checklist
Melissa’s system starts with posts. Google Business Profile has its own post feature, similar to a Facebook or Instagram update, and it can now be scheduled ahead of time. She recommends aiming for about once a week, pulled from blog posts, seasonal offers, a favorite image from a recent session, or a client review. Her advice is to frame it around what’s actually in the post rather than a generic link, since a caption about a specific newborn session will pull more interest than a plain “check out our latest blog post.”
From there, she recommends uploading five to ten new photos a month, pulled from a few different recent sessions rather than dumping ten images from one shoot, and rotating the cover photo occasionally since it’s the first thing a searching client sees.
Reviews are the third move. Melissa suggests reaching out to at least one past client a month who hasn’t left a review yet, and just as importantly, replying to any new reviews that have come in. Google tracks how quickly an owner responds, and clients receive an email when a business owner replies to their review, so it’s a visible signal of an active business.
The fourth move is checking the performance tab inside the profile, which shows views, calls, direction requests, and, most usefully, the actual search terms people used to find the business. Melissa treats that section as free keyword research, often surfacing blog post ideas or FAQ topics photographers hadn’t considered.
The fifth and final move is a quick check of Google’s own edits. Google will occasionally update a listed business’s category, hours, or services on its own, sometimes incorrectly, and a monthly check catches those errors before they cost a booking.
Why a One-Time Setup Isn’t Enough
Melissa compares an abandoned Google Business Profile to a storefront window. As she put it, “You wouldn’t leave the same display up for three years and then wonder why no one’s coming in.” Google actively favors profiles that show consistent signs of life, and a profile that hasn’t been touched since it was created can start to look, at least to Google’s own systems, like a business that may have closed.
Melissa has seen this play out in small but frustrating ways. Neglect opens the door for Google to start making changes on its own. Her own profile has had school portraits and doula services added to her services list even though she’s never offered either. She also flagged a common mistake for studio photographers specifically: Google frequently adds passport photography as a service, even for photographers who have never touched a passport photo, and if it’s not removed, potential clients show up expecting something the business doesn’t offer.
She also pointed out a detail that trips up a lot of photographers around the holidays. Google sends automatic emails asking businesses to confirm their hours ahead of a holiday, and most people delete them without a second thought. Melissa recommends actually going in and marking the business closed on the days it will be, since accurate hours are another small but consistent signal that the profile is being actively managed rather than left on autopilot.
Building a Habit for Your Google Business Profile You’ll Actually Keep
Five moves, about twenty minutes, done consistently, is what separates a profile that’s actively working for a business from one that’s just sitting there collecting dust. She suggests picking the first Monday of every month as a standing “marketing Monday” and running through the checklist as part of that routine.
This maintenance work is easy to understand in theory and easy to skip in practice, which is exactly why having a mentor who walks through it step by step, and a community of photographers doing the same thing on the same schedule, makes such a difference. It’s a small habit, but it’s the kind that compounds over a year of consistent visibility.
This episode builds on a full Google Business Profile setup workshop Melissa recently ran for TMA members, which is available as a replay inside the TMA dashboard for current members. She’s also inside TMA year-round as a mentor, answering SEO questions as they come up, which is part of what makes education inside a community different from a course you work through alone.
Listen and Learn More
If you’ve been putting off your Google Business Profile maintenance, this episode is worth a listen. Melissa walks through all five moves in order, with the reasoning behind each one, and makes a strong case for why twenty minutes a month is worth protecting on your calendar. She’s put together a free printable checklist with all five moves in order if you want something to print and keep on your desk. For more marketing and SEO strategy from Melissa, check out her podcast, Get Booked, which she co-hosts with Alison Bell.
TMA listeners can also get $250 off her Found & Booked SEO group coaching program at pictureperfectrankings.com/TMA.
Find Melissa at pictureperfectrankings.com or on Instagram at @pictureperfectrankings.
Ready to build a business that reflects your own creative voice? The Motherhood Anthology membership gives you access to expert mentors, live coaching, monthly marketing suites, and a private community of photographers who are invested in your success. Learn more and join at themotherhoodanthology.com.
The Motherhood Anthology is a community and educational resource for photographers who want a profitable and sustainable business they love. With 15+ expert mentors and 7+ years of proven content, TMA helps portrait photographers build confident, thriving businesses through monthly education, mentorship, and a supportive community of 700+ members.
